The season opening for European Wakeboarding couldn’t have been better. At Red Bull Wake The Line, more than 7000 spectators saw incredible Wakeboard action on a new level by top riders from all over the world. The obstacle setup built by UNIT Parktech including a massive quarter pipe at the end of the run offered space for tricks never seen before in wakeboarding.
Towed by Sesitec’s system 2.0, the four pools in the Stadionbad of Cologne made a total of 320 meters of wake heaven. In the superfinal, Keith Lidberg showed the best performance, finishing in front of Germany’s Bernhard Hinterberger and Shawn Watson.
Germany’s Jan Kissman came in first in the wakeskate division of Red Bull Wake The Line.
Kissmann had to make his way through the Warm-up session in Langenfeld, where he got his wildcard. With his technical skills on the rails and massive spin tricks at the kicker including a late backside 180 and a frontside 540, he was clearly the winner. Second place went to Leo Labadens from France and last year’s winner, Andy Kolb, came in third.
The winner of the Nike 6.0 best trick award was Kevin Calvez of France.
The rider lineup in the Wakeboard division of Red Bull Wake The Line included Europe’s biggest names like Bernhard Hinterberger (GER), Christian Koester (UK), David Vervenne (BEL) and Laurent Perychou (FRA); the lineup was completed by Parks Bonifay, Keith Lidberg and Collin Harrington. In the first duel at the head-to-head semi finals, Parks Bonifay had to ride against Bernhard Hinterberger. Both riders showed incredible runs with many similar tricks, including a 450 transfer on the A-Frame and nice quarter pipe action. However, with his crow mobe 5 over the last kicker, Bernhard overruled Parks’ whirlybird and made his way to the super finals.
There he met up with Collin Harrington, Keith Lidberg and Shawn Watson.
The 20-minute jam session was dominated by Keith Lidberg, who showed all his technical rail skills like big transfers, backside lip slides and tons of style in his kicker tricks. Last year’s second place finisher, Bernhard Hinterberger, repeated his place ahead of Shawn Watson, who won the best trick in the
quarter pipe.
The second edition of Red Bull Wake The Line has shown urban wakeboarding on a new level and opened doors for new tricks. Above all, the quarter pipe in combination with Sessitec’s System 2.0 was a brand new element that offered tons of possibilities.
