Wakeboarding proponents looking for California converts
By: SCOTT BAIR - Staff Writer | ∞
CARLSBAD ---- Doing flips on a water ski is hard.
Accumulating enough speed to go airborne isn't difficult, but landing on a plane barely wider than the human foot can be kind of tricky. Positioning must be just right to complete such a feat. A sudden rush of pain and a crashing fall, however, accompanies even the slightest technical mistake.
Such harsh consequences never kept Parks Bonifay from trying. Now 23, Bonifay spent numerous hours attempting to go big during his youth, and had a fair share of bumps and bruises to show for it.
A new innovation made Bonifay's thirst for extreme maneuvers much easier to quench around the time he turned 12. It was called a wakeboard, a wider water-riding apparatus with fins on either side that looked more like a skateboard than a water ski.
"I always liked doing flips, but that's not easy to do on a water ski," Bonifay said. "I fell a lot early trying to do things like that, but everything got much easier when wakeboards came out."
Bonifay was a good water-skier, but he's a great wakeboarder. The new technology allowed Bonifay to do the tricks he had always dreamed of but could never execute. He quickly rose to the top of the fledgling action sport, winning X Games and the Pro Wakeboard Tour season championship at age 14.
The sport rapidly gained popularity in Bonifay's home state of Florida and he quickly became the popular face of wakeboarding.
The sport, however, hasn't gone through the same surge in popularity here as it has on the East Coast. That's why Bonifay, a five-time tour season champion, came to the California Water Sports wakeboard school at Carlsbad Lagoon on Friday ---- to stir up local interest in the growing sport.
He came as part of the Hyperlite Tour, an eight-stop trip to the region's wakeboarding hot spots. Bonifay takes riders out on the water and gives them wakeboarding tips during these tour stops. After a few coaching sessions, he puts on a demonstration on the lagoon.
"I love doing this stuff," Bonifay said. "I really enjoy teaching the sport to kids and interacting with fans. These people are the ones who drive the sport and this is my chance to make sure they're taken care of."
Melissa Marquardt was trying to do the same thing on Thursday with the Liquid Force Tour Across America. The 20-year old took boatloads of young wakeboarders out for free instruction. The tour makes 65 stops across the country from April 15-Sept. 15 and different pros teach during different segments of the tour.
Marquardt, a Canyon Lake resident, headlines the Southern California swing and was a big hit in Carlsbad. She took group after group out on the water on Thursday afternoon and was a popular figure, especially with younger girls.
"There are a lot of young kids out here and I think that's really good for the sport," Marquardt said. "I like helping beginners out whenever I can. Sometimes I get island fever from being on a boat all day, but it's worth it because of what I'm doing."
The appearances also help validate Josh Cantor's new Carlsbad-based wakeboarding school as the premier wakeboarding spot in San Diego.
"I want to make this place a mecca for wakeboarding in this area and having the premier riders in the country teach here will hopefully help my school to reach that status," said Cantor, who was on the Liquid Force Trip Across America last year. "We want locals to know that this is the best spot for beginners who want to learn how to ride."
Free Flow Tour stops in Encinitas
The Free Flow Tour will make a stop at the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA in Encinitas today. The amateur skateboarding contest is scheduled to begin at noon and last until about 6 p.m. It is open to all skaters under the age of 18. Registration begins at 10 a.m. with a fee of $10 per person. The winner of the jam-style contest will be invited to the Action Sports Tour's Vans Invitational in Portland, Ore., in August to compete against the winners of all of the Free Flow Tour stops. The winner of that event will receive a wild-card exemption into the PlayStation Pro in Orlando, Fla., in October to compete against the pros.
Girls-only wakeboarding sessions begin soon
The California Water Sports wakeboarding school will offer a Girls Learn to Ride session every Wednesday beginning July 27 at Carlsbad Lagoon. The sessions run from 5 p.m. until dark and cost $20 per person.
Lasek wins, leads AST standings
Encinitas resident Bucky Lasek won the skate vert competition at the Right Guard Open, the second stop of the Dew Action Sports Tour, which took place from July 7-10 in Denver. Lasek won the event with a 92.50 on his third and final run. Encinitas resident Pierre Luc-Gagnon finished second with a 91.75 and Carlsbad native Shaun White placed third with a 91.50. Lasek now leads the overall standings of the five-stop tour with 175 points, while White is in second with 163.
Other AST winners:
On the tube
No televised events scheduled.
Local events
The Action Sports Column runs every other Saturday. To suggest story ideas, report upcoming local events or offer general comments, contact Scott Bair at (760) 739-6642 or sbair@nctimes.com.
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