I found this vid as a new upload on wakepics.com. <BR> <BR>It's not mine, but I saw it and didn't know if it would get posted here but it should be shared. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.wakepics.com/view_single.php?medid=13470" target="_blank">http://www.wakepics.com/view_single.php?medid=13470</a>

Nice riding for sure !

Sean Branecki is making some great vids these days.

He took that one 3 huge near the end, awesome video.

is that not mike schwenne in the white shorts cuz theres a pic in wbm with him doin one of those tricks and it looks alot like him same board same shorts everything

Wow that was some sweet riding. A couple things I noticed and any other opinions please post. The wake off that boat was huge, like a wall of water....and also, to me that rope does not look like its 70' out because where they are taking off from and landing (both peaks of wake) do not look that far apart. Would it be wise for me to shorten my rope, because the wake my boat is throwing is so wide and hard to have a nice smooth landing on the downside of the wake. I have ballast this year, so I guess that will help too.

going faster might help narrow the wake up too. You probably can't tell from that vid since everything is in slo-mo, but I bet those guys are riding pretty fast.

man I hit the jackpot. <BR> <BR>Sean Branecki is filming and putting together some awesome stuff. <BR> <BR>Check out the Brady Sammon's vid. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.wakepics.com/media.php?searchstr=user:915&amp;trick=Any&amp;typ e=Any&amp;time=1107053447&amp;search=search&amp;li mit=10" target="_blank">http://www.wakepics.com/media.php?searchstr=user:915&amp;trick=Any&amp;typ e=Any&amp;time=1107053447&amp;search=search&amp;li mit=10</a>

I like Rob Struharik's video that Sean did. It is #2 next to the Josh Storrer vid... <BR> <BR>

yeah I watched that. sick.

clay- everything before 1:07 was schweene. after that is dykmans. <BR> <BR>and its nice to see dykmans riding again... <BR> <BR>sean has done some very nice work recently. if anyone is going to be at any boat shows be sure to stop by the hyperlite booth and watch the video they have for the Roam wakeboard. Sean filmed that...and its pretty sick.

Schwan (Schweene) is the man. Dykmans also is a sick rider. Nice video.

Daniel Some time ago Schweene said he rode at '95 if I'm not mistaken. He's obviously going at faster speed. <BR> <BR>Thanks for finding those thane!

95' of rope? Is that even possible? I thought the longest ropes of even the pros were only 80-82?

No way I caught wind of Lyman riding at 90+ and when Cody Hall did that interview in WBM, he said that on occasion he rides 90+, and I'm sure that Randall is there by now if he's still riding. Randall was 26 mph and 87.5 a couple years ago.

gotta love west coast style

ok i talked to mr. schweene today at the boat show and yes he DOES ride at 95 feet, but that is when he is riding behind HIS malibu with the reverse tower. the backwards tower allows him to add 10 feet of rope length to his line while still being in the same spot on the wake as if he rode at 85 feet with a regular tower. he said the difference between attachments is about 8 feet. normally he said he rides at 85 feet behind other malibus with a traditional tower and at about 26 mph.

not to disrespect, but with the backwards tower, aren't you only losing at best, 5 feet?

Can't feel I have enough experience to argue the difference between 5 feet versus 8 feet within this specific context, but I can tell you when I rode behind Mike's previous boat (Super Air) with reverse tower, the reverse tower made a big difference.

what's the reason(s) for having a backwards tower?

anyone knows the name of the track?

<b> and also, to me that rope does not look like its 70' </b> <BR>They are riding longer then 70'. Rode with Dykmans and Schwenne last year and I had to shorten the rope to 75'. Think they were at 80-85 behind Cook's X-Star. Both are great riders and very smooth. Video's do not do either one of them justice.

mike: can you please read all the posts before you decide to chime in next time? <BR> <BR>when mr. schweene told me it added 8 feet i think he might be comparing that to another model of pro flight tower? im not sure how he came up with that number but he seemed very confident with it. there were no "uhhs" or "i thinks" coming from his side of the conversation. <BR> <BR>joe: the backwards tower moves the rope attachment point foreward so you can have a longer line and still be in the same spot on the wake. you already know that having more rope length means that you wont get pulled down as much so you can float more yada yada yada...

Its not that unusual, I ride at '90 with handle at 23mph.

<b>mike: can you please read all the posts before you decide to chime in next time? </b>Why? Someone thought it wasn't 70 feet or didn't look that far. I was just clarifing, is there a problem?

I thought that the backwards tower had to do with a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Correct Craft against other tower companies/boat manufacturers. Either pay up or use your own tower design. I heard that Malibu took route #2. <BR> <BR>It might also allow you to lengthen your rope. I've never ridden on one so I can't comment. <BR> <BR>Looks funny, though.

That's the kind of riding that makes me want to ride.

Everyone of those videos was sick, great editing, good music, and above par riding. Awesome.....Thanks for finding those Thane.

Does anybody know the name of the song?

The reason for the backward tower is becauase of the sweet spot. By moving the tower forward, you can lengthen the line, hit the same sweet spot and have longer hang time(because of the longer rope. Get It?

The maufacturors dont get it, they keep moving the tower back, and cause you to shorten your line. Malibu is the only one who gets it!(Illusion Tower)

correct me if i'm wrong, but it looks like the point where the line hooks up on the illusion tower is in the same position as where it would be on a "normal" tower.

yeah, I don't see that much difference either.

Joe, you are right... on a normal tower. But the other manufactorers are moving the pivit point further back. With the illusion, you can easily move it forward, which is what they may do...soon. I have talked to a few people that say that they make a modification and move the pivot to the forward bar, which would add 2 ft. to the rope. I know of another manufaturer that is talking about designing a "forward pivot point" tower.

Tom is right, it's mostly about the sweet spot and added hang time, but in addition, the longer line also allows you to swing out wider and take a much smoother progressive cut at the wake without so much "pendulum effect." I guess it might work against a person for raley-based moves where the pendulum snap is your friend, but for the style of riding that Mike and Chris do (and I would guess that most of the rest of us aspire to), it makes everything smoother and more floaty. <BR> <BR>The only drawback I noticed is that it's a B!TCH to get the boards off the rack because they are so far forward you cannot reach them over the windshield/bimini without getting all stretched out and contorted and nearly falling in the water. <BR> <BR>But the tower works. After just a few tries I was doing switch toeside w2w's big and floaty with solid indy grab, and now behind any other boat it's all I can do to just clear the wake, forget about even going for the grab.

That first paragraph summed up my thoughts exactly.

I agree. And the video does not do either of them justice. Mike is such a smooth rider. I love watching him ride. Sitting in the boat you can see Mike smiling during his entire run. It's great to see riders enjoying what they are doing. Props to bolth Mike and Chris.