Ten years on and Wakestock is still going strong. Starting with a few riders and a sound system in a car on a beach after a great session Wakestock now see's a capacity crowd of 15000 per night watch the live music after a days Wakeboarding. Not just at Pwhelli Marina or on Abersoch main beach but also on site in the form of the pool gap.

ExPix have been taking wakeboarding pictures at Wakestock since it started; so this year we were proud to cover the action once again. Check out this years report to see some of the action images from the event.

Travelling down very early Thursday morning due to other work commitments, we headed straight for the marina and the practice session. Most of the riders were there although this year there was a definate split between the wakeboarders, and the wakeskaters most of whom were at the event site on the poolgap. As always Thursday gives the riders chance to 'test' the rails and obstacles as well as get used to riding on a tidal water. It also gives the photographers chance to find the best spots for images. We didnt lose much time in calculating angles and positions for the following days. We also managed to take one or two nice shots as you will see if you look in the galleries.

After a few quick hello's and catching up with a some of the guys we headed up to the event site at Penhros. Fortuantely we had our passes or there would have been a massive wait to get onto the site as people were already queuing, fully loaded with tents, food and sleeping bags ready for the weekend ahead.

Onsite the event was being finished off and the riders (wake skaters) were already chomping at the bit, eager to hit the poolgap. Another 'quick' session saw some awesome riding almost immediately with some of the youngsters impressing the more experienced guys out there; Infact there was a comment heard by one rider that it wouldnt be long before they would 'have to watch their backs'.

Thusday evening came and the campsite was becoming full. We took a walk around and snapped a few pics of the gathering crowds before the carnage began! Festivals are great fun! With the rest of the evening clear we took an early night, saving our energy for the three days to come that are WAKESTOCK.

Friday morning came to soon with a 9.30am start on the marina for the qualifiers. Everyone was rushing around looking for a lift, grabbing gear and heading down to the waterside. The weather was quite good, but the forecast wasnt so we needed to get something down on memory....... just incase the weather killed the atmosphere.

The riding was pretty good, with probably the biggest field of women and an extra category for ams. The event had extended the wakeboarding to an extra day to give more people the chance to compete. As the riding got under way the marina started to buzz with good crowds, TV crews and loads of photographers. With winners of the womens qualifying for the final and the chance to compete against prequalified riders, the presentation saw Elkie Vanken Charlotte Byrant and Sam Fissel go through.

On the mens side Sam Weinstein, Declan Clifford and Ade Williams qualifed for the next round!

Back up to the site just in time for the big opening with 10 golden tickets given away that provided 10 years entry into Wakestock, Goldierocks, Deinton and Pritchard of Dirty Sanchez fame and the world famous Red Arrows who's display brought gasps of amazement at the precision and danger they were creating!

With just enough time to catch one or two music acts download the days images so far (............only 16 gig) it was then off the the main beach for the traditional Big Air Event. As said before there was a definate split in the riders this year, with more wakeskaters there the Big Air saw a few 'non competitors' taking part and as the rain started (told you the forecast wasnt good! ) Nick Davies pulled out an awesome jump that just blew everyone else away. A heelside 720.

The rain eased a little for the transfer back to the event site but did start again later in the evening. but it didnt deter from the music and it certainly didnt dampen peoples enthusiasm for the entertainment.

Saturday morning was again an early start. Trying to get off site was a slight problem due to the rain from the previous night. People had strategically parked their vehicles so as not to get stuck in any mud but in doing so they had blocked in several others. We hitched a lift with a couple of the female riders. The marina was again busy. The ams from the previous day went up against some of the pro's  to qualify for the finals on Sunday. The riding level was getting higher and one of the 'highlights' although it could have so easily been a disaster was Rob Moyles .. he didnt land any of his tricks, and it was no wonder .. he only did two ... a three sixty on the gap on the way and then on the return he tried to reverse it. He only just missed the biggest ollie I have seen (around 4 / 5 foot off flat water) crashing into the end of the rail flipping himself forward. He was lucky. After  trip to the hospital and a diagnosis of ligament damage he was back on site on crutches enjoying the festival once again.

The womens final could have gone to anyone. The riding was consistent with all the girls hitting the Relentless Leviathan box and one or two going for the huge gap as well. This was probably the biggest and best womens field we have seen at Wakestock and hopefully it will continue to grow. the women are catching up fast!

Back onsite saw the rain start once again, a little heavier this time and the filming of Hollyoaks at the festival had to go into the VIP tent instead of outside. We couldnt take any pics of the poolgap action because the rain was so bad and anyhow with grey skies and drab colours who would want to see them  ;-)

We concentrated on the bands and with the ikes of the Twang, Elliot Minor, Pigeon Dectectives, Super Furry Animals, and N.E.R.D we were kept quite busy. just as we were packing away for the night N.E.R.D decided to bring some of the crowd onto the stage and our photographer Ian Edmondson fought his way to the front to grab some amazing shots.

So Sunday morning and the site was looking a little worse for wear. it had however coped with the rain quite well. The festival goers were coping a little less well and there were a few bedraggled faces mooching around. So once again it was off to the marina for the mens final.

It all started well, good crowds, the weather begining to clear and then Nick Davies hit the water. That just about killed the competition. This guy can ride with more tricks in between each obstacle than any of the others and big tricks at that anyone coming after him was gonna have to pull out something special. His double up at the top end of the marina was huge and a 7 to boot. The rest of the guys had to go big and in the choppy conditions this just proved to much with many of them crashing and not completing their runs. We would have to wait for the offical announcement later that night, but it was pretty obvious who should win.

Back onsite the sun was out, and it was a chance to hit the poolgap. This was probably our best 30 mins taking images of a poolgap ..... EVER ! hopefully there will be a few appearing in Alliance but we will have to wait and see.

So bringing WAKESTOCK to a close on Sunday evening was the prize giving the Zutons and Dizzee Rascal - amazing. The crowd were really whipped up and almost everyone there was watching the open air stage. Dizzee didnt disappoint as he gave a fantastic performance to end the 10th Anniversary Wakestock.

So Wakestock 2010 is going to have to go some to beat this one but as always this was the best yet so we cant wait for next year!!!! Can you ?

to view a small gallery of images click here

to view all the images and are registered click here you will already have your gallery password

If you are not registered please click here

To find out more about Wakestock go to the event site or for more information on the wakeboarding / wakeskating scene try Alliance Wake UK

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