Welcome to Wakeboarding New Zealand

Auckland Wakeboarding now has a tower on the club boat from our biggest club sponser OLOGY. Paul of OLOGY is putting a lot of energy into our sport and now our club is benefitting greatly from his company Thanks OLOGY our club boat looks and goes awesome. So remember if you need a tower please try www.ology.co.nz AUCKLAND WAKEBOARDING Panmure Basin

26th March 2007

Autumn is officially here and the wakeboarding season this year has proven to be a ripper with new events and an increase in rider participation.
January and February were incredibly busy with an event nearly every weekend .

Great to see the Groms Series officially take off and hopefully this will encourage all the young up and coming riders to have a go. Great event Darren hopefully you will continue the great work next year.

The NZ Wakeboard Nationals was held in the South Island for the first time ever .Awesome event and great to see that so many North island riders were able to go down and participate.Also great to see some top overseas riders take up the challenge against our top riders.

The first ever North Island Champs was also held at Karapiro, not to mention the Tairua Pipemasters,Pairere Wakeboard Comp and Wake Up in Clive.

And from what I understand we are likely to see more from wakeskating and the possibility of some organized events.

Waipuna Waterski Club is well under way for hosting the Auckland Wakeboarding Club thanks to Glen Ellis and the committee. This will be an awesome base for all Auckland riders wanting to hit sliders and kickers. Information will be forwarded as things progress.

Wakeboard NZ has also held a Judges course and Coach the Coaches course this season and if you are interested in any courses like this please contact the committee.

Myself and Kevin are standing down from the executive this year but would like to thank all wakeboarders for their support in getting the sport up and running. Without the co-operation and enthusiasm of the riders there would be no sport. We won’t be far away as I am sure that Ben will be riding for a few years yet. You’re a great group of guys to work with so get out there and promote the sport some more!

Amanda Carter
Retiring WNZ Secretary

Past news

Waikato River Update
Wakeboard NZ has on behalf of all wakeboarders and associated business’s worked with the Waipa District Council and Environmental Waikato to alter the suggested bylaw change put forward by the council for the 2006 Navigational Safety Bylaws.

The original bylaw for the 2006 booklet was to read :

The use of wakeboards within 200m of any river bank or lake shore within the region shall be prohibited.

After legal advice was sort and negotiations with Environment Waikato the amended bylaw as of July 06 reads :

Every person who propels or navigates any vessel must ensure that its wake or the wake from any person or object being towed does not cause unnecessary danger or risk of damage to other vessels, structure, or harm to other persons, even in circumstances where there has been a speed uplifting.
Note: The use of ballasted vessels in some cases is considered to cause larger than normal wake therefore all due care should be taken by the operator of any ballasted vessel so as not to create an unnecessary danger or risk of damage to other vessels, structures, or harm to other persons.

This is obviously a very favourable change to the bylaw for all wakeboarders that use the waikato river, but a good reminder to all boat drivers that they must be considerate to all others on the water when you do put up a big wake.

This is a wake up call to all riders to abide by the EW bylaws and not to antagonize the aurthorities if you wish to enjoy the exceptional waters of the Waikato.

The Waikato river is in great demand by all the water sports and infringements to the safety of its users ,is the biggest issue that the council look out for.

Be safe when towing riders so that we do not loose the use of a great wakeboarding river!

A big thankyou to “Ralph” for all the time he has put into negotiations with the aurthorities – a job well done on behalf of Wakeboard NZ.

Drug Useage
As the sport grows Sparc has become aware of the use of drugs to enhance preformance.
Wakeboarding now has 2 Carded Atheletes - Andrea Fountain and Brad Smeele who have been paid atheletic grants for their wakeboarding and hence we are now more in the spotlight.
Individuals could be required to produce a urine sample at any given event to rule out the use of drugs - particularly at National Level events. ( we would not have prior knowledge of this testing until 10 minutes before the testing is done ). They have sent this poster that we feel should be displayed on the website as an overview for all serious sports players with a short explanation.
This keeps the competition fair for all players.

Download the poster