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03/01/08 |
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Latest News: 06/25/2004: A Walk Down "Nostalgia Lane" Now that the tournament season is in full swing, I thought it would be interesting to do some reminiscing about the early days of the sport ... For a look back at a 1979 tournament, please click on this link (you will need Adobe Acrobat reader for this). 06/25/2004: Tornado Strikes Wisconsin/Illinois Tournament Site The day before the start of the WI/IL tournament, a tornado struck the city of Adams, Wisconsin with horrific force. The path of the tornado included the cranberry farm where the tournament is held and devastated the area, bringing down a significant portion of the trees around the lake as well as the officials tower. The tournament is underway despite this setback after competitors and organizers pitched in with chainsaws and heavy equipment to clear the debris. According to organizer Mike Schoenke, site owner Kerry Tolzmann just smiled and commented in his characteristically understated way, "Well, at least all that's broken around here are some sticks". 06/09/2004: PB's Galore at Summer Splash The annual Summer Splash tournament was held this past weekend at Mills Pond Park in Fort Lauderdale. The conditions were superb and the results showed as several skiers set or tied their personal best scores. Click here for pictures and results ... 05/23/2004: First Scarpapalooza Tournament Results The first Scarpapalooza tournament was held last May 8 in Winter Haven, Florida. Ron Scarpa Barefoot Club hosted the tournament which included a post-tournament barbeque lunch. This event is planned to be an annual event, with the next one to be held at the new USAWaterski site (if it's finished!). Click here for the results ... 05/09/2004: Al Morrison and Brad Pylman Win 2004 Foot'n Fools Tournament Turnout was great for this annual Grand Rapids, Michigan tournament, despite the abysmal weather and water temperature of 54 degrees. A great time was had by all. Click here for results and pictures. 04/29/2004: Annual Foot'n Fools Tournament This Weekend The annual Foot'n Fools tournament will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan this weekend. This tournament combines endurance and tricks into one event to create an exciting, fun-filled event. Click here for more details. 04/20/2004: Tournament Season Opens at PGA 21 skiers competed this past weekend in the season opener tournament at the PGA canal in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Click here for the complete results from this two-event tournament. Click here for the story and pictures. 04/08/2004: Cash Prize Increased - First Place = $3000! The purse keeps growing in the first ever cash prize tournament in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As of now, the first place prize is $3,000. Several top skiers including Keith St. Onge and Al Morrison will be competing. Additional prize money is possible should a world record be broken. 04/07/2004: Grand Rapids Cash Prize Tournament - First Place = $2000! Click here for details regarding the first ever RC cash prize tournament to be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan! First Prize will be $2000! Jumpers - you need to register for this event by April 30! 03/18/2004: First Look at the 2004 Sanger! Click here for pictures of the 2004 Sanger Barefooter. 10/13/2003: US Teams Dominate Junior and Senior Worlds! Lane Bowers is Jump and Overall Senior World Champ. William Farrell is Slalom and Tricks Senior Champ. The Junior skiers impress everyone with their talents! Click here for the Senior results ... and here for the Junior results. Complete coverage including skier videos will be posted soon on www.thefootersedge.com. 09/30/2003: Barefoot Boys Whip Competition in the Run the River Wild Race! Click here for the results and pictures. Click here for a map of the course. Exciting changes have been made to this year's format. Last year's race was the closest in the history of this race. Click here for an article on last year's race. 09/25/2003: An editorial on the current state of barefoot waterskiing. 07/31/2003: Roving reporter and Senior Worlds competitor Mike Whittaker reports on the Michigan State Tournament. 06/05/2003: Click on the above link for the full story and pictures by Mike Whittaker. Click here for the scores from the tournament. 05/29/2003: The Footers Edge Attacked by Barefoot Central?! Click on the above link for the full story. 05/26/2003: Junior/Senior World Championships Location Update Click on this link for an update on the location of the Junior/Senior World Championships and towboat change. 05/10/2003: April Fool's Challenge Results and Pictures The annual April Fool's Challenge fun tournament was held April 26 in Grand Rapids Michigan. This tournament combines tricks and endurance skiing for an exciting format. Click on the link above for the results and pictures from the tournament. 04/13/2003: Cypress Gardens Closing for Good Today... Click on the link above for the full story as published by the Miami Herald. This also means that the Junior/Senior World Championships will most likely be looking for a new site. 03/22/2003: April Fool's Challenge Scheduled for April 26, 2003. Click here for more information on this annual fun tournament in Michigan. 03/20/2003: Wisconsin Barefoot Clinic Announced Canadian National Champion and Team Scarpa member Paul McDonald will conduct a barefoot clinic on Lake DuBay in Wisonsin in July. Please click here for more details.
Second Annual PGA Tournament a Success! The event, held on a glass calm canal in Palm Beach Gardens near the PGA headquarters, was limited to 20 skiers and slalom and tricks only. Many of the competitors this year as in last year's event are from outside the Sunshine State (including a few from the Midwest). Many personal bests were recorded last year, and the early news from this year's event is similar. Tony Paul skied into Open Men's in slalom, making him now an Open competitor in all three events (jump by default since he was already Open in tricks). Click here for all the results ...
New Items In February 2003: Mastercraft Implements a Wake Plate! After many rumors circulated around the barefoot community regarding the Mastercraft barefoot boat, Brent Benoist and Richard Gray have actually seen and tested a Mastercraft with the wake plate. Click on this link to read about their impression of the wake and see some pictures of it. After clicking on the link, you will need to follow the News link on the site to read about the Mastercraft. By the way, the World Championship web site (where the news item is posted) is looking very good - check it out!
Keith St. Onge and Nadine De Villiers Top 2002 World Rankings! The World Barefoot Council recently published the rankings for barefooters worldwide. The rankings are based on results from record capability tournaments around the world in 2002. Keith St. Onge tops the Open Men's list for Overall, Tricks, and Slalom. Billy Brzoza is ranked number one in the Open Men's Jump Event. Nadine De Villiers holds the top ranking for Open Women in Overall, Slalom, and Jump, while Gizella Halasz tops the list for the Tricks event. For the complete rankings list including Junior and Senior standings, please follow this link: http://www.waterskieame.org/barefoot.htm New Items In January 2003: Barefoot Boat Tests to be Conducted this Spring! NoStiks.com is conducting tests of ABC certified barefoot boats this spring. The tests have actually begun, with the first boat tested this past weekend in Florida. Many thanks to John Mylle for allowing us to use his Sanger for testing purposes. The other boats (Mastercraft, Ski Pro, and Malibu) will be tested in the next couple of months. The full results will be published only when all four boats have been tested. Testing includes sound levels, wake width, wake turbulence, acceleration, maximum speed, etc. Since the "best boat" depends on each individual skier's unique situation, the goal here is not to determine the "best boat" per se, but to give prospective buyers information they can use to determine which boat suits their particular needs.
Officials Clinic at PGA Tournament According to Jon Mylle, an officials clinic will be held in conjunction with the PGA Tournament this March. Please click on the link above for further information. (Click on this link for PGA Tournament information).
National Collegiate Barefoot Nationals! According to a senior ABC official, the National Collegiate Barefoot Nationals will be held this September 6-7. The venue will be Tommy Bartlett's ski show site in the Wisconsin Dells. Correction: This is not the first National Collegiate Barefoot Nationals. Apparently, there was a first Collegiate Nationals during the 80's in Tennessee. More details regarding this summer's tournament will be announced soon.
Biased Ski School Review Generates Controversy The annual ski school review conducted by Barefoot Central caused quite a stir among the ski school operators this year. Click on the link above for the full story.
Chicago Boat Show a Disappointment for Barefooters This annual boat show that has prominently featured barefoot waterskiing in the past, contained virtually nothing of interest to barefooters this year. Click on the above link for the full story.
Ski Pro Extreme Returns Successfully! Pat Moore, the owner of the company that manufacturers Ski Pro Extreme, writes about the Ski Pro Extreme's return to competitive barefooting.
Get Ready for the 2nd Annual PGA Tournament! Ski on some of the best water on the planet in a two-event (tricks and slalom only) barefoot tournament with some of the best people on the planet!
Last Winter Splash Results in Personal Bests! What may have been the last Winter Splash for a while is in the history books. While the number of skiers was small, the results were great, with several skiers posting personal bests and at least one breaking into open (David Miller)! Click on the following links for an article and pictures by roving reporter Tony Paul, and the complete results sent by tournament organizer John Mylle.
Update on the Mastercraft for 2003 Brent Benoist gives us an update on the Mastercraft tow boat plans.
Update on the Malibu Barefooter for 2003 According to Scott Lockwood, Malibu has upgraded their engine from 365hp to 375hp for 2003. There are no other plans for significant changes to the boat.
Brazos Barefooters Win 2002 Dam to Dam Race! Click on the link above for the official results ...
SkiPro Extreme Update for 2003 Team SkiPro member John Skobrak writes about the updates to the SkiPro for 2003. Sounds like a great deal of research and thought has gone into the improvements for 2003.
No Barefoot Boats Tested This Year ... According to reliable sources, the ABC decided not to test any barefoot boats this year. Apparently no changes were made to the boats from last year so there was no need for further testing. This source also stated that Mastercraft has not asked to test a boat with a cavitation plate, despite rumors regarding a large and unique cavitation plate design. If anyone has any further information regarding boat testing and/or the Mastercraft cavitation plate, please drop me a line at thor@nostiks.com.
Jr/Sr World Championships Back on for Cypress Gardens! According to an anonymous ABC official, the 2003 Junior and Senior Barefoot World Championships will be held in Cypress Gardens, Florida after all. This event had been previously canceled due to contractual issues. It is now scheduled for October 7-12, 2003.
Who Attended the Most Tournaments in 2002 Contest! Speaking of Tony Paul: He believes that he has competed in the most ABC sanctioned tournaments (not counting endurance and/or NBL events) of any barefooter this year! Is there anyone out there ready and willing to challenge this assertion?! If you have competed in more than 9 ABC sanctioned tournaments this year, please write me a note and let me know what tournaments you participated in this year. The winner gets a brand new Tak line! You can write me at thor@nostiks.com. All entries must be verifiable with the ABC.
John Skobrak's Thoughts on Competitive Barefooting John's response to the March Editorial on the future of competitive barefoot waterskiing.
Article by Tony Paul (Click here for pictures) Slalom Scores, Tricks Scores, Jump Scores, Overall Scores
Midwest ABC Seeks Jump Computer
Grand River Race Meets Hurricane Lili! Article and results from the first Canadian endurance race.
River Rats win River Wild Race in a Nail Biter by less than 5 seconds! For the full story and pictures click on the headline above.
Chaos and Controversy at Winnebago Sole Burner
Roman Elite Challenge Click here for Tony Paul's article and pictures from this Georgia tournament. Click here for Craig Heisey's article and the scores.
Click on the link above for the unofficial results and pictures from this X-game style tournament! And Click Here for Team Scarpa's article and an update on his back injury!
The toe touch rule has confused a lot of people, including us!
Pictures from the Mad Dawg Tournament held in Anderson, Indiana on September 7, 2002. For the complete Mad Dawg results, click here.
Patrick Wehner First European to Win World Tricks Gold! Click on the title above for the full story on this accomplished athlete.
World Records! Keith St. Onge set a pending world trick records of 9,400 points while skiing at the European Barefoot Waterski Championships in August. Patrick Wehner of France followed closely behind, setting a European record of 9,250 points. According to Patrick Wehner both records were ratified by the World Barefoot Council at the World Championships in Austria.
Keith also bested Brian Fuch's world record wake slalom score of 20.5 set during the 1994 World Championships in Sydney, Australia. (Unfortunately, Keith's slalom performance did not hold up under video scrutiny by World Barefoot Council judges, so Brian's record still stands). Do you think it's any coincidence that Keith's performance occurred while skiing behind a 1993 Flightcraft outboard? Brian Fuch's wake slalom record was also set behind a Flightcraft from that era (before they changed the hull and made the wake wider). With the size of today's barefoot boats and the shape of the wake behind those boats, it makes you wonder if we aren't headed in the wrong direction as far as barefoot towboats go ... Bigger is not always better!
Michelle Lillie Wins Women's Event at Canadian Nationals! Click on the link above for the story!
2002 Midwest Regionals News and Pictures Click on this link for news and pictures from the Midwest Regionals.
Brzoza's World Jump Record Not Ratified! Unfortunately, Billy Brzoza's 86 foot jump at the Eastern Regionals this summer appears to have not held up under World Barefoot Council scrutiny. However, if his performances this summer are any indication what the future holds, it won't be long before he lands one that officially breaks the record!
Michigan Championships Results
PGA Tournament News and Results Results and pictures from the "best water on the planet"!
Thrills and Spills at WI/IL Tournament! News and pictures from the best site in the Midwest!
Three World Records broken at Summer Splash! Click on this link for pictures and news from this tournament.
2002 Tampa Bay Barefoot Challenge - April 21-22, 2002 Click on the links below for video of some awesome trick runs from the tournament! Keith's passes are his 1st round passes, not his world record runs - but still worth watching!
April Fools Challenge - April 27, 2002 - Grand Rapids, Michigan Click on the link above for the results from this annual tournament. Click on this link for ABC tournament results. Points to ponder regarding the future of barefoot waterskiing.
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This site was last updated 01/30/08
