Alliance Wakeboard Magazine UK - The Lifestyle & Movement of Wakeboarding & Wakestaking

Alliance ThinkTank Wakeskate Jam 08
by Sim Bradley
09:05:2008

Ahh the four-day week. A blessing that comes just a handful of times a year and always confuses and surprises me when I realise it’s Friday a day early. This week summer appears to have officially arrived, albeit with his new friend the wind, and the stoke levels are riding high. I think what makes this week that little bit sweeter is for the last 3-years I have spent the first week of May standing in the rain building some ropey wakeskate rails with whatever could be found around the Abersoch Boatyard, ready for the tide to ruin all the hard work and then try and session them anyway. Well this year it's a whole different story. I've been sitting in my nice warm house making orders for light towers, pneumatic cranes and a whole lot of beef, because next week is going to change wakeskating in the UK forever. After running out of new things to do within the harbour stream, we are moving on from the Harbour Project to create a new wakeskate jam aimed at really pushing the boundaries of wakeskating, and we are calling it ThinkTank.

By holding this new event in a freshwater lake we are adding a whole new aspect to the event, as there are no tides limiting the riding time or height of the rails. With this extra space and freedom we are giving the riders more ways to wakeskate by bringing in Jetski’s, better obstacles and unlimited riding time on a freshwater lake. This new event will allow for over 10 times the amount of riding, enabling the athletes to really test their ability in a comfortable setting with their friends around pushing them to progress.

Through out the weekend there will be a series of mini contests, including best line and best trick towed by jetski, high ollie contests in the flats and inside out, and best trick jams on the new winch pool, modelled around a street skate spot with stairs, hubba ledge, handrail and a gap to the bottom.
There will also be the first ever skate-bump contest, with all riders using custom fin attachments to do legitimate skateboard rail tricks, like crooked grinds and tail blunts.
In addition to these comps, there is also the Nike 6.0 ‘Killing It’ award, which goes to whoever stands out above the other riders over the weekend, whether it be for a specific trick, overall impression, progression or just a determination to better themselves. NIKE 6.0 ARE OFFERING A YEARS SUPPPLY OF SHOES to the winner of the ‘Killing It’ award, with a range of shoes and clothing, including the new Air Morgan Wake wakeskate specific shoe.

For the first year of the new format, we are keeping the location of ThinkTank private from the public. The main aim of the event is to bring together the wakeskate community to ride together in a relaxed atmosphere, where the riders can concentrate on pushing themselves and doing the tricks they want to do rather than performing for a crowd. This also allows for better media access so the photos and videos should be epic.