Date: 10/3/01
Author: David Williams

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T2001 Wakeboard Expo Photo Gallery

Orlando, Florida, the epicenter of professional wakeboarding, once again played host to the annual Wakeboard Expo. The Expo is a gathering of manufacturers and dealers where all the new products for the upcoming year are displayed and, hopefully for the manufacturers, sold.

Booths laid out throughout the Orange County Convention Center provided a base of operations for manufacturers to set up their 2002 goods in any way to capture the attention of their potential retailers. Said retailers spent the weekend wandering through the maze of glitz and glamour attempting to sort through the marketing fluff and figure out what the wakeboarding consumers are going to be purchasing in the coming year.

As I walked the aisles eyeing equipment like a kid in a candy store, there were some products that I'd never seen before, some new twists on products we see every year and some that hadn't changed at all save a shiny new coat of paint.

In addition to the many companies and products represented, I found the event to be a veritable who's who of wakeboarding. Industry big wigs like Herb O'Brien and Tony Finn were there to let their dealers know all about their respective lines. The pro riders also showed up en masse, from the top contest riders like Parks Bonifay, Darin Shapiro and Shaun Murray, to some of the legends of our sport such as Scott Byerly, C.C. Roberts and Dean Lavelle.

There was even a celebrity sighting that makes you realize just how popular wakeboarding has become. J.C., one of the members of the multi-platinum boy band, NSync, was seen browsing through the boards in the Hyperlite booth and eyeing the boats from Malibu and Toyota.

What's New for 2002?

One of the most impressive new products at the show had to be the rope retrieval system by Reelfly. These guys put a bunch of engineers together and came up with an innovative device that mounts on top of your tower where you'd normally attach a rope. The job of this little invention, the Cyclone, is to reel the rope in after your set. It rolls it up on an internal spindle with a little motor and accompanying remote control. It's a must have for those that have trouble with their rope tangling or just have lazy boat buddies that never get around to pulling in the rope. Unfortunately, it's not going to be available for a few more months and they have yet to set a price, but for now you can check it out on their website at www.reelfly.com.

Another must have for those that live in California, or other places that make it prohibitively difficult to install a permanent slider, is the portable and inflatable sliders from Rave Sports. They come in a wide variety of lengths (between 30 and 70 feet) and styles (rainbow, ramp, tabletop) and can be inflated and towed to any spot on your lake.

Also raising some eyebrows was the Stiffy Tower, which we've already told you about here on WakeWorld. It's an additional ten foot tower that's mounted on top of your existing tower and can put the rope attachment up as high as 20 feet off the water. This can provide an tremendous amount of extra lift and gives the rider the feel of cable riding or kiteboarding.

One of the biggest changes in board technology is the use of balsa wood for the core. Both Hyperlite and Liquid Force are introducing this technology in select 2002 model boards. The Hyperlite version is called the DNA core, while the Liquid Force offering is called Ultracore. The new cores are said to provide snappier pop, softer landings and lighter weight at a lower cost than honeycomb.

Also coming in with a new core offering is CWB. They've developed the Platinum core that uses a special foam that is lighter, yet maintains the strength of regular foam cores. At the same time, they've included two hollow fiberglass tubes with capped ends that run the length of the board within the foam core. As with the balsa cores, these are incorporated to provide snappier pop and softer landings.

You'll also want to keep your eye out for the new binding plate system from Hyperlite. Instead of using a full size under-binding plate with a plethora of holes in it, Hyperlite has gone to a toothed clamp system that reduces the size and weight of each of their bindings. Instead of standard binding bolts, they have their own special clamp/bolt that hold the binding in position. It's quite an innovative departure from the long-standing method of wakeboard binding mounts.

Another striking creation in the binding arena is on the Nice Lux binding. This model is a top/side entry boot with something called a Lever Lock that allows the rider to lift the front wrap off the surface of the binding plate on one side. Once your foot is in the binding, simply push the lever down until it locks in place. It's a little hard to describe, but the picture should help.

A new wrap design is available on the Liquid Force Exo Suction, a new model for 2002. It can be best described as a net or spider web type of wrap across the front of the binding that is adjustable at all four corners rather than the traditional two. The combination of the netting and the four adjustability points allows the rider to customize the wrap for their foot.

Nevin's got an interesting handle design that may interest wakeboarders looking for that extra edge. It's a carbon graphite core partially covered with EVA foam for a comfortable gripping surface. However, where this handle differs from others is in the way it attaches to the rope. The carbon fiber handle piece actually wraps around on the ends and continues on for a couple of inches towards the boat. With the stiff corners, it's more difficult for the rider to twist or roll the handle.

The fins on the new Liquid Force Subjekt may not immediately grab your attention. However, if you run your thumb along each of the four fins, you'll notice a cupped shape that is concave on the inside and convex on the outside. As Liquid Force design guru Jimmy Redmon put it, "Think about how hard it is to scoop dip with a flat potato chip. It's going to give way or break. Try dipping with a curled potato chip and you're going to be able to dig in deeper and scoop a lot more dip!" No word on whether or not the 2003 fins will have ridges.

Overall, the 2001 Wakeboard Expo brought us a lot more innovation than its year 2000 counterpart. It's great that wakeboarding continues to evolve at such a rapid pace. It will be interesting to see which of these innovations remains standing at the end of the year and which ones end up in the scrap heap. For more looks at the 2001 Wakeboard Expo, check out our Wakeboard Expo photo gallery. For specs and images on all the 2002 boards and bindings, keep an eye on our Board Guide and Binding Guide.

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