Whoever said you need sea legs to wakeboard? Check out Amputee Sean Reyngoudt wakeboarding at the Ski Rixen. The crazy thing is is, he isn’t alone. In fact, water sports is a rapidly growing hobby for amputees. And many of them are better than their able-bodied peers.
Amputee Sean Reyngoudt Wakeboarding at the Ski Rixen from UpDown Productions on Vimeo.
Just a quick post to say hello and welcome to all the new members who have joined us recently (you know who you are!).
We are still recruiting for the 2013 season so if you like join us for some water skiing, wake boarding, wake skating or bare footing we would love to hear from you – it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, a novice or a veteran, we cater for all ages and abilities. We are one of the friendliest clubs and one of the best value to boot – remember we are non-profit and run by volunteers, no shareholders to please!
Let us know if you would like to check out our facilities, the more the merrier so far as members go.
A big thank you to Dave Lewis for clearing the slipway down at the club today. It was quite deep in sand/mud but it should be good for a long time now – ready to launch lots of boats in 2013!
Following our AGM last weekend we are now taking on members for the 2013 season. This is an ideal time to join Deeside Wakeboard and Waterski Club as it is the very start of the wakeboard and water ski season.
We have updated the relevant links on our Join page including an updated membership form (all members need to complete this form) and a list of our fees, which represent excellent value.
We are a friendly club and welcome everyone, young and old, from beginners to experts.
We are holding our 2013 AGM on Sunday 14th April at 2.30pm. Please be early to have a chat first and to reserve a seat, it may be busy!
We encourage both members and non-members to attend this meeting, as we will be discussing the agenda for the club for the forthcoming season. If you are thinking of joining for 2013 it will be a good opportunity to come along and meet some of the club committee and other members, take look round the club and check out our facilities. If existing members know anyone who may like to come along in view of joining, please feel free to invite them, too.
After the meeting we will be taking payments for this years membership, forms will be available within the club. Please have your email address & contact details handy so we can add it to our database.
We will have a lot to discuss as usual – see you there!
Hopefully you will know the difference between a Board and Bindings. But do you know the difference between a Monkey and a Mobe? Or how about an Ole’ and a Stargazer?
Not entirely sure? Fear not! We recently came across a useful resource the other day in the shape of a Wakeboarding Glossary on the Wakeboarder.com website. So the next time you hear a word and you’re not familiar with the lingo you have something to use as a reference. Be careful though – communicating with nothing other than the language detailed in the glossary could be detrimental to your popularity (either that or it means you’ve been doing too much wakeboarding, if there is such a thing…)
Click here to view the original Wakeboarding Glossary on Wakeboarder.com
Numerous Liverpool-based news resources including ItsLiverpool.com and the Liverpool Echo covered a story last week about a cable wakeboarding facility being created on the Albert Dock as a permanent feature. This follows a temporary wakeboarding cable which was erected at the Albert Dock between 18th April and 8th May in 2011.
We recently mentioned that there are discussions about introducing a Cable Wakeboarding facility in Rhyl. Well, it looks like there are also discussions about introducing a similar facility in Liverpool.
The company behind this move is Industry Wake Parks, which has helped create 15 wakeboard park previously, although this will be the first park the company has ran by itself. Red Bull energy drink and Sport England are sponsoring part of the the development, which plans to cater for around 30 people a day, operating from the existing Liverpool Watersports Centre.
This is obviously good news for our club. Deeside Wakeboard and Waterski Club doesn’t offer cable skiing/wakeboarding, however a number of our members regularly partake in this, using DWWC for their fix of being towed by a boat. A wakeboarding facility in Liverpool is arguably better for our members than one in Rhyl, as Liverpool is marginally closer than Rhyl, although it would be great to get both!
A video from 2011 can be found here:
Sadly our water isn’t this blue, nor do we have helicopters, but we do recognise a good edit when we see one.
Cable Wakeboarding is being considered by the International Olympic Committee for inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games. This story has been covered in the mainstream media recently (including the BBC and Daily Mail) so we thought we would follow it up.
In times gone by the Olympics included Tug o’ war, Rope Climbing and Live Pigeon Shooting
Over time, the list of Olympic sports changes. Women’s Boxing was added at London 2012. In 2016, when the games are held in Rio de Janeiro, Golf and Rugby sevens will be added. In times gone by the Olympics included Tug o’ war, Rope Climbing and Live Pigeon Shooting, although these have all since been removed.
Sports are added and removed by the Olympic Committee, who are working closely with the World Wakeboard Association about introducing wakeboarding. They consider a wide range of factors including popularity and entertainment. Cable Wakeboarding is an ideal candidate because it’s popularity is growing at a phenomenal rate. It is also hugely entertaining to watch, being visually impressive with aerial tricks and use of obstacles, much like to snowboarding which was introduced in Nagano in 1998.
Originally there were 12 sports being considered for inclusion at the 2020 Olympic Games. This list has since been whittled down to 7, so there is a genuine possibility that wakeboarding might become an Olympic sport and we are very excited about this. The UK has a lot of home-grown talent, particularly in younger age categories, so there is a strong chance that Team GB could come away with some medals if wakeboarding were introduced.
We don’t offer Cable Wakeboarding at DWWC, we only use boats, but we are 100% behind promoting it. Many of our members are big fans of cable wakeboarding and enjoy this past time in conjunction with what we offer.
We are keeping our fingers crossed that cable wakeboarding makes the grade. The Olympics is the ultimate platform for promoting any sport, encouraging people to try things like wakeboarding which are healthy and fun. There are 3 cities in the running to host the 2020 Olympics - Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid – the winner of which will be confirmed on 7th September this year.
If cable wakeboarding was there we would be delighted.
There is a rumour that a Cable Wakeboarding facility might be coming to Ryhl as part of a £16 million regeneration strategy. The following statement is from a pdf document detailing the Rhyl Going Forwards project on the Denbigshire County Council Website.
“Consideration is being given to how the water sports provision can be improved at Marine Lake to enhance its reputation and appeal as a visitor attraction. There is also work progressing to try and achieve Blue Flag status for the Marine Lake. We will continue to explore funding opportunities to implement these proposals.”
RhylNewswire.com adds further information, with Rhyl Going Forward programme manager Tom Booty stating “We’re in discussions with a leisure operator about a ski-drag. It will be used to drag water-skiers or wakeboarders around the lake. Water quality in Marine Lake is good, so another attraction has been secured.”
A computer mock-up of the regeneration plans for Rhyl can be found here
