Waterski Tournament Season is Over

We all competed in the final tournament of the South Carolina INT Tour this weekend. The kids have come a long way this summer and mom and dad now spend more time spectating/driving than skiing.

When the season began Nathan and Maddie were both competing in "Kneeboard Mini Outlaw" and for the most part were just following the boat around the lake. They both competed in Kneeboard Mini Outlaw all season and Maddie ultimately won the South Carolina State title defeating her brother at all the events except one which was a tie. Nathan is more of a free rider and believes in the saying "go big or go home" so he doesn't waste much time on those easy tricks which add up and enabled Maddie to one up him.

Nathan also competed in the Slalom Jr Novice division at all of the events. He had never skiid behind the boat before the first event but wanted to try it any way. He wasn't able to get up at the first event but he has continued to improve. He is a little more focused on wakeboarding than slalom right now, though. None the less, he scored several bouys at the last tournament and finished the season in second place overall. Maddie has expressed no interest in skiing, so she sits this event out for now.

Nathan and Maddie both took up wakeboarding about 2 months ago. Nathan competed in his first wakeboard tournament several weeks ago but this was the first for Maddie. They were not sure if she was the youngest competitor they have ever had wakeboard but they were pretty sure she was the youngest girl (and a crowd favorite). Nathan has really taken to wakeboarding... 2 months ago he didn't have a wakeboard much less had ever ridden one. Now he is he's riding with confidence and improving quickly. Nathan finished 3rd at this event ahead of Maddie and a little boy that his been riding for nearly 2 years. There is stiff competition in this division (wakeboard mini outlaw). The winner of this division also won the Nationals earlier this year and was pushed hard at every event by the boy who finished second...

Heather and I also slalomed at each event. Heather won every event in her division and ultimately the state title. I too won the state title in my division but I did get beat early in the season. We would both improve if we ever got a chance to ski... the kids are taking up all the water time. When we first started going out as a family we each got a turn to ski but somewhere along the line Mommy and Daddy started getting left out of the rotation.

-Dean

Nathan's First Wakeboard tournament and the Interview

Nathan competed in his first wakeboard tournament this weekend. He just started wakeboarding a few weeks ago. We couldn't get decent video because of the distance from the beach to the course.

Maddie Barefootin'

It won't be long...

Maddie is getting more comfortable with the speed... she still complains when I try to push the speed up but she's complaining at 5-8 mph rather than 2 mph.

More time on the water to get used to the speed and continue to work on form and by the end of the summer she could be skiing... barefooting that is.

Nathan is a wakeboarder

Nathan progressed from wakeboarding on the boom to riding behind the boat today. Woooo! He is also slalom skiing on the boom. It'll probably be a while before we try putting him on a rope. He gets frustrated and I'm sure the transition to a rope will be a little harder than it has been with the wakeboard.

Maddie is still a little timid. She's wakeboarding on the boom but still struggling to get up and isn't very comfortable. She is still boycotting skis.

Maddie Shreddin' the Gnar

Maddie got a new wakeboard yesterday and had to try it out today. Both her and Nathan did really good and are popping right up while skiing on the boom. Maddie did catch a toe side edge once and was ready to get back in the boat but I got her to ride the kneeboard to keep her in the water. Nathan is now skiing on combo's behind the boat and we hope to start working with him on a slalom off the boom soon. We haven't been able to get Maddie on the skis much... she's a little timid.

Here is some video from today... Youtube stripped the audio out. If you want to here some Jimmy Buffet with the video you can download the original video here http://dummitt.net/Skiing%2006-13-09.wmv