Orlando, Fla. – Wakeskating’s premier contest series concluded today at the OWC in Orlando, Florida, as 25 of the world’s best riders battled it out for the Rockstar Cable Jam and the coveted Toe Jam overall season title.
Toe Jam fans packed the shoreline while celebrating the Fourth of July to watch the historic events as they unfolded. All the riders were pumped to be riding under sunny skies on glassy water and the Toe Jam vibe was in full swing.
Top moves of the day were a switch mute 180 glide off the kicker by Dieter Humpsch, Bret Little’s 270 shove onto the box shove off, John Ruark’s varial flip on/shove off the box and a 360 flip from Reed Hansen and Matt Manzari during their head-to-head battle.
The final two riders battling in the final were Stu Shinn and Bret Little. Shinn laid down a solid run with a boardslide big spin, backside big spin, 360 shove, kickflip, backside flip and backside 360 off the kicker.
Little, the Texas native who rides for Byerly Boards and Rockstar Energy Drink, is a local at the TSR cable and looked as comfortable as ever during his finals run. Highlights were his 270 shove to back lip shove, kickflip, back lip/boardslide shove, slob 360 and switch backside 360 off the kicker. The difficulty of his run, combined with the variety of moves utilizing the whole course earned him the Rockstar Cable Jam title.
The road to victory wasn’t easy, “It was pretty wild and really intense,” Little said. “Everybody came out firing and it’s awesome to see everyone riding so well on the cable. The Toe Jam is the best series in the sport right now, and we need it really bad. Next year’s gonna be amazing.”
Tension was in the air as the coveted season title was on the line as well. Reed Hansen advanced further than Brian Grubb today, earning him the overall title, with Brandon Thomas taking third. Hansen definitely earned it, while stomping a quarterfinals run including four flip tricks and solid rail hits. “It’s an awesome feeling to ride consistent all year” said Hansen. “I can’t wait to get out and hit some spots with my new Grinch winch I won for the overall.”
Team Rusty went out to Canyon Lake to meet up with two of their top riders Stu Shinn (Wakeskate Phenomenon) and Sean O'Brien (Wakeboard Master). In the event the 1st Annual Wakeskate & Bake was underway. Along to document the extravaganzas was Alliance Wakeboard Magazine and Rusty's very own photo crew. The photography equipment on board was worth as much as the chase-boat itself and looked like the paparazzi following Britney Spears down Sunset Blvd. With this very talented media staff we were able to accomplish what we came for: get some killer footage for editorial content, ads, web content and a possible cover with the help of Josh Sleigh's Winch! After the shoot we headed back to the Rusty team house and fired up the grill for an after sesh RBQ. At this time the DJ rolled in fired up the tunes and the party was underway! Stay tuned for video action!
Rusty is proud to announce Stu Shinn as a permanent fixture in our wake program by signing him to a three year contract. From taking home the coveted Move of the Year honors at the 5th Annual Wake Awards with his crushing Wake-to-Wake Backside Bigger Spin to capturing first place at the Tige Pro-Am, 2008 has been a tremendous year for Stu Shinn. With his limitless arsenal of tricks and precision technique, the future is boundless for this young Florida native and we could not be any happier to have him part of our team.
"I'm super stoked to have such an elite athlete like Stu on our program. Our goal at Rusty is to partner with the most innovative athletes on water and Stu definitely fits into our family!" says Rusty President, Charlie Setzler.
Look for more exciting things to come from Stu throughout 2009 and beyond!
WakeBoarding, the world's number one wake sports magazine, held the 5th Annual Wake Awards presented by RockStar Energy Drink, September 12 in Orlando, Florida during Surf Expo. Rusty's very own Stu Shinn took home the coveted Wakeskate "Move of the Year". Good on ya Stu Dogg.
WakeBoarding, the world's number one wake sports magazine, held the 5th Annual Wake Awards presented by RockStar Energy Drink, September 12 in Orlando, Florida during Surf Expo. Rusty's very own Stu Shinn took home the coveted Wakeskate "Move of the Year". Good on ya Stu Dogg.
