Team Nautique - Waterski, Wakeboarding, Wakeskate Athletes

You’ve had some incredible performances so far in the ’09 season. Tell us about some of your stand out moments.
 This 2009 season has been unreal! It started out qualifying for the Junior Masters in early spring time. Then I competed at the Junior Masters and got to enjoy the magic of Robin Lake and the challenge it offered.  I skied in the prelims and scored 2@39off - tying the course record.  It put me in the top seed position for the finals. I ended up being able to pull out the win which was an awesome start to the season! The next weekend I went to Lago Santa Fe in Texas to compete in the Junior U.S. Open. In the prelims I was top seed for slalom and skied 3.5@ 39off, setting a new Junior U.S. Open course record. In the finals I went out knowing I needed 2 @ 38 to take the title; I ran 38 and was stoked to have taken the win in back-to-back weekends. From there, I hoped to keep the momentum and take gold at States and Regional, and I did.  I finished up the season with a National title and it was the end of a great season.

How does it feel to have achieved so much in your career at such a young age? 
It is a huge blessing to be able to have achieved this much at a young age. I believe it will give me more confidence going into the new season. I owe a lot to my family for always supporting me as well as my sponsors, like Nautique boats for getting me a great boat to train behind and HO Skis for getting me great skis to ride.

You’ve gotten to experience the Ski Nautique 200 at the Nautique factory and in a recent photo shoot. What’s your experience been like with this new boat?
The boat feels awesome; people will love skiing behind it. From the wakes to the spacious interior of the boat. The engineers at Nautique made the best boat ever!

What are your thoughts on the rest of this season? 
This season has been incredible and I am now training hard for the Under 21 Worlds in Mexico this fall.  I am planning to go down there and give if it all I’ve got. After that, it’s back to some rigorous off season training.

What do you like best about your Nautique? 
The best thing I like about my Ski Nautique is the fact that when I ski the boat produces the best pull I can imagine. With that being said, it makes every ski set enjoyable. It always makes me want to go out for more and more ski rides. The adrenaline high is always there and keeps me continually on the water. 

To learn more about K.C., visit http://www.teamnautique.com/ski_KCWilson.html

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You recently became the first ever amateur rider to sweep the Junior Pro Men’s division in the PWT. How does it feel?
It feels amazing of course. I am still pinching myself to make sure this season was real and it all wasn’t some big fantasy.

What’s the best feeling you’ve had in your career so far?
Landing the Billion Dollar Baby. No trick has ever taken more attempts — how many people get to claim they have invented a trick.

What do you like best about being on Team Nautique?
The boat, staff, riders, and atmosphere — so pretty much I like everything about Team Nautique.

Tell us your favorite joke.
I don’t tell jokes! I may say something funny here and there but I am no jokester.

What’s next for you?
President of the United States of America. Not a joke.

To learn more about Bob, visit http://www.teamnautique.com/wake_RobertSoven.html

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This morning some of the band members of OAR came to the Nautique factory to preview the Ski Nautique 200. Check out some of the photos below from their visit.

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Many of the Team Nautique riders received awards last night at the 2009 Wake Awards for their outstanding riding performances over the past year. Check out the list below:

“On Point” Wakeboarder: Bob Soven

Voted up-and-coming rider that had the most impact over the past year and has poised himself to become a major player in the future of wakeboarding

Best Wake Rider: Danny Harf

Voted best rider who kills it on wake-to-wake moves and double ups through ability, innovation and style.

Best Video Performance – Wakeboard: Danny Harf

Awarded to both the rider and producer, with consideration given to both the level of riding and filming/editing; Danny received this award for his wakeboarding performances in Billabong’s “Out of the Pond” video.

Rail Master: J.D. Webb

Voted the rider who stands out most on all kinds of rails by showing a good mix of technical and stylish riding.

Best Wakeboarder: Aaron Rathy

Awarded to someone who rides better than everyone else and excels in every aspect of wakeboarding, from wake moves to rails to double-ups

Oakley’s Move of the Year – Wakeboarding: Aaron Rathy – Wrapped Heelside Backside 1080

Awarded to someone with the single most impressive, sickest, innovative and progressive wakeboarding move pulled all year.

Congratulations, guys!

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When you work several years to create a new boat, you may feel really good about the progress but don’t know for sure whether the boat has truly hit its mark until you receive feedback from the public.  Our team at Nautique believed the new Ski Nautique was incredible but we still needed to display it to the public; we specifically wanted to get comments from the World and US National Championship crowds.

Nautique’s marketing team did a great job of slowly releasing information and showing just enough to wet peoples’ appetites.  This is awesome, but in real life we have to not only make sure that a lot of people talk about our new product, but also make sure that they are happy with the way the boat performs on the water.  As they say, this is where the rubber meets the road.

I just returned from the world premiere of the Ski Nautique 200 in Calgary World Championships last week, followed by the US Nationals and Big Dawg Finals, where the 200 was also featured.  I can say with confidence: the past two weeks were the best I have ever experienced promoting a boat.

At the Worlds, we were dealing with many different personalities and cultures. Skiers had seen the promotion of the boat and how good it looked, and sometimes it is human nature to come see the boat with pre-conceived notions of what can and cannot work in a ski boat.

I loved this because all week I got to watch as people had the opportunity to use, drive and ski behind the new Ski Nautique 200. I would watch these people become a little dumbfounded when they realized that the new Ski Nautique 200 is everything we have said it is.  What is even more fun is to listen to so many people experience the boat and immediately become huge fans and promoters of the Ski Nautique 200.

As I write this, the US Nationals are still going on. While we are not using the Ski Nautique 200 in the Nationals, we do have boats available on practice lakes for skiers to experience.  At the Nationals so far, we have received the same feedback: Nautique has taken ski boats to a new level.  But don’t just take my word for it; experience it for yourself, but beware, you will be spoiled and will immediately want a new Ski Nautique 200!

The Big Dawg Finals will be the first tournament to use the Ski Nautique 200 in competition and I am excited to hear the feedback.  It has been a whirlwind six months with final testing, presentation to the dealers, Worlds, Nationals, Big Dawg Finals, and now the 200 in all the fall events.

We have an increased excitement around Nautique for waterskiing; I am thankful for such a great team.

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