Relentless Wakestock WAW Girls Rail Jam 2009
2009 was the best year yet year for the girls at Wakestock especially with the WAW Girls Rail Jam in the main arena. Women’s wakeboarding was showcased for the first time at the heart of the festival site at the pool gap where the girls didn’t disappoint the crowd.
Right from the very start, this was a pretty exciting experience for the ladies; the stage, the crowd, the rails, the stunning view over Cardigan Bay and to top it off, the Red Arrows !! During practice time the crazy pilots’ death defying stunts, quite literally added rocket fuel to the girls practice session! With four current and former British Cable squad members in the girls’ comp and the accompanying ‘Dam Busters’ music for the display overhead, the practice session made for a very patriotic experience.
Most of the girls began the hour long ‘best trick wins’ contest tackling the central rooftop rail. With the least intimidating ollie onto the rail, it was the obvious starting point. It didn’t take long for the clear divide in experience of the riders to become apparent. Emily Bebbington (WWA World Rail Champ 09) Steph Caller and Elke Venken (Belgium) were stepping it up at a furious pace in a battle all of their own! The board slide over the rooftop rail was soon promoted to a 360 off the down rail, then gapped, then the girls quickly moved on to the C-rail and then the low rail with the massive ollie on, once their tricks were being matched.
The atmosphere was further electrified when each rider was treated to their very own improvised rap by the master MC Kent James, of which most is unrepeatable!! Matt Crowhurst showed his relentless support for the girls in wakeboarding by letting the crowd know all about their successes and the part they play in the current wakeboarding scheme of things, not to mention letting everyone at Wakestock know all about Wide-A-Wake !!
The more the crowd cheered, the more the girls raised their game and the onlookers were treated to the girls back lipping the rails, nose pressing, spinning and improving with every new attempt and every bigger cheer. Once Elke hit the C rail, Emily and Steph followed suit with Steph pulling off a slick 270 on to 270 out with the effortless style we’ve come to expect from the British cable rider. Emily’s nose press down the low rail was super smooth and boned out while Elke gapped the rooftop higher than any other with ballsy determination.
The girls were loving it, the crowd were loving it and the atmosphere was buzzing. The standard shown by the top riders at the start was soon matched by the less experienced riders Sarah Kingdom and Alexandria Gardiner, both successfully mastering the roof top with board slide to back lip 180 out and board slide to 360 respectively with the help of the hugely supportive crowd.
Ultimately, the judges decided that the top spot and cash prize would go to Steph Caller and then runners up Elke Venken and Emily Bebbington, all receiving a WAW goodie bag ram packed with WAW merchandise and goodies from our amazing supporters Shewee, L’Oreal Redken and Vitabiotics.
There was one final presentation before the ladies left the stage of the pool gap. The crowd were once again exposed to WAW with the feature HOTM. June 2009 winner Max Main was presented with his winners’ certificate, and posed with the Rail Jam girls which was followed swiftly by a pool dunking!!
The response and interest in wakeboarding from the crowd after the Girls Rail Jam proved what a great thing the girls did for women’s wakeboarding that evening; they made it credible and accessible. Well done Ladies. WAW extend huge thanks to Tim Woodhead and Helen Griffiths at Wakestock for giving WAW and the girls this great opportunity to put the female riders on the map. Already looking forward to next year’s event that promises to be bigger and better. Thanks to Tim Royle and Relentless for the video.
Wakestock 2009 Mash Up from Tim Royle on Vimeo.
“The rail jam was awesome… so cool to have all the girls riding together and egging each other on! Can’t wait for next year! : )” Steph Caller
“The crowd support was amazing! What an incredible stage for the girls to showcase their rail skills! Loved every second of it” Sarah Kingdom
“An awesome experience- an initial feeling of nerves then being overwhelmed with a mixture of adrenaline and exhilaration!! Too much fun!! When can I play again please ?? 
“ Alex Gardiner
Tuesday 28 July 2009 | Permalink
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