Winter Jam

It is the 2nd March 2011, it is early morning, and across the country Droopy eyed Students are dragging themselves out of bed in-order to make their way to Uniwake’s 1st event of the season, Winter Jam 2011.

The Location? Liquid Leisure, just outside Dachet, Berkshire. The sun is shining and there is a light breeze, the temperature? 6 degrees… however the temperature seemed to have no effect on the beaming smiles of the 100 or so students waiting to jump on the water!

The Day was started with a quick briefing and run through of the days events before the 1st 50 students suited up and headed over to the cable for their 1hr free ride. Meanwhile the remaining 50 or so riders who had to wait until 1 to catch their free ride stocked up on vital ‘keeping warm’ calories using the kiosk outside the Liquid Leisure clubhouse, serving the student favourite burgers with chips.

After both groups had finished their free ride sessions, it was straight onto the Jam Comps. It all started with the Men’s beginner comp, seeing nearly 30 riders line-up on the dock to show off their best in the 40minute time slot. There were strong performances from all the riders, giving the judging team a difficult decision at the end of the session. It was then time for Chris Carroll to line up the Women’s beginners for the next Jam to run straight after, it was clear that the cold conditions were taking their toll on any exposed skin, with riders sheltering from the wind the best they could between rides. However this didn’t stop the girls putting their all into their riding, impressing the judges who by this time had come to grips with the complex task of judging such a busy cable.

After both beginner jams had been run it was time to run the Intermediate Men’s, it was clear that no-one was going to hold back, this made for some spectacular 1st attempts from riders and all those watching could be heard as they cheered and gasped as riders threw themselves into the right hand kicker.

The final Wakeboard Jam was a mixed session, with the Women’s intermediate, and advance categories riding alongside the Men’s Advanced category. By now the majority of riders had managed to leave the comfort of the hot sauna and hot showers to return to the dock to support the riders. They were rewarded with a beautiful evening sun and a non-stop stream of impressive manoeuvres from everyone on the cable. This was also photography primetime and everyone who’d brought a camera was scrambling around the lake, trying to capture the awesome spectacle that the evening sun had created, much to the annoyance of the judges, who find silhouettes difficult to identify.

The last Jam was reserved for the Wakeskaters. Not to be out done by the Wakeboarders they had to follow. It was 30mins of amazement as the constant stream of riders from water to dock marched passed, it seemed, not fazed by the cold one bit, and after a few near misses by everyone the judges had made their decisions and it was time to close the cable and grab a well earned drink.

The day was coming to an end, there was enough time to pack away everyone’s gear and grab a pint from the bar before the Uniwake committee started off the Prize giving (results listed below), but not before some Special thanks were in order.

Uniwake would like to thank:

C-Skins – http://www.c-skins.com/home?c=eu
Vexed Apparel - http://www.vexedapparel.co.uk/
Faltown Skateboards - http://faltownskateboards.com/
Beach Break Live - http://www.beachbreaklive.com/

All for Donating Prizes!

Uniwake would also like to Thank our Pro Photography supporters ExPix (http://www.expix.co.uk/) for covering the event, All of the photos from the event are available for purchase through their site. (And there are some Cracking shots)
Finally Uniwake would like to thank Relentless not only for giving us the Energy Drinks which help wake up before riding but for supporting Uniwake, and making it possible for us to run these events.

Men’s Beginners

1st – Gary Willis
2nd – Will James
3rd – Seb Whealing

Women’s Beginners

1st – Izzy Bristol
2nd – Hannah Martell
3rd – Harriet Rosethorn

Men’s Intermediate

1st – Liam Procter
2nd – Tim Thio
3rd – Lloyd Holmes

Women’s Advanced

1st – Abbie Jones
2nd – Kirsty Ford

Men’s Advanced

1st – James Whiting
2nd – Tom Taylor
3rd – Ali Barrett

Wakeskate

1st – Simon Powell
2nd - Chris Venus
3rd – Lloyd Holmes