Here’s a sneak peek at new wakeboards and wakeboard bindings from Byerly, Company, CWB, Hyperlite, Liquid Force, Ronix and Slingshot, including pro model gear from Aaron Rathy, Adam Errington, Andrew Adkison, Randall Harris, Shaun Murray, and Shawn Watson.
Byerly Boards Conspiracy wakeboard
($480; byerlyboards.com)
To design Aaron Rathy’s first-ever pro model wakeboard, Byerly Boards shaper Scott “Butch” Bouchard combined aspects of the Byerly Assault and Monarch, the two boards Rathy has ridden since joining Team Byerly earlier this year. The result is a board that rides super-loose, yet locks in when on edge. “When you hop on that board and you’re just butter sliding and playing around, it’s by far the loosest board we’ve ever made,” Bouchard says. “But once you get it on edge, it tracks and pops much better than even the Monarch.” Befitting a rider who is as strong as Rathy, the Conspiracy is also super-tough. While it’s the thinnest Byerly board ever, the Conspiracy features the same reinforced sidewall construction that made the Assault’s edges impervious to hits from a hammer. To complete its theme of blending styles, the Conspiracy features a Son Duong-designed graphic that mixes Byerly’s tradition of super-detailed art with Assault-style splashes of vibrant color.
Slingshot Reflex wakeboard
($429; slingshotwake.com)
For 2010, Slingshot is making its most progressive rail board even more rail-friendly. In addition to the Reflex’s existing slider technology – which includes Slingshot’s Future Response Technology, ABS sidewalls and super-strong Dura Base – the 2010 edition also features the company’s new Slide Rite chined rails, which help prevent catching or blowing out the board’s edges. For the cable shredders, Slingshot is also introducing the Reflex CE, which features posi-core flexible molded-in fins that provide extra grip on the water while you’re slaying rail after rail.
Ronix Bill wakeboard
($400; ronixwake.com)
Adam Errington’s new pro model wakeboard, Bill, is designed to excel at the Orlando ripper’s two favorite homes – behind the boat and at the cable park. “It’s a great all-around board for the wake,” says Ronix head honcho Paul O’Brien. “Yet it can get a ton of angle and generate a lot of speed at a cable and is the most durable board we’ve ever built for sliders.” In keeping with its dual focus, the Bill comes with eight interchangeable fins – four designed for the wake and four of Ronix’s new Slider Series fins, which feature a wider profile, flatter bottom and cable-tested construction. The Bill also boasts Ronix’s jib-friendly sintered snowboard base, which O’Brien says is the most durable compound the company has ever tested on rails.
Liquid Force Watson Hybrid wakeboard
($450; liquidforce.com)
Liquid Force co-founder and shaper Jimmy Redmond says the new Watson Hybrid wakeboard is the most technologically advanced board he’s ever made. “We poured every new thing we could into it,” Redmond says. “A new core, new fiberglass as well as new, innovative sidewall.” The result is a board that marries the lively flexibility of a wood and PVC core with the leading-edge hull design Redmond spent his career developing, hence the hybrid moniker. Redmond and Shawn Watson also collaborated on the longtime Liquid Force rider’s new “regular” pro model, refining that board’s base design. “When we went to make his hybrid board, I couldn’t imagine throwing out all the design characteristics of his regular board,” Redmond says. “This takes everything of that bottom and combines it with flex technology. Here’s a board that works whether you’re riding wake to wake or from rail to rail.”
Hyperlite Murray Nova board
($700; hyperlite.com)
A completely personalized stance – that’s the promise of Hyperlite’s new Strata track system, which is available on a number of the company’s 2010 boards, including Shaun Murray’s new pro model. “It gives you an infinite amount of options for where you want your stance,” Murray says. “Before, with the insert pattern, if you wanted to be halfway between two inserts, you couldn’t do that. With Strata, you can have it exactly like you want it.” Strata’s benefits don’t end at unlimited stance adjustment, however. Murray says the system acts like a stringer, adding snap off the wake and helping to soften landings.
Company Vandall wakeboard
($TBD; companywake.com)
The new Vandall wakeboard is the centerpiece of Company rider/owner Randall Harris’ new signature gear series, which also includes boots, rope and handle. Inspired, tested and approved by Harris, the Vandall’s design reflects its namesake’s hard-charging style of riding. Its aggressive continuous rocker yields a fast ride while the double concave V hull helps soften landings on Harris’ notoriously huge moves into the flats.
CWB Board Co. AA boots
($400; ridecwb.com)
Despite owning one of the most successful binding technologies in wake history (Hinge), CWB completely rethought its top five boots for 2010. The company refined its base plate, significantly reduced weight and made those five boots — Answer, Faction, women’s Ember and the brand-new Marius and AA — a whole lot prettier. It even reinvented its most successful invention, introducing a third generation of its perfect-fit-focused Hinge technology. All that innovation yielded a boot Andrew Adkison can just forget about. “I like to put on my boots and forget about them in every aspect,” he says. The AA, Adkison’s first-ever pro model boot, reflects that no-worries mantra from the flip-it-and-forget-it function of the new Hinge at the back of the boot to the three quick-tightening Velcro straps at the front. “With Velcro, they’re not going to loosen up on you,” Adkison says. “So you’re not going to take a 20-minute set and have your heel shifting around.”
