Cowtown Wakepark, a new cable wakeboarding park near downtown Fort Worth, is set to open on the Trinity River by April 2011. Cowtown Wakepark is the brain child of Fort Worth area resident and longtime wakeboarding die-hard Tommy Fambrough.
“I have been working on getting this cable park going for over three years, and I am really happy we have the deal 100 percent done and are finally breaking ground,” Fambrough says. “When I had the idea for a cable, I called the people that I most respect in the wakeboarding industry to help out, and we have a fantastic team of people involved in Cowtown.”
Fambrough has enlisted what he calls a Dream Team of wakeboard experts to form his advisory board. The board will ensure Cowtown represents the true core of the sport and offers exactly what the modern-day wakeboarder craves.
First on the board is Liquid Force founder Tony Finn.
“I love cable wakeboarding for lots of different reasons, but the main one is that it allows tons of people to really enjoy the sport we love for not that much money,” Finn says. “We are bringing wakeboarding to the great community of Fort Worth, and we are going to do our best to provide them with a super-enjoyable experience, both on and off the water!’’
Next, Luis Villafuerte Jr., owner of CamSur Watersports Complex in the Philippines, brings expertise specific to cable wakeboarding parks. The CamSur Watersports Complex is recognized as one of the world’s best cable parks, thanks to a collection of unique wakeboarding obstacles, first-class accommodations and an exotic experience you just can’t find in the Western World. Villafuerte and the CamSur Watersports Complex have hosted many world-class events, like the World Wake Park Championships, and attracted boat and cable wakeboarders from every corner of the globe.
The board also includes German businessman Karsten Krey, who has run one of the best cable parks in the world — Wasserski Langenfeld near Dusseldorf, Germany — since 1977. Langenfeld is highly regarded throughout Europe as the benchmark for customer service both on and off the water. It has an excellent lakeside restaurant, beach bar and pro shop, all of which compliment the main cable attraction. Its presence has made wakeboarding so popular, that the location now boasts three additional full-size cable lakes in order to service the vibrant wakeboarding community they have undoubtedly created.
Mike Olson, owner of Kansas City Watersports and the U.S. distributor for the cable manufacturer Ski Rixen, is also a member of the Cowtown Wakepark advisory board.
“I have seen hundreds if not thousands of potential wakeboard cable sights in the U.S., and I have met lots of people who want to start cables,” Olson says. “I can tell you without a doubt that Cowtown will be a premiere park in the U.S. and the world. The location is awesome, the support from the local government is strong, and the management team is as good as it gets. You can expect great things from Cowtown Wakepark!”
Other advisory board members include Peter Kennedy, owner of Cincinnati’s Wake Nation, and Paul Bialick, owner of Texas Ski Ranch.
Cowtown Wakepark has also received support from the Trinity River Vision Authority, the organization responsible for revitalizing this section of the Trinity River.
‘’Cowtown Wakepark will be one of the shining stars of the dynamic improvements happening on the Trinity River right now” says JD Granger, Executive Director of the Trinity River Vision Authority. “We are very excited to have teamed up with the best people in the field of wakeboarding and we are working diligently to help make Cowtown Wakepark the premiere wakeboarding facility in the world. We want everybody in Fort Worth to be able to experience the fun of wakeboarding, and Cowtown makes it affordable for everyone in Fort Worth to take up the sport.”
Cowtown Wakepark will open prior to April 2011, but you can stay up to date on the park at CowtownWakepark.com.
