Abersoch and Pwllheli were besieged with wakeboarding fans as the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales played host once again to Wakestock.

Renowned for having the narliest rails, Wakestock 2014 was no exception. For those who missed the practise day on Thursday, the qualifiers on Friday gave the wakeboarders chance to get their first glimpse of what Wakestock had in store for them.

First up and it was over to Glasfryn Wake Parc for the Wakestock Rail Europeans qualifiers. With the installation of some new features, the 5 obstacles System 2.0 course at Glasfryn was tight. Made of hard mental and brought over from a snowboard park; the Missile Jib, or as it was more ‘affectionately’ known, The Bomb/The Bullet/The love Missile looked daunting. Hitting it straight on or from the side; if it went wrong it was going to hurt! Add to that the Kicker, Flat Bar, The Leviathan/Big White Whale and Incline to Barrel Jib/Barrel Williams and you needed to be a decent rider to get the combos in.

In the evening and it was time for Offaxis to show off their brand new Nautique G23 boat as the Wakestock Boat qualifiers got under way at Pwllheli Marina. With the Marina almost empty as the riders arrived, the custom built rail looked bigger than ever and the kicker looked huge. Australian wakeboarder, Scotty Broom, was the first to go full length on the rail and not content with that decided to hit the rail from the opposite direction up on his return leg.

The Fox Big Air contest took place on Abersoch Beach on Saturday morning. With prizes for the best trick, best fancy dress outfit, best trick from a local rider and biggest crash; this is always a crowd pleaser! But with several youngsters attempting big tantrums, 5’s & 7’s and throwing down the gauntlet to the pros, this year things got serious! CK Koester took the win with his huge backside 5.

Sunday and it was finals day. But with a heavy night on the festival site on Saturday and very little sleep, the 7.00 am start down at Pwllheli Marina for the Wakestock Boat Finales was challenging. And for some running out of battery on their mobile phones proved costly; no battery = no alarm, no alarm = no quarter final heats, & no quarter final heats = no chance of making the finals, ouch!

This year’s new wave of younger riders competing at Wakestock caused uneasy ripples through the ranks. The thought of riding against and losing out to the likes of 13 year old Luca Kidd, who showed fearless determination, spurred the ‘Old Guard’ on. With nothing to lose and everything to play for, Luca Kidd who had already been seen ripping it up in the Fox Big Air got through to both the boat finals.

After a short break, the action continued at Glasfryn in the afternoon with the Wakestock Rail Europeans Finals and Wakestock Wakeskate Jam. Once again Luca Kidd’s riding earned him a place in the final, whilst Ollie Moore took wakeskating to a whole new level.

With the competitions over it was time for the results:

Boat Results: Wakestock Boat
Men’s 1st Place – David O’Caoimh
Men’s 2nd Place – Dan Nott
Men’s 3rd Place – Sam Carne

Women’s 1st Place – Megan (Megzy) Barker
Women’s 2nd place – Sian Hurst
Women’s 3rd Place – Katie Batchelor

Results: Fox Big Air
CK Koester

Results: Wakestock Rail Europeans
European Finals
Men’s 1st Place – Louis Floyd
Men’s 2nd Place – Lee Debuse
Men’s 3rd Place –Mitch Langfield

Women’s 1st Place – Sophie Cordery
Women’s 2nd Place – Steph Caller
Women’s 3rd Place – Katie Batchelor

Results: Wakestock Wakeskate Jam
1st Place – Ollie Moore

Huge congratulations to the 2014 Wakestock Champions:
David O’Caoimh, Megzy Barker & CK Koester
And
2014 Wakestock Rail Europeans Champions:
Louis Floyd & Sophie Cordery
And
2014 Wakestock Wakeskate Jam winner:
Ollie Moore

Also massive congratulations to the 2014 National Junior Ladies Champion, 17 year old Katie Batchelor who took 2 Wakestock podium places; definitely one to look out for in the future. And last but certainly not least, Luca Kidd; kid by size and name, but one hell of a huge wakeboarder!