Top 5 Influential people on wake Industry

OHH NO ANOTHER TOP 5 thread...!?! ;)


Mentioning of Tony Fin and Herb Obrien got me thinking that a seperate category of industry people and other such individuals who are not necessarily known for their wake skills could be made

#1 Tony Fin (of course is first)

#2 Herb Obrien (pushed the industry/ sport forward with new and competitive designs and starting Hyperlite and other well known companies)

#3 Jimmy Redmon (shaping some of the most influential boards in history: flight 69-first twin tip, squirt-first shorter wider board, trip-first multifin on twin tip and defining the early day copetition formats and organizations such as the wwa)

I was really really struggling with the placement of Obrien and Redmon, but decided to put Obrien first mainly because of the competitive stress he put on the industry to get it jump started, if it were not for that fact Redmon would easily take 2nd AND 1st if Finn wasn't the guy responsible for the beginning...

#4 I am sure some other guys fit in at #4 but cant think/ decide

#5 Tony Logosz (responsible for some popular wakeboard shapes in the past such as the Neptune Impala and recently responsible for the flex board-Slingshot branch that is taking off and having major influence)




side question: who was responsible for the first 3-stage board? was that Redmon too? or someone else? If it is someone else then i think id put that person as #4

I would throw Scott Bouchard (sp) in the mix.

Troy Navarro!

I like your list Jeremy, but i'd probably add a rider in there somewhere. it's cool to have great board's and great concepts, but you also need someone that can innovate and invent on them...

somebody like Perez, Gator, Byerly, Best, Kovak.....?

like cj mentioned (though didn't state specifically), scott bouchard shaped the first 3 stage board (for scott byerly).

I'm having a hard time thinking of other names...I think perez or goforth could be added to that list because they both did significant work on behalf of the riders. i think I'd also mention bill mccaffray because he's done a lot to bring better things to wakeboarding...

stan pleskunas is also a name worth mentioning, though a lot of his work was done nearly 10+ years ago. He shaped erich's ca. 1994 american spirit thruster pro model (board he rides in "spray"), and not only did he shape a lot of early wakes for jason messer, but he also produced jason's first wakeskate that was supposed to be sold. I think he helped out with some rusty stuff as well...I have a sweet one of a kind board that he did. all in all though, stan was one of a kind.

"I have a sweet one of a kind board that he did."

Care to share? TIA.

#4 Eric Perez

Kidding your list looks great to me. I would toss Greg Nelson in there too. Maybe Buch the guy who shaped all the Byerly boards.

yup Buch would be my #4 then especially considering the 3 stage thing and working along with Byerly says enough alone too.

Naked chef- sounds like you really know your stuff... especially since i don't recognize one or two of the names. Wake history fascinates me, especially the stuff about advancements in the sport and industry. I very very rarely meet someone face to face who can talk about wakeboarding as much as me or who even knows half as much as me... this is one reason i love being on Wake World, because there are tons of peeps just as into it as me and more so.

anyone have any recommended sites to read up on wake history???

Chris, I bought my board from someone who had some sort of affiliation to rusty--it was an ebay purchase. nobody was buying the boards and I had expressed an interest in them, so I actually got two boards, one was a pig dog from 97 and the other one is the model I'm referring to. I also got a set of rusty straps, a nice rusty padded board bag and some hyperlite straps. (love-em!)

the specific board I'm referring to had the same sandwich construction that the rustys are known for. This board is longer (it must be right around 5 feet tall, if not slightly longer), and directional and was primarily shaped for riding in the surf, but you could rock it behind the boat as well. EDIT: it also has a swallow tail and the nose was super round, which was pretty unique.

It was also hand painted by a respectable surf artist somewhere in california (I wish I had the specifics, but i cannot find his e-mails). the auction picture really didn't do it justice...when you see it up close, it looks stunning. So the hand painted graphic is an especially cool factor. Anyway, There was supposed to be a small article on this board on one of the wake sites, but for whatever reason the ball was dropped on that.

On a wicked side note, i will soon have some stan pleskunas wakeskates...I will be sure to post those when they're resting comfortably in my possession.

Off hand, I don't know of any good sites for wake history....I don't even really get into them because they all have the same generic write up that, in my opinion, is pretty watered down and only touches on a fraction on what is "the history of wakeboarding." i would try to get my hands on some old mags while keeping up with what's going on now (because sometimes there are some nice jems in the current issues) and talk to whomever I could and listen when they speak. And I'm sure somewhere down the line there will be more info on the history of wakeboarding.

(Message edited by electricsnow on January 16, 2008)

I mention Jimmy Redmon as one of my personal heros if asked - for his work in designing the Flight 69, the Squirt and as has already been mentioned - so many other important boards to the sport's history. I owe so much to that guy, despite never meeting him. I have met Finn, and thanked him.

I have few names to throw in someone here... from the depths - problem is I am still trying to find the names but I do have them. These people are the designer of the 1995-2006 Correct Craft Super Sport hull and the same accolades go for the person responsible for the Prostar 205 hull. Those people deserve a spot in the list of historically important names here.

(Message edited by juniorhawk on January 16, 2008)

i would add greg nelson to that list as #4. He started Double Up which was the first rider owned company in wakeboarding(Esnow, correct me if im wrong)which had the emphasis on free riding. Him and the double up team made wakeboarding look good and it wasnt about winning contests. Other companies were started later with that mentality like Mutiny Freeboards and Slingshot. He also had a lot of firsts in board design that have been used by most other companies.

Thomas Horrell also was extremly influential. Him and the new crew might of come off the wrong way to some people but they definitely changed wakeboarding. Thomas help seperate wakeboarding from waterskiing as something completely different and unique. He also sacrificed his wakeboard career to push the sport of wakeskating. Again seperating that from wakeboarding making it its own sport with its own tricks own style and limitless possiblities. First wood deck, first to use grip and shoes, first concave, first asymetrical skate, first bilevel.

We also should add the guy that invented the phaser. That set the bar for innovation and tech in wakeboard design. There hasnt been an innovation of wakeboard design since that has had such an impact on the sport of wakeboarding