Wakestock on TV By SB 17/07/08
I've just got back from a few days at Avanti Television in South Wales where i was helping pick clips for the many TV shows coming up which are featuring music and riding from this years Relentless Wakestock. You can get your fix on the following channels over the next couple of weeks:
S4C & S4C Digital (Sky 134) – Wakestock Festival - Thursday July 17th 9:00pm (45mins)
S4C Digital – Wakestock Festival – Saturday 19th July 6:00pm (45 mins)
Channel 4 (Sky 104) – Relentless Wakestock Festival (SPORT) –Sunday 20th July 08:20am (30mins)
Channel 4 – Relentless Wakestock Fesitval (MUSIC) – Wednesday 23rd July 01:05am (30mins)
S4C & S4C Digital – Wakestock Festival – Wednesday 23rd July 9:30pm (45mins)
Channel 4 – Relentless Wakestock Festival (MUSIC) – Thursday 24th July 00:50am (30mins)
Channel 4 – Relentless Wakestock Festival (SPORT) – Sunday 27th July 08:20am (30mins)
ITV Wales – The Guest List (Wakestock 08) – Thursday 31st July 11:30pm
ITV Wales – The Guest List (Wakestock 08) – Thursday 7th August 11:30pm
ITV Wales – The Guest List (Wakestock 08) – Thursday 14th August 11:30pm

It's over By SB 10/07/08
This summer has definitely got off to a slow start from the magazine’s point of view. The weather has made photo shoots and trips near on impossible and I’ve spent more time at home this year than any of the past seven years. It’s nice to chill out and everything but life on the road is what I live for, and the past 2-weeks has been absolutely amazing.From Ox-Stock to Soch-Stock and everywhere in between its been an incredibly messy experience with a load of great riding. We’ve been from Oxford through Heathrow, Milton Keynes, Birmingham and ended up in Abersoch with group of riders from the UK, US and Canada along with my American counterpart, Garrett Cortese and past UK editor Pat McGucken capturing photos and videos for your entertainment. Right now I’m getting by with power of my iPhone, but tomorrow there will be photos from the road trip, a Live2Ride video from the guys at FrontEdge.tv and if that’s not enough for you, go pick up the new mag with none other than Terry Hannam on the cover - Sorry for the absence of activity here on our site, but you should spend more time on the water and less on the interweb anyway.

AWOL By SB 24/06/08
We're now just three days away from the biggest wakeboard event the UK has ever seen, twice! With all the madness that is Wakestock and on for us, the Rococo Rail Tour, it's going to be a hectic two weeks to say the least, so i'm here to bid you a farewell as with the whole Alliance team on the road for two weeks stressing out, it's going to be near impossible to update the website. But don't worry, when we get back there will be more articles, videos, blogs and photos than your retina's can handle, and all in a spangly new format for alliancewake.co.uk
If you're going to the 'Stock then come say hi, otherwise we'll be seeing you in July.

Back on the Road By SB 18/06/08
Throughout last summer i took a leaf out of Kyle Walton's book and spent the year living out of my car traveling the country and photographing stuff. Well this year i have a house and a miniramp so the reasons to keep driving for hours on end are harder to justify. But now the middle of the year is here (i refuse to call this lame weather pattern 'summer') the effort must be made to venture forth. Last weekend i took the first trip of the year to Costa Del Haverigg in Cumbria to ride with good friends Pat McGucken and Lee Warren, on their winch and Pro-Wakeskate 190. Now i'm back home for a day before heading to Sheffield for the Student Nationals on the cable and boat (messy) then its just a few days before heading to Oxford for the start of the craziest 2-weeks wakeboarding has ever seen. If you don't know what this is, crawl out from under your rock more often as you don't want to miss out on the 'Stock...

C-rail! By Sparkles 05/06/08
If you haven’t heard already, WakeMK cable park have added a new addition to their awesome rail park. The boys down there have been grafting hard to build us all a new fun box to hit, and not only is it a funbox but there's a C-rail built onto the side and it's sick! South African rider Nick Kethro was the first to christen the new toy, ate it, then stuck it! Get yourself to the MK and hit it up! And watch out for 13yr ripper Chloe Goudie steezing that box up!

Don't waste your money! By TW 23/05/08
We are always informing you about the importance of testing your board and bindings before you buy them, nobody wants to part with a few hundred hard earned pounds to find out they've bought the wrong gear. Well my friends you are in luck because this bank holiday weekend JB Waterski at Thorpe Park are hosting a demo day that includes a team game of PIG on the cable which should be pretty funny. There will be tonnes of gear on demo from the likes of Gator, Hyperlite and Double Up. The following weekend on the 31st May, Gravity Wakeboard are hosting an an all day party, BBQ and board test down at Poole Harbor, you can get a wakeboard set for £10 and try plenty of kit. Check out www.gravitywakeboarding.com and get along to these demo days, now you have no reason to blame you're setup when you crash!

Karma By TW 21/05/08
I just got back from 7 days of hard graft at ThinkTank, quite how I am not asleep at my desk is crazy! We spent Monday packing up and I finally left Grendon Lakes at 8pm and arrived back in Abersoch at 2am. As I set off driving I realised I hadn't eaten anything all day with so much work to be done, and a service station took over my thoughts. As I closed in on the KFC counter to my horror I was greeted by "we are shut", Iwas gutted. But just before I left, Karma must have felt sorry for me after the weeks building, as Incredibly the dude behind the counter turned round and filled a bucket full of chicken, chips and gravy from what was left over and he didn't charge me! Never has there been a better time in my life to get a free KFC family meal! So this is my thank you to the member of staff who must have seen the hunger in my eyes.

ThinkTank blast By MD15/05/08
Just come off the phone to Sim, currently running the ThinkTank event at a secret Alliance location in the UK. He's stoked with the set-up that's for sure, and his words were "we're cranking up the winch for the first hit of the pool gap - it look's sick" They've got a whole evening ahead of them & armed with some floodlights, I know they're gonna see it through as late as possible. Stuck back at HQ, this has just got me amped to see the images, but I know they're coming through late, so be patient & they'll be ready for you in the morning - it will be worth the wait.

Action Packed By SB 06/05/08
Another Bank Holiday weekend has come and gone, but this one was friendly to us waterboarding folk with sun and glass reported all over the place. The cables we're packed and i'm hearing from a lot of happy people after sticking new tricks. Some of our favorite pro's placed highly at the Nokia FISE contest in Montpelier with the highly under-rated Jamie Oliver taking 2nd place - skills dude!
BBQ's broke out in force and with some help from Margaritas, gave a great end to a 3-day holiday. With the weekend only 3-days away now, make sure you email Tim with your names for the Push Process party guest list 'cause if your names not down, you're not coming in! That would have more weight if i was a foot taller and remotely 'beefed' but you get the point. Time for some bacon, later peeps.

Exciting Times By TW 30/04/08
Over the last few weeks my head has wanted to explode on many occasions, sometimes for reasons of pure joy and other times of problem solving hell! We have just moved offices and they are pretty much incredible, one of the reasons why I have wanted to explode with happiness, plus the fact that we just de-winterized the X-Star.
All office moves, like house moves never go smoothly. Ours was on track to be a perfect glide from the centre of Abersoch to a mile away, until we had to address the issue of the internet. Even though we had been guaranteed on numerous occasions that it would be transferred the same day it actually took about 8 days. Those 8 days were the same 8 days that lead up to our next magazine deadline, so you can imagine the carnage that prevailed. The only good to come from it was the fact that the Vaynol pub has wireless, so I spent a lot of time in there! The magazine is at the printers now and we are extremely excited about its arrival because it's one of the best yet!
We have a new office, our boat is in the water and ready for action. What more could we want? The ability to turn the Sun on would be nice!

Strapless entertainment By SB 16/04/08
The secret's out of the bag - Alliance Wakeskate is now a fully fledged interweb site with videos, photos, articles, funny stuff and we'll be adding more updates than Cher's plastic surgeon. The site's live now and you can read it before all the cool kids on wakeskating.com as they're lazy asses are still in bed. And with the Toe Jam starting in just two days, get set from some mega blogging and what-not.
www.alliancewakeskate.com - your new homepage

Wakeboarding in your living room By TW 10/04/2008
Extreme TV has gone completely Wakeboarding nuts for the month of May, which is fine by us, you can watch Wakestock 2006 three times on Wednesday 7th May, and on Thursday 8th you can catch all the action from Wakestock 2007. We don’t want any excuses for you missing it because it’s being shown five times! If that’s not your cup of tea then on 9th, 10th, 15th & 16th you can watch a group of northern blokes travel around Lancashire looking for waterfalls to ride off in Northern Exposure, which has a total of 10 showing times. If all that’s not enough Wake action for you, then catch the Relentless Wakeboard Tour on 18th and 23rd which features the Relentless Tour Bus on a mission to take a group of riders from Quays nightmare slide to Wakestock over the period of a week, you guessed it, carnage prevailed. If for some bizarre reason you don’t like English Wakeboarders then on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th you can watch the action from Off Axis Wakeboard Festival in Munich and then get some Parks Bonifay admiration time on Thursday 27th May as he goes to Tahiti and drops jaws. For all the people who moan that wakeboarding doesn’t get any coverage on Extreme TV, this is your chance to save your voice box!

Daylight By SB 04/04/2008
Finally, thank you! We can now all get back from work and go ride or skateboard or whatever it is you do for kicks without flashlights and rubber socks. Thats a really big deal. I bet you've all got a serious vitamin D deficiency and are contracting rickets as we speak, so why not break out early and go play in the sun. I advise as little clothing as possible, but if you're skateboarding you may wanna cover the sensitive areas, as concrete doesn't care if you're dying, it just wants to see blood.

Something for the weekend By SB 20/03/2008
It's that time of year again where the moon says we can have 4-days off to eat roast dinners with chocolate eggs on the side, but for most of us it's a perfect time to break out the neoprene and get shredding. Everyone I've spoken with is planning to ride, so we should be seeing some fairly good shenanigans. But if you're worried about what to do with the rest of your time, why not go grab yourself a bargain or two. A lot of pro-shops are having Easter sales this weekend, including one of our favorites, Princes Shop in Middlesex. As our new website is still under development we don't have a working Brown Trout section yet, so I'm hijacking the blog page to post the following info - If you have anything you want the world to know about, get in touch with us on tim@alliancewake.co.uk and we'll help you out.
Princes Shop have a massive clearance sale this Easter weekend with loads of deals on clothing from brands like Billabong, Fox Racing, Hurley, Analog, Oxbow, O’Neill, and Volcom. Prices start at a crazy £5 for selected items.
They've got some great offers on 2007 wakeboard gear, especially Impact jackets, and a load of snowboard stock too, so get along and bag yourself deal then take your new toy for a spin on the cable. www.princes-shop.co.uk

End of an era? By SB 10/03/2008
Since 2005 Alliance Wakeskate Magazine has been the only consistent wakeskate magazine publication in existence, and now after 3-years of digital brilliance the concept is going under some changes. Right now it's all top secret but don't worry, it will be bigger and better with more news, stories and photos to drool over. In the meantime, the legend that is Brooke Geery has slaved over a final issue in the current form to keep you entertained through the crossover period, so go to http://www.alliancewake.com/wakeskate/home.htm and check it out.

Summer's a'comin By SB 12/02/2008
This weekend has been pretty good in the UK and I'm hearing a lot of 'first ride' reports from all over the country. Flowers are blooming already and early signs are pointing to a good summer. A good way to get in the mood for the coming season is to watch wakeboard movies as they always get you amped up to ride, so this year we've tried to fuel your stoke with our first of what looks like being an annual video magazine, showcasing the biggest feature articles from the magazine in 2007 in video form with moving pictures, talking and a killer soundtrack. Upon finishing the video we've showed it to some key industry type folk, and we're now realizing what a huge mistake was made by giving it away for free when we could have earned some well needed money for all the effort put into it. Never the less, ALL subscribers to the magazine will be getting it for free with the gear guide issue because we're nice like that.
You can see the intro right now in the video section so if you like what you see make sure you're on the list to be posted a copy in the first week of March by hitting the subscribe button on the left of the page. So whether you've started your season already or are trying to pass the time until it's warm enough, I hope you enjoy the entertainment we provided you.

A pat on the back By SB 05/02/2008
After locking myself in my house for the whole of January, I finally managed to finish the first Alliance video magazine (see the web article 'we love our friends') with at lease 8 hours to spare. To be fair I probably wouldn't have finished it if I didn't dislocate my shoulder two weeks ago which forced me to stop skateboarding and do some work, so every cloud does have a silver lining because despite the injury I still have a job.
To congratulate myself on completing the DVD I've come out to sunny California for a month while doing some work at the US Alliance office and generally meeting and greeting people stateside, and on first impressions there's a good chance I won't make it back to the UK, ever.
The first bonus of the trip was getting my copy of the Oakley wake film, Push Process. I've watched it 3-times already and Lyman's part still has me covered in goose bumps 12 hours later. This movie is epic.
While I'm here I'm gonna try and keep you guys updated on whatever is going on industry wise and we'll hopefully have some web content later in the week. Sorry about the recent quiet spell, it's cold in the UK and nobody with a brain is riding or taking photos. Keep warm - Sim

Holy **** By SB 16/01/2008
Right now there's no video footage or photos, but i've just got word from our reliable source that Nick Davies is throwing down toeside backside 1080's out in the philippines. We're not too sure about the hows and where's, but i guess its off a kicker on the now infamous CWC cable. Lee Debuse called in the news with a very simple blog for our site, so as a thank you we'll print his article in it's entirity:
Toe back 1080...what a sicko.
Thanks LDB and congrats to Nick.

Lonely time of year By SB 08/01/2008
It's still raining and all the clever people have jumped ship. A large contingent have grouped in the Philippines at CWC cable park, including Nicky D, CK Koester, LDB, and Tom Haley. A bit further round in Australia are Simon Chapell, Steph Caller, Jules Haley and Sarah Kingdom. Dan Nott & Jonty Green's locations are currently unknown, but you can guarantee neither of them are wearing shirts, meanwhile Sam Carne is down in SA working on his moves. Early fun-reports suggest these sunshine-chasers are more clever than the rest of us saps stuck here staring out the window at greyness, but hey, at least we get to watch celebrity big brother!! ...I think i'm gonna kill myself...
It's not all warm water and sun though, Tim Woodhead, Marc Rossiter, Andrew Eddy and Jenna McAvoy are all off snowbombing around Europe doing that whole 'cross-training' thing that magazine writers always tell you to do at this time of year.
But despite my jealousy this is the best ever winter stuck at home, largely because Ben Hannam & I built a miniramp in my back garden over christmas. No more waiting for the skatepark to dry out, we've got a waterproof cover and you better believe the Gnar is being shredded! So if you too are stuck in rainland, give me a shout and come skate, it's great cross-training for wakeboarding don't you know!

Bye Bye winch! By TW 28/12/2007
Well its a sad day for me today because I just sold my Northern Wench Winch, I have just finished giving her a little service before my baby finds a new home on the Isle Wight. I shed a tear of love as I fired her up for the last time today, she has given me and all my friends so much fun and we have ridden places we never thought possible, we wish her a happy new life. Although I am sad I am also happy because the money will mean I can stay in the Alps for a couple of weeks longer than planned, and I have my eyes on a slightly poorly Alliance Distortion winch that Sim thinks is his! See you later I'm off to steal a pallet from Tesco.

Ash Templeman By TW 10/12/2007
I have just returned home from 11 days in London at the Earls Court Boat Show, a full web article about the show will be uploaded soon but I just wanted to wish Ash Templeman a speedy recover from a nasty crash yesterday. Ash had been one of the standout riders all week on the pool gap, going both big and technical with loads of style and always smiling! Unfortunately in our last show on the last day we were all getting a bit carried away and Ash rode over the 'S' rail on a an inflatable tube and flew of it head first and jarring his neck badly in the landing pool. At the time we thought it might have been far more serious so allot of caution was taken in getting him to hospital and checked out. Fortunately the damage was just a jarred neck, he will be very sore for a couple of weeks but will be back to full strength in no time. Hope your better soon mate and well done for your riding skills all last week!

JD Webb Fountain Gap By SB 07/12/2007
You're probably aware of the monstrous stunt JD Webb did last year when he jumped over the fountain on Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando on his wakeboard, but you may not have known the reason behind doing it. The Discovery Channel have a show called "Stunt Junkies" where people at the top of their sport do something that can only be described as a stunt. The show about JD is on in the UK next week on Discovery Turbo (sky 523) on Thursday 13th at 4:30pm. So set your Sky+ ready to see Mr Webb clear the 90ft ramp-to-ramp gap, its definitely not something you see everyday in our sport.

Insider Knowledge By SB 24/11/2007
When something goes really wrong, it's not the problem that makes you, it's how you deal with it. After the floods this summer that threatened to ruin Wakestock and actually canceled the Saturday music event, many people thought the festival wouldn't be able to recover from the financial loss. But like a true Phoenix from the ashes, we can now announce that there will be two Wakestock festival weekends this summer!
The new location is in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, the very same Blenheim Palace we did a photo shoot at last month. Having been there myself and seen the site and wakeboard location, this couldn't be bigger for Wakestock. The place is amazing and will offer the wakeboard event fresh water and at a constant depth with fantastic views for the crowd. If this was fantastic enough, Wakestock Blenheim Palace will also be 3-days, an extra day of wakeboarding & third night of reveling and hangovers thrown into the mix. Alliance has taken up the challenge of building a pool gap at each location, a hard task when they are only a week apart! The Blenheim festivities take place on 27-29 June with the original Wakestock Abersoch event taking place the following weekend.
There's been a manic amount of work & commitment that has been put into making this happen, it's been hard to keep a secret, but the word is now out and we're soo excited. Spread the word!

Smashed Feet By TW 22/11/2007
I have known Rob Moyle for over a decade now, and I always new that at some point he would buy a FMX bike. I also knew that once he bought said bike, it wouldn't be long before he hurt himself. Unfortunately I had a phone call late last night from Moyle Boy saying he has broken his feet. Apparently he came up short on a rather large jump and had to bail off his bike, and landed in the side of the jump. I'm sure Rob will back to full fitness before next years wake season and at least he knows how fast he needs to hit that jump, because the first thing he will do is hit it again once he is better. Hope you recover quickly buddy.

Blowing up By SB 16/11/2007
1080's, world titles, featuring in the new Oakley wake film; our very own Nick Davies has had a pretty big year. Well now it seems that his board sponsor is taking note too, and not just the UK importer but Hyperlite themselves. Along with the recent rumors of custom graphics and pro models, Nick has got a short interview with Hype on their website that you can read here: http://www.hyperlite.com/node/273 I'm stoked for Nick and he deserves everything that’s coming to him. Let's just hope he comes back from Florida after winter, the yanks already stole Nicola Butler from us, & we want to keep this one!

Xtreme Gene! By TW 22/10/2007
So I have just returned from a week trip to Xtreme Gene in sunny Spain, and sorry to make you all jealous but the weather was perfect, blue skies and glassy conditions every day! This week has taught me two very important things. Firstly don't ever edge into the wake trying to do the biggest scarecrow of your life and then at the last minute change your mind and do an off axis 540 instead. Why? Because your edging way too fast and your 540 will turn into a 600 degree spin leading to a nose edge at over 30 mph. The end result was half of my base plates attached to the board but the bindings still on my feet! That’s a nasty edge and apparently the nastiest fall seen at Xtreme Gene this year. But Solid Jim is riding there this week so he will easily beat me! The second thing I have leant is that the riding standard of UK riders is so much better than I thought. Anybody who ever tries to tell me there is no progression in the UK wakeboard scene will meet my fist in their face. Last week I rode with Dan Knott for a few days and he is technically so good; Big Worms, heel backside off axis 5's, toe and heel 720's and so much more, all done consistently, big and clean. Marc Rossiter was out there too and landed a switch toe 7, the fourth 720 now in his bag. In Scotland I was blown away with the riding of Nicky D and Sam Carne and my trip to Xtreme Gene with Crowhurst, Rossi, Dan and LDB confirmed that the level of wakeboarding in the UK is up there and still improving.

Smile! By TW 10/10/2007
It’s October and it’s big simile time for me, the Rococo Tour is done, the Pool Gap is well packed up in our new workshops, no more stress of collapsing platforms and flooded fields for another year! The road trip to Scotland was a blinding success including the raid on Windermere, it was utterly freezing but the riders stepped it up regardless. While we were wakeboarding on Lomond the snowboard resort only twenty miles away had its first snow fall! Check out all the footage from the trip in the next issue of Alliance and also on a free DVD we will be giving out with the Gear Guide issue early next year! In theory the good water time has finished but I live in Abersoch and I’ve got a new surf board, the surf is rolling in and it’s really quiet, that’s why I am smiling! And if that wasn’t enough, I’ve got a trip to Xtreme-Gene next week and a file on my laptop filled with info on new weirs, waterfalls and winch spots to go check out!

Windermere mission By SB 30/09/2007
Right now it's 8am we're trying to launch an X-star on lake Windermere. That doesn't sound like a hard job, but when you've only had a couple hours sleep and you're still slightly inebriated, simple things like ratchet straps can make your head hurt. It's times like these I'm glad I just take photos, good luck to the strappers on this one!

Bonnie Scotland By SB 24/09/2007
There’s nothing like a good old fashioned road trip, packing up all your stuff and heading out in convoy to see what the road has in store. Well for our editorial trip to Loch Lomond this week things are starting out a little unconventionally. Last night saw the finals of the Glass Butter Beach rail comp in Abersoch, and the evenings activities have left us all a little raw. Right now Lee Debuse is getting a full body massage to try and regain some feeling, Matty C has got a sway on in the corner and Tim Woodhead is freezing in the Irish sea pulling in the rails from the comp. It’s 3:30pm now and there are no signs of leaving anytime soon, so this road trip is gonna be somewhat of a nightmare until we actually arrive at the Loch, from there on it’s gonna be awesome. If it wasn’t for the fact that there’s a hot tub waiting for us I seriously doubt there would be so much motivation to drive through the night. Shotgun front seat!

Detox day out - Prt 2 By MD 11/09/2007
Just before joining Sim out in the land of the gators, we've added Part 2 of Eban Escot's Detox Day Out with Matty C, Scotty Broome, Antz Collins and Brad Smeele, so click on the image link on the left, be patient while it downloads (27mb) and enjoy.

Mission By SB 11/09/2007
So the next three weeks are an exciting time for me, not only am I off traveling the world again, but when I get back I finally move into my new house. This has been a long 7-months coming. But before all that there is much to do. First stop is a flight to Orlando Florida on September 11th (great security!) to do the meet & great thing at Surf Expo and to arrange some exciting new plans with our daddy publication in the states. Then to California for a few days to catch up with my parents who live out there, before a 38-hours of non-stop journey from Sand Diego via Salt Lake City, Orlando, Manchester and ending up in Abersoch for the finals of the Rococo Rail Tour. It's gonna be a long trek but a few days in Abersoch will make it worth while. Then we are doing our final editorial trip of the year to Loch Lomond with a bunch of riders to see what magic Scotland has in store for us before I head back down south to move in and get all my stuff out of storage, most importantly my electric guitars that I miss so much. I hope your gonna be having fun, and if not then make your own fun at work! For example you can make your own working canon out of paperclips, blu tack, an old printer cartridge and some elastic bands. I'm not gonna tell you how though because that would spoil the fun. Enjoy!!

Exclusive! By PM 04/09/2007
Following on from the previous blog about our favourite little American, Stef Tor, we've just been allowed to release this link of her riding the other day. The clip was shot by Brandon Parker of Volume Wakeskate videos and that combined with the riding makes it one of the best clips of the year. It's in full resolution so you may have to wait a bit for it to load. http://www.steftor.com/StefKflip.mov

Back to Back By PM 31/08/2007
Ladies wakeskating may have seemed a little quiet this year, I think possibly due to consistency. People have made tricks but maybe still haven’t got them “in the bag”. Newsflash-that’s wakeskating, consistency is a bitch and we all know it.
We were pretty stoked last week when one of our adopted family here at Alliance UK, Stef Tor, got a mention on our sister site in the US for landing her first Kickflip, and we were all very proud.
Anyways the point is I just spoke to Tor and she landed seven kicky’s in the last two days and three of them were caught on film by Brandon Parker, who was filming for the new Volume wakeskate video. Now I’ve seen some footage and let me tell you this is no girly, slidy only just made it kick flip, this is legit shit, popped and everything.
So maybe Stef broke the ladies consistency barrier, lets hope so…

Living it up By SB 27/08/2007
As far as being overworked goes, I'm probably the last person that has any right to moan as although I work 7-days a week it is pretty much just touring around lakes and waterways seeing my friends or sat on the sofa with a laptop burning through my thighs. However in the last two months things have been so ridiculous here at A-UK-HQ that we've barely had time to sleep, let alone update the website or get some riding in. Well the point of this blog is to welcome you all back to the website as we're gonna be on the case again so keep checking back, and also the last issue of the summer is in shops now, and it's a cracker. There's a report on the Student Nationals, Tim Woodhead's account of Wakestock, a profile on grom up & comer Connor Jones and possibly our best interview to date with Mr. Craig McCulloch, who happens to feature on the cover too.
So with the mag done and over a month before the next stop of the Rococo Rail Tour, I decided it was time for a holiday so I came up to my favorite spot, Port Haverigg for a week. The thing I love about holidays is not having to worry about phonecalls, but now that's definitely not a problem since I dropped my phone off the side of the boat last night. So if I had or should've had your phone number for any reason, please send it too me again at sim@alliancewake.co.uk and we can resume being text buddies. Ace

Hot Hot Hot By SB 27/07/2007
Just a quick little note to say that Nick Davies stomped a perfect switch toeside 1080 off the kicker at Princes cable on Friday. That means he's pretty much the first person to do one in europe and judging by how neat and tidy it was, hopefully Nick will be trying some off the wake real soon. You can check out the footage via the following link http://web.mac.com/wakestuff/iWeb/Wakestuff.co.uk/Nick 1080.html.
Thats all for now, we'll have more for you including some wakestock snippets real soon, I promise!

Shiny paper. That's Alliance issue 2007.3 By SB 13/07/2007
Despite what it's like outside, we're nearly half way through the summer now and so we thought it was about time that we shared some of the fun and merriness of the last couple months with you guys with the help of some shiny paper. Basically the new issue of Alliance hits the shops today! (did I really need 55 words to say that?) In our most British-filled issue yet, there’s plenty of reading to get you amped up for Wakestock next week, or to keep you occupied while riding shotgun on the way through Wales – Don’t read and drive, especially if you’re a guy.
We’ve got the full story on the most successful Harbour Project to date, for which the introduction of a banked wallride is solely responsible. Then we headed out to Montpelier in France for the 11th annual Nokia FISE event to hit dangerous rails infront of 10,000 people. Jonty Green is asked 20 Q’s about himself that should give you more of an insight into his inner workings than you already have, and three guerilla wakeskaters talk us through how they built their own winch’s in the new feature, Tow Yourself. As if that wasn’t enough, we chat with Byerly about his Volume Wakeskate video magazine, Craig McCulloch and Tim Woodhead lend their wealth of experience with their regular columns, we review the video 360 Day’s, give you the 10 best places to ride in the world and there’s some pretty photography to tie it all together. I hope you agree that it was worth the wait because we literally slaved over this issue and if you look really close you can see the red ink is actually made up of our blood.
I’m off to Wales now to construct the pool gap ready for the first stop of our Rococo Rail Tour which kicks off at Wakestock, so if you’re trekking up to the 3-day wake party, come by the pool and we’ll give you a free high five.

Bare with us.... By SB 11/07/2007
As you're probably aware, summer is a busy time for us here at Alliance, and with the first stop of our Rococo pool gap tour only a week away it's gone beyond hectic. Well if that wasn't enough we're currently having some problems with our website in that it doesn't want to show any of the new article we've made for you, including a story on the student nationals, Tim Woodheads french road trip and many more, so please bare with us and we'll get everything sorted out by the time Wakestock roles around next week. I can't believe the 'stock is already here, summer's going by fast people so make the most of it.

Sorry! By SB 26/06/2007
I know, I know, it's been way too long since your last update here on the site, but it will be made better in the next week I promise. The new issue of the mag is nearly finished, we just have to apply the love and happy vibes to the pages so they don't cut you when you read it. Anyway a couple of event notice's for you, this weekend is big in the London area with the Whirly Birds hosting another of their brilliant all-girl coaching days on Storm at Thorpe Park. We have our budding photographer Jess heading over to cover it all so remember to smile girls.
Also Liquid Leisure are holding the 'Nautique Open Championships' on Saturday, I don't know what the winner will be 'champion' of but I'm sure they'll get some high fives and if they're really good, some down-low's on the rebound. The main point to the event is the 1080 challenge with 6 invited riders trying to spin three times off a purpose built kicker. CK is where my money lies as he's been sticking 9's in his sleep recently. It’s a serious problem and his mum's had to chain him to the bed.

Round & Round - Nationals By SB 12/06/2007
According to some people around the world cable riding isn't wakeboarding, but you should try telling that to everyone who gathered at Princes Club last Saturday for the 07 nationals. There were loads of spinny flippy tricks throughout the day in every age group and category, which is a huge step forward from past years. The junior and open men's were without doubt the centrepiece of the day with grabbed tricks and awesome style from namely Ben Hitch, Richie Hiney, Tom Watson, James Young, Jonty Green, Lewis Cornwall and the re-crowned super king of whirlygigs, Nick Davies. The weather was not as good as good the forecasts but the spectators were there in force, and there was no wind which meant for a great days riding. Reports from around the country indicate that we in London had the bad deal this week with everywhere else getting scorching blue skies and flat water but I suppose places like the lake district, Scotland and Abersoch deserve a week off from the bad weather every now and then. Doesn’t stop me getting jealous though.

Action Packed Weekend By SB 06/06/2007
This weekend is the cable nationals comp at Princes near London, and all over the county riders have been busy training for the contest, particularly the girls. In past years there have practically been army recruiters out trying to find 3 girls for the comp just so there is an even podium at the end. Well I'm stoked to say things have changed a lot. There are near on 20 entrants this year and it's not going to be a bunch of fashion airs and 180's, expect to see a range of cable and kicker inverts along with some technical rail sliding too. Of course there will be the battle for Pro Men's champion between favorites Ben Hitch, Jonty Green, Nick Davies, James Young and Lewis Cornwall, which is certain to be one hell of a display.
If you're not into contests though, head over to Bedford for the opening weekend of Box End Park cable, a specifically built site with an island in the middle to cut down backwash and a range of rails and kickers ready for the opening. It sounds like a great spot and well worth checking out if you live in the south or midlands. Either way this weekend is all about cable unless your one of the lucky inhabitants of Port Haverigg where they are celebrating a wind-free-week behind the boat. I haven't decided where to go yet but my new wakeskate should arrive tomorrow and that's all that matters. Happy

Hannam's Goodwood By SB 24/05/2007
If any of you have ridden at the cable in Thorpe over the last two years, no doubt you will have seen Terry Hannam ripping up the cable park on his tiny 39 inch wakeskate. Well the good news for Terry is he no longer has to struggle around with his big frame on a small board as he now rides for South African brand Goodwood Wakeskates on Alliance favorite, Dieter Humpsch's pro model board. He just got his new deck on Monday and I met him at the cable yesterday to see how the new deck affects his riding and all is looking good. That was until at the end of his boat set when Terry whipped out of the corner to the dock and not being used to a big fast board, he over shot the dock and tried to run up the back but the support wires that hold up the cable tower were there first and didn't like his style. Lots of tissue and a few hours in A&E later, and he got away very, very lucky with just a cut on his nose and a lot of swelling. No doubt he'll be getting even with the cable by next week, and that JB will be sweating about their insurance policy. I predict fluorescent flags and bunting by the end of the week.

Issue 2007.2 By SB 16/05/2007
The new issue hit the shelves today (sorry it's a few days late) and has some top quality content including an interview with Richie Hiney who came out of no where last summer to win the Pro event at the Nokia FISE comp in France (which indecently is going on this weekend in Montpellier so head down if you're near by) and really started turning heads.
We also have an experimental trip to Xtreme Gene in Spain with three cable monkeys who barely even know what a wake is, and that in mind you'll be impressed with their efforts behind a boat. There's all the normal stuff too including an extended 'Framed' section to make up for the lack of photos in the Gear Guide issue, so you have 14 whole pages of celluloid brilliance on top of the articles. Don't say we don't listen to you! On top of all that our new staff writer Craig McCulloch has some very good advice for all you wakeskaters out there so make sure you check it out.
Normally we run UK riders on the cover, but to honor the return of one of the best wakeboarders ever after a year and a half off the water due to injury, none other than Mr. Parks Bonifay graces the front page. Hope you enjoy it.

Round Four By SB 11/05/2007
On the penultimate day before Harbour Project we still had what looked like a lot of building to do, but thankfully Matt Crowhurst and Nick Hine, along with Timmy Walters arrived on the Thursday night so they were down to help the build all day Friday. All in all it was a big learning experience, I learnt Evo-Stick is the sh*t for making dodgy wallrides, Nick learnt why people wear boardies over a shortie, Matt discovered you can fit 4.8 meter planks in a VW Transporter and invalid Timmy spent all day preparing for his new career as a pro griptape applicator. By 6pm most of the riders had arrived and by the time I got to the Vaynol at 8:30 there was a lot of merry-ness/shouting in the street going down. The wakeskaters have made such an impact on Abersoch in the first night that Mark Shurville nearly died. Well thats what he thought anyway, we gotcha back bru. photos tomorrow!!

Round Three By SB 10/05/2007
Big progress today; the wallride is looking sick, very professionally built so it should last for next year (or downtime when I'm up in abersoch next!) We've got some windsurf boards which will be masacred tomorrow for the manny' box and with all the riders showing up as well, big things should happen on the final day of construction. anyway I'm starving and the indian restaurant beckons so I'll keep this one short.
On a separate note if any one is going to FISE next week in Montpelier, France or the Boardstock event in Toulouse the following week, then drop me a message on sim@alliancewake.co.uk so we can hook up in a foreign land.
Over & out

Round Two By SB 09/05/2007
After yesterday's success's in the boat yard day two started out much slower after we couldn't source an adequate trailer to go and pick up the wood for the other toys. Anyway we got it all sorted and Tim from the boatyard leant us something very special indeed, his carpenter Rich who was meant to be building a staircase in the workshop but I think Tim felt a bit sorry for me. So with someone onboard who actually knows what they're doing, things are looking great for tomorrow. We've started on the frame for the wallride so we'll just have to wait and see how the surface takes to the welsh seas. Some of the riders are coming up tomorrow afternoon as well so I'm off to get some sleep while I can. There'll be more in 24 hours

Round One By SB 08/05/2007
Today i saw Tim Long from the Abersoch boatyard and the first thing he said was "is it that time of year already!?" Day one of preparations for this years Harbour Project went really well with flat bar and incline rails built leaving just the two 'special obstacles' for the rest of the week (it's not gonna be as easy as it sounds) and the ping-pong fins should be finished by the end of today. Tomorrow is my favorite part of HP, where i get to go around the builders merchants with someone else's money and get all the other supplies, which this year includes No More Nails and Duct tape so expect some calamity reports later in the week if my plan fails.
On another note, happy birthday to Marcus Dixon for yesterday! He was going to have a party but it's been postponed and changed to a ramp party for whenever he finishes building his miniramp, so it could be his next birthday or it could be next week. I'm off now to sink one in the Vaynol on Marco's behalf. Sleep well

Catch'n Up By SB 02/05/2007
Things have been busy here at A-UK and I mean super mega busy, so we’ve been a bit slack on the website but thanks for checking anyway. The good side of this is that the next issue of Alliance is complete and full of juicy goodness for you to get your mitt’s around when it hit’s the shelves on May 12, the same weekend that a bunch of so-called ‘waterdancers’ will be congregating in Abersoch for the 3rd annual Harbour Project. Our little hiatus may have left you gasping for some gossip, so to fill in some gaps I’ve spoken to some people and have the news and a ‘Nick’ report for you:
Nickelodeon fan, Nick Davies is currently putting in a special guest appearance in England! Having been away for most of the winter, Nick is planning on going back to the Philippines real soon in preparation for the big money comp out there at the end of the Month. Nick Hine is back from his wakeskating holiday in Florida and is ‘inspired’ to say the least after going to Byerly’s Toe Jam and hanging out with name-buddy Nick Taylor. After riding behind a jetski loads I’m looking forward to seeing what Mr Hine has in store for this year. In non-nick-news, James Young discovered Liquid Force Maven bindings are actually for girls and not hobbit feet like his after trying/failing to ride in the Melissa’s, Eban Escot & Kath Moore are premiering their film ‘360 Days’ at The Quays this Sunday (go and support) and finally, Ben Hitch is now riding for the shop at Liquid Leisure in Datchet, Surrey and will be doing some coaching there too so go down and get some tips from the most stylish rider on our shores. That is all.

That Just Happened By TS 18/04/2007 (Int)
Just got a text message from Reed Hansen that read: "Matt Manzari, wake 2 wake double flip! That crazy hoodlum is blowin' up!" That's a double flip and a 360 flip for Manzari all this month. So the boat competition at the Toe Jam this week should be pretty interesting.

360 Degrees premier By SB 16/04/2007
This year we're campaigning for more people to document what they do. These days everyone has cameras or digital videos, so whether you're a family out every weekend shredding it or you're searching out winch spots, you should make the effort to record what you do as you never know when it will come in handy. One guy that's always filmed everything he does is Australian rider and all round nice guy, Eban Escott. Well his hobby quickly became a passion when he started making videos, and this summer will see his first release in the UK with '360 Days'. It's got hundreds of strappers and skaters from all over the world and I for one can't wait for the premier next month at the Quays in surrey on May 6th. There will be some of the featured riders showing off their boat skills along with music and partying to boot. This video's going to be good so get down there and check it out.

Wakestock on Extreme again - Apparently! By MD 13/04/2007
After their frustrating c*ck-up last month Extreme have sneaked the Wakestock program into their schedule this Sunday (15th) at 7pm. They have also promised that heads will roll (literally) if the same thing happens again! - Don't miss it.

Easter Eggs & Fairy Cakes By SB 10/04/2007
Ask any wakeboarder what the best part of being a wakeboarder is, and they'll say (excluding pro-ho's) traveling. The best riding trip I've been on was a wakeskating holiday to Spain with Pat McGucken, Craig McCulloch and Jo Rogers back in 2004. Just getting to hang out and ride on a flat lake with a group of people that push each other in such a good way is something that's hard to achieve in England with all our ski clubs and 15 minute tows. Well this bank holiday we all met up again in the less glamorous Lake District and put spent the 4-day weekend starting off the riding year together as friends, which felt great as it was the first time I've got to ride with Craig without having a camera in tow since 2005. It's still damn cold in the water but trusty Marigolds kept everyone's spirits high and we all got to test out Pat's new Waverunner before our French road trip next month. Sadly it's back to work today but if you're sensible you might have some Easter eggs left, just don't get fat.

Behind the scenes By SB 02/04/2007
Our aim here at Alliance is to entertain and amuse you with all sorts of water-related goings on, and we like to think we get it right some of the time. But you need more than that, so when you asked for info and happenings from within the wake industry we felt obliged to deliver upon your request. Ya' know, that’s just the kind loving people we are. So today we've extended the 'Brown Trout' news section of the magazine right here on the web site with all the info on who gets hired, fired, sponsored, who's selling stuff and who's organizing things, basically all the stuff that’s too boring for us to write about but you might find useful. Go check it out now, especially if you're a girl or a grom as there's some great contest news that you'll want to know about, after all knowledge is power.
Strength and Honour

Support your local retailers By SB 30/03/2007
Working from home is great, but when you don't have your own home it can be hard. especially if that means you don't have a computer. We ordered a new Mac so I can get back on the case giving you lots of little videos and articles on our website, but in the interest of saving money we bought it on the internet 'cause waiting 2-4 days isn't so bad when your saving cash. WRONG! Three weeks later and we're still chasing customs and a blue santa to find where in the world it is, plus we've had to pay extra import duty eradicating any savings we made. So the moral is you won't save money, you'll only waste time so if you're looking to get a new setup this season and are browsing the internet then stop by you're local pro shops website, they'll look after you.

Scotland's not just cold. It's Coool By SB 28/03/2007
Just got back from Xtreme Gene in the south of Spain and yes it was warm. I haven’t been there in a few years since Craig McCulloch was the coach so it was great to be back. This got me thinking about Mc’C and it turns out that the Scottish wakeskater is now the Wakeboarding Development officer and coach for his home nation! Based at the National watersports centre in Dunfermline, Craigo has been given a long rein to do what he likes to further the sport. This is great for Craig and we wish him millions of luck with it.
In other news, if there’s anyone struggling with getting their eyeliner straight then give Josh Mutter a shout, he’s pro at that sh*t

Bubble Wrap Adventure Tour By SB15/03/2007
I’m in the middle of moving house which is great, but I can’t believe how much stuff I have, I’m only 23 and I have more crap than most of my friends put together. Anyway it’s all going into storage because I can’t move into my new house until the end of April thus rendering me homeless. Thankfully my job allows some freedom and so I’ve managed to tie work into having a roof over my head. The sofa tour kicks off in style with a trip to Xtreme Gene in Spain with cable monkeys Josh Mutter, CK Koester and JackBruv Edmonds to shoot for an upcoming feature. It’s gonna be rad. After that I’m once again mooching off Mr McGucken for a few weeks and doing some winching with the Northerners at Haverigg. That’s as far as my plans for the ‘tour’ stretch right now, so if I have your phone number then get ready for a call, I’m gonna be in the need of some new venues for the closing leg!

Wakestock on Extreme update By MD15/03/2007
So after the frustration of the no show for the Wakestock program on Extreme Channel, we've got some news to report. Al Gosling CEO of the Extreme Group rang me yesterday to apologise for the double balls-up (which is nice...) and today Ben Hobson at Zone Media has been in touch to say they are investigating what happened, but now more importantly they are working to reschedule it, although it looks like May will be the first opportunity they can slot it in. And yes that sucks!

Gang tats and business suits By PM 8/03/2007
Did you ever have something you always meant to do and never did? I have a list, well not an actual “My Name is Earl” kind of list, more a bunch of stuff in my head and I’ve decided it’s way too long. Action was needed and never one to make things over complicated I decided to start by going to a tattoo convention that I was already supposed to be going to. I’ve always meant to go to one but stuff always crops up, so I went.
There were people who looked like Harry Potter getting LA gang tattoos and business men who are completely covered in ink beneath their business suits but to the outside world are ink free, there were people who looked like your mum having dragons tattooed on their thigh. It was a little surreal. Still there was a Brazilian drum band on the stage (amazingly after a couple of songs you feel like you know what the rest of their set may be like) and some Burlesque dancers and some dude who had his whole head and face tattooed, so that was alright. I met Boog though, a Mexican gang tattooist. He has tattooed “The Game” and a bunch of other hip hop guys who I hadn’t heard of. He said “ese” and “homes” a lot but it didn’t sound stupid. He was a nutter to be fair but a cool nutter.
Anyway I ticked something off my list (the one in my head) so that’s progress and lets face it its not often you do anything progressive on a Sunday in March is it?

50cent aint got shit on me son! By SB 07/03/2007
Its very weird how some businesses come about. Take the new clothing line from a group that started drinking and riding together, then they got a name & a reputation, started a team for Live2Ride and now they’re making TV shows and have they’re own brand. The irreplaceable Northern Monkeys have just launched www.northernmonkeys.net a cool little website with a shop selling clothes and winch’s and there’s loads of other cool stuff to entertain you. Solid Jim has the honour of kicking it all off as monkey of the month with an interview, pictures and video. This is no G-Unit crap, this shits fo’ real nigga. Although the south is blatantly better than the north, I can’t see some of our bright sparks having this much savvy, good luck to them.

Happy New Year! By SB 05/03/2007
I don’t need to tell you how long this winter’s been but the good news is that March is here, and as I’ve just got back from a trip to Abersoch complete with parties and pole dancers, I can confirm that the 2007 season is now underway. The reason for my trip was to attend the launch of a new clothing brand targeted at skaters, waker’s and muso types alike called GlassButter. These guys had really gone to town, transforming a family restaurant into a full on club with fancy visuals on plasma screens, red bull and champagne cocktails, free stuff and ‘elegant’ ladies spinning around poles. Cable monkeys CK Koester and Jack Edmonds were there to complete their new sponsorship deal with the brand, and we all found time to disappear to the skatepark for a few hours to shred some gnar and some skin in the literal sense. It was a cool little trip all in all but the fact that it was sunny (for one day at least) and the unofficial summer town of wake was rocking made me feel happy. I might even hit the cable this week to celebrate. Anyway enough about me, how was your weekend? I know there were people out there building winch’s and riding down big hills on little bikes so tell me about it - sim@alliancewake.co.uk

Leading the way! By SB 12/02/2007
As you probably know, last year we went to Cab Wake in the Dominican Republic to shoot for our film 1fifty1. Well it seems like we have started something of a trend, as recently the Cabwake crew were visited by legend Ron Seidenglanz and the Gator boards team to shoot their new team film. The riders included Derek Cook, Kyle Rattary, Drew Mcguken, the infamous Randall Harris and Gator himself. Unfortunately I couldn’t blag another trip out there to observe the mayhem, but Garret was there from the US office so look out for the full article in the magazine later in the year. On top of all that, Shawn Watson, Shane Bonifay, Keith Lyman, Kevin Henshaw and Collin Harrington are all heading south to the Caribbean this summer, to shoot for the 2008 Liquid Force catalogue and to film some stuff for their next team video. Seems like getting a new Super Air Team Edition is paying off for the guys. This means that if you book up now, you can go ride behind the same boat as the Vandal! Just don’t expect it to make you throw everything 20ft into the flats.

Think of the Sun! By MD 09/02/2007
Snow is so cool. It's so allowed to be f**ing cold when it snows, it's justified. We've enjoyed some funny photos come through our email with images of some kids riding wakeskates at their school & an attempt by some guys up in Scotland to ride on wakeboards behind a tractor down a country lane. If we get a few more (& slightly more in focus!) we'll post them up for you. But for all those that just want some sun, have a read of CK's interview. The pictures will remind you of what we're really waiting for.. roll on summer.

Winter Warmer By SB 27/01/2007
The nights are getting lighter now which can only be a good thing, and considering its January its pretty warm too. And people say global warming’s bad.
Tonight a bunch of regulars from the cable in Thorpe are meeting up at Hampton open-air pool with a winch to have a warm water set. And at 28 degrees it's considerably more appealing then a lake. Wakeskating in a pool is a weird experience at the best of times, but when there's a fitness group doing laps and laps of star jumps around the pool while you're riding it's even more surreal. The people at JB Ski who organised the whole thing are looking into constructing a rail for next time, so when that happens I'll get some photos and a video for you to check out here. Until then go skateboarding, its fun. peace

Your May Event Schedule $$$$$!! By MD 26/01/2007
So we've got your May event schedule planned out for you; 12th - 13th Harbour Project - Abersoch, North Wales (WIN: Cash in your back pocket). 16th - 20th Nokia Fise - Montpellier, France (WIN Cash to get a few Pit Bikes). CWC Open 25th - 26th May Camsur Watersports Complex, Phillipines (WIN Cash for a new motor) A Wakeboard & Wakeskate event tied into the Kaogma Festival, a weeklong pageant of colorful activities that even intensifies the already sweltering Camarines Sur summer heat. We'll get some info to you soon but for the time being, Google it.

Wakestock Extreme Dates By MD 24/01/2007
A full half hour program on Wakestock will be shown on the EXTREME CHANNEL on FRIDAY 9th MARCH at 8:00pm & again on SUNDAY 11th MARCH at 6:30pm. I know we keep saying this but make sure you watch it, and do the sport a favour & tell everyone you know to watch it too, promote it on the forums, your Myspace sites, tell everyone at school, at work in your pub. There's a very real opportunity that can come from this to support wakeboarding in the UK if enough TV's are tuned in to Extreme to watch it.

Prizes to Giveaway By MD 2/201/2007
Well we promised some prizes once the offices were back straight. There was less junk than we anitcipated but 3 items came to the surface that we'll give away. 1st a pair of OAKLEY FAT CAT SHADES - polished blackw/balck Iridium polar lenses 2nd CRATE OF RED BULL and 3rd The very FIRST ISSUE OF ALLIANCE WAKEBOARD MAGAZINE. So how to win them - well as we're all high on new carpet fumes we got confused and have come up with the idea that whoever comes up with the 'The best competition question' wins. Send your Questions in to comp@alliancewake.co.uk by Monday 29th January & the best one will win the lot.

Roll out the carpets By MD 1701/2007
No sooner have we got back from the boat show another exciting episode in the Alliance biography kicks in - New carpets. Apparently this takes 3 days, I guess there are 7 rooms here at the Alliance office's but Three days? Anyway, one thing this does mean is that there will be some things to giveway early next week as we'll be filtering out stuff that could go to a worthy wakeboarders home. Stay posted!

Power Cuts & Boat Shows By MD 12/01/2007
So you get a bit of a breeze and the power goes, which means the articles we had lined up will have to wait as we're running on laptops & all the pics are on the PC's. But I guess this just means heading off to the boat show a little earlier, where we're gonna be based for the next few days and will bring you back some pictoiral & videogaphic presents for you all next week. It's not all Guinness there you know!

More Event Dates Added By MD 11/01/2007
They're coming in thick & fast and the man who knows has hit us with a whole load of important dates for 2007. Open & Groms Nationals, Cable Nationals, Student Nationals, Nightmare Longest Slide and King of Cable are all now added to the 2007 calendar. Full details will be added for each event when they're confirmed but for the time being click on the calendar icon, check them out & get them booked in.

DVS Shoe winner By MD 08/01/2007
This has been a shock to us, not the winner but the amount of entries. We have a divided team over the reason for this - half think it's because of the serious growth in the numbers checking our site on a daily basis and half think it's because these are the pimpest shoes around that are only available through our comp. One thing's for sure though, Liam Smtih will only care about the second reason as he's the lucky winner that's gonna get a pair through the post this week. All those that weren't so lucky, don't give up; we've got another pair to give away this month.

Wakestock on Extreme By MD 06/01/2007
Sometimes if you wanna get a job done, a subconscious gremlin kicks ya ass & tells you in an abrupt husky voice "do it your mo fo self" Anyway, you don't really need to know that. What you do need to know is that Wakestock 2006 has been confirmed today to go out on the Extreme Sports Channel in March. We'll get the exact schedule to you next week but what's VERY important here is that you tell everyone to watch it - Good things will come to wakeboarding & wakeskating in the UK if enough people watch it - seriously!!!!!

Live2Ride Dates Announced By MD 05/01/2007
One of the most passionate & cult events of the wakeboard calendar has announced the dates for their 3 stop tour for this year. WakeMK, Liquid Leisure & Box End Park will host each of the 3 action packed stops & knowing Mr Earnshaw will kick some serious ass to make sure they're all about the riding. Make sure you're part of them, they're gonna be bigger & better. Click on the Event Calendar to get more info.

We're off on a Big One! By MD 03/01/2007
So we're off again, a full year ahead and 2007 I can guarantee is going to be all-time. If only I could tell you our plans for this year! We're like little kids here at Alliance UK HQ with 5 of the best presents that will last us through the whole year. One thing's for sure you can expect to see continued growth with the pool gap and more videos for you to get your teeth into on the website. As for the rest...just keep in touch, I'm sure we'll blurt it out sooner or later.

Alliance Festive Research By MD 22/12/2006
It's that time of year again, the Friday before Christmas & the most effective work to progress the sport is researching our 'NOT BEER' philosophy. To do this we are regrettably going to have to leave the office & cross over the road to a well respected drinking hole called The Vaynol. If you've heard of it & want to help us in our research then you should join us ASAP - no previous experience required. Have a great Christmas.

Alliance Wakeskate Mag 2.5 online By MD 18/12/2006
The latest Alliance Wakeskate magazine is now online & crammed with all sorts of wakeskate sh*t. - CHECK IT!

Lost Soldiers By SB 17/12/2006
Christmas is damn close now, and I'm starting to feel warm inside, that might be because I have a bitchin' cold and a temperature of 50C, but either way my cheeks are rosey and I'm chucking down the mince pies so all's good. However Christmas is not always great for everyone, a lot of people are reminded of lost friends and loved ones, which is why I thought a lot of you would really appreciate this link right about now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bQ-UgRCTmc&eurl= For those of you who don’t know of him, Mark Kenney was arguably the best rider to ever grace our shores, and one of the nicest guys to hang out with too, and with all the recent hype around 1080's, I know that some of you are thinking of Mark and his family at this time of year.
Enjoy the video and stay safe.

Imperial College tour By MD 15/12/2006
University wakeboard clubs are growing, and it’s a good thing too. They’re such a crucial part of the growth of the sport in the UK and Alliance is stoked to be working with them for 2007. Imperial College London has one of the biggest & most influential clubs and recently embarked on their first weekend tour for 2006 to Grendon Lakes & WakeMK. These guys are mostly progressing with little prior riding hours but a few like Kermit, Will & Fresher Dave are pushing themselves hard and starting work on 3’s, backroll’s and hitting the mix of sliders. We’ll be keeping in touch with a few Uni clubs this year & bring you some debauched imagery!

Wakeboard in Bulgaria? By MD 13/12/2006
Anyone fancy a wakeboard trip to Bulgaria?! Well Matt who some of you will know from the 10 years he spent at Grendon, has set up the first wakeboard centre in this beautiful country. And no it has no connection with the wombles.
Matt has the sole wakeboarding rights to Lake Isker 40mins from the capital Sofia and is currently coordinating the transportation of a couple of boats, jet ski & winches to the 100 acre creek that boasts flat water all day. Check it out at www.snowandwakebulgaria.com

Whirley-Birds Bungee By MM 08/12/2006
Fancy doing a SPONSORED BUNGEE JUMP at the Whirley-Birds final event of the year? Well if you do you could help them raise a stack load of money for the three charities they will be supporting in 2007. Breast cancer, NSPCC and testicular cancer. They need 40 people to commit to this to allow the bungee men to provide the set-up. Get in touch at whirley-birds@hotmail.com it's £50 each but this can be taken out of your sponsorship money. Definitely worth doing.

Indoor Retreat By SB 05/12/2006
I was down at the cable in Thorpe on the weekend, and boy did it look nasty. The wind coming down the lake was so strong that people couldn't cut out to half the rails, it was crazy. So if your like me (not stupid) and have finished riding for the year, why not go skateboarding instead, its awesome! Mark the Shurmenator has hired out the whole of Caterham skatepark for wednesday night and there should be around 30 wake related people going for an indoor skate, plus they have a foam pit there so I'm expecting some indy blind 3's and other stuff! Word is that Irish, Jonty and Marcus are gonna drop in on the vert which has got everyone else scared. We know they'll probably stick it fine, but we also know they wont stop until they can switch heelflip to fakie. I'm gonna take down the old videomaker machine as I'm still broken (but I have some cool new jewellery in my hand!) so come back next week for a flick of the nights shenanigans. peace

More dates & Videos By MD 14/11/2006
Another date that must go in your diary for 2007 is the Harbour Project May 12th & 13th in Abersoch inner Harbour and a crazy party to go with it - Abersoch style!
Also check out the new vid you can download in the video section, it's got a load of Wakestock 2006 in it - a teaser before it's out on Extreme Channel

Anyone fancy a date? By MD 09/11/2006
Well here's a few for you...
Wakestock 2007 Fri 20th - Sat 21st July
Air 07 Fri 7th - Sun 9th September
They will both be at the same locations again, Wakestock near Abersoch, North Wales and Air07 near Tamworth, West Midlands.
If you want anymore then you'll have to check back to the most up-to-date, informative, bling wakeboard event calendar that will be up and running soon from this site. It's gonna be the dogs'

Ups & Downs By MD 06/11/2006
This is more about the up's than the down's, particularly as we rode Friday & Saturday in glassy sunny conditions, was pretty warm too, which is always the bonus of living in an area that has it's own climate 3 or 4 degrees warmer than UK mainland. Another up is Dieters laptop crashed few enough times to allow him to nail an awesome write-up for the Air 06 event - good times had by all.... So what about the downside...? Sim has broken both hands skateboarding over the weekend. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if he was a step arobics instructor but he's not - so that sucks! Still Wakestock short vid coming soon.....

Have you overheard 1Fifty1? By MD 01/11/2006
Did you know it's November? Most people I think do but for those few that hadn't realised, I'm stoked to be the one to break the news to you. As it is November and to many the month of the movie, especially now that the Dukes of Hazard is on Sky Movies. We thought we'd join in the festivities by giving away a copy of 1Fifty1 every Friday during November. All you have to do is email in the best 'Overheard' that you've .. erm .. overheard. Just the other day a certain up and coming young rider from Thorpe said on the phone "I owe a lot to my parents, especially my mother and father"!
So email them in to us at overheard@alliancewake.co.uk , it's so easy and as it's November feel free to say who said it. The humiliation will be unbearable - see told you it was the month of the movie!

1080's & 747's By MD 30/10/2006
Some of you will already know this but Rusty Malinoski the other day landed a switch toeside 1080 which is insane. Kinda like doing 1,000 keepiuppies with your left foot while standing on an Indoboard (without the balancer though, that'd be impossible!) Mark Shonka caught the action on video which can be watched from this link here. Hamish Lowe is currently out in Florida on Lake Jessamine playing around with something called an X-star for the winter with some guys called Jeff Weatherall & Cathy Williams, oh and John Earnshaw & Lou Moore should be joining them soon. All we need now is a decent photographer to join them & we could get some photos together for the next Alliance out in December!!

Air 06 on Extreme Channel By MD 27/10/2006
The dates have just come through to us for the screenings of Air 06 on the Extreme Channel
Friday 3rd November at 12.30pm and 5.30pm
Saturday 4th November at 2.30pm
Tuesday 14th November at 6.30pm and 12midnight
If you remember this is the event that James Young won and guess where he is at the moment? In the Philippines with CK, riding at their Nationals. Yeha!

Ride Time Primo By MS 22/10/2006
Well it s that time of year when the comps and events are all done for the season and the days of riding in just boardies and a jacket are long gone. It is also however primo ride time! The throngs of sun worshipers will no longer be clogging up your local cable dock or pleasure cruisers chucking rollers through your mint double-up, It s sooooo quiet! I was riding my local cable the other day and only had to share it with one other reprobate on a wakeskate for 2 hours! So dust off that long suit and get out there! Before you know it we will be into the realm of steamers, marigolds and ice-cream head and you will be kicking your self that you didn't go try that big-spin or crowmobe a few more times before it got uber cold!

Innovation Awards - Wakestock Pool Gap By MD 19/10/2006
So we're in Islington, London this evening for the UK Festival Awards. Can you believe it, the pool gap Alliance built for Wakestock back in July is up for the Innovation Award! It's another step towards greater awareness for the sport in amongst the masses. Especially when you consider we're up against festivals like Carling Reading & Leeds, T in the Park & Download. Of course with it being a public vote, we're not expecting to get onto the podium, these guys rack in over 100,000 people at their events but all their festival whores get to see what we've been up to and maybe one or two of them will get hooked, buy a board and gain some credibility. You know, we should work for the goverment - it makes sense. Look out for us in the national press!

Friday on the Mend (Int) By TS 16/10/2006
Good news out of Singapore -- Dallas Friday is talking and walking (with the help of crutches) today, after a 10-day scare following post operative complications for a broken femur. Doctors have finally removed the ventillator tube from Dallas' lung, and she is well on the road to recovery. I was talking to Lauren Loe today, who went to dinner with Emily Copeland-Durham last night, who said that Dallas called from the hospital in Singapore to thank Emily for staying with her for a few days after the accident. Emily said that Dallas' voice was raspy from having the tube down her throat for so long, but that her she was awake and aware and looking forward to coming home and starting her recovery. In fact, one of the first things Dallas asked her father upon being able to speak was, "Would you mind if I wakeboarded again?"

Injury Update (Int) By TS 07/10/2006
Dallas Friday remains in a Singapore hospital today due to post-surgical complications for a broken femur she suffered during last weekend's World Cup event. I talked to Drew McGuckin, Dallas' boyfriend, today, and he said that doctor's still have Dallas on a respirator for her collapsed lung. He added that she was supposed to be off the respirator yesterday, but the recovery is taking longer than expected. Doctors are keeping her sedated during the recovery process, so she was not available for comment.
In other injury news, Danny Harf separated his shoulder while wakeboarding two days ago, and will be off the water for the next three to five weeks. Looks like Harf's plans to get his skydiving certification in the offseason will be put on hold for a month. Good luck and get better, Danny and Dallas.

NIck Davies on Extreme By MD 05/10/2006
As many of you know, Nick Davies creamed the competition at the Cable Worlds held in Feldkirch, Germany back in July to win the Juniors. Rumour has it that Nick would have won the open mens aswell if he hadn't been wearing his pink straw hat! Having said that Jonty Green could have won the open mens too if he hadn't been disqualified for finishing his run after his helmet fell off during a 900 over the slider......
Anyway, watch it on the Extreme Channel. The schedule is as follows: Sun 22nd Oct 10:30. Mon 30th Oct 12:30 & 17:30. Tues 31st Oct 10:30 & 15:30. Sat 4th Nov 15:30

Dallas Friday Update (Int) By TS 04/10/2006
Women's world champion Dallas Friday remains in a Singapore hospital after fracturing her femur during a competition over the weekend. Dallas suffered complications after her surgery, most notably a fluid build up in one of her lungs, and had to be admitted to the critical care unit for monitoring. The latest news from overseas is that doctors are keeping Dallas sedated in order for her lung to heal and to guard against the possibility of infection. Her father has joined her, and brother, Robin, is there as well.