Wakestock UK
The 3rd stop of wakeboarding World Series took place in Abersoch Wales, which was the host of Wakestock. 
Before going, i’d heard a lot about Wakestock, mainly, how crazy the weather was, and how much crazier the people were. Upon arrival, the weather definitely lived up to its reputation. Coming from Orlando, I had definitely climatized to hot weather, so when it was about 60 degrees, rainy, and windy upon arrival, we all became pretty bummed. The competition took place on the ocean, so not only did we have to battle winds, rain, and a small wake, but also the ever-changing tide on the course. It became interesting as the tide would go out and the rails would become larger and larger for each rider. Needless to say, the riding adapted to the conditions, and no one threw any crazy tricks, with the exception of Phil Soven. After seeing the video of him doing a whirly 5 behind a jet ski (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuA6dWTO5NE), I knew he could ride in any conditions behind anything. He wowed the crowd with a whirly 5, toe 7 (the only 7 of the whole comp), crow mobe, and tantrum to blind, to take the win! It was impressive to see those tricks while the wind was blowing 30 mph and the wake was incredible small. Check out the video of finals at my website, NickJonesWake.com, under the travel tab and Wakestock UK!!
Wakestock UK was about much more than just the wakeboarding, as it has become one of Europe’s 
biggest music festivals with over 20,000 crazy English in attendance! I didn’t recognize any of the band names other than DJ Goldy Rocks, whos dating my friend, and the Ting Tings. But, none the less, all the bands got the crowds going crazy, and everyone into the festival spirit. One thing I took particular interest in, was the fashionable Wellies that everyone seemed to be wearing. Maybe it hasn’t caught on stateside yet, but just about every female in attendance had her own pair of custom Wellies , with high socks to match and jean short shorts! At first, the look was odd, but by the end of the weekend I’d become a fan of the Wellies look, and hope it migrates to the US soon! The boat comp was at a different site than the music festival, which was somewhat of a bummer, but they did put up the legendary Wakestock pool gap right in the middle of all the festivities. If you can remember from Wakestock Abu Dhabi, everyone was stoked on the rails and overall setup of the pool gap! The UK boys brought the same set up out to Wales, and dropped it in the middle of the most crowded area of the festival, making for some crazy crowds and good times. Aaron Rathy came away with the win, after faltering in Abu Dhabi to a third place, with second going to Englands own CK!
Overall the whole event was different than any wakeboard competition I’d ever been to. The water conditions were worse than I thought possible, and the party’s were of epic proportion. After some bad weather days, we were fortunate to have beautiful weather for the last couple days of the contest and for our day checking out London. For more pics and video on the event, check out NickJonesWake.com.