Interview: Arun Frances

Vince Whiteman

WW: What is your name, age and where do you reside?
VW: My name is Vince Whiteman. I am 16 years old and I live in Ennismore, Ontario, Canada, two hours north of Toronto. It is a little place right in the Kawarthas. It's like the new Muskokas area here. So many young rippers are coming up now.

WW: How did you get involved with wakeskating?
VW: I went to a friend's to ride with him a couple times behind his tin boat, then bought my own.

WW: Were you pretty excited when you first got up on board?
VW: It was the funnest thing I had ever done. I came from a skate/snowboard background, so I had no problem with adjusting.

WW: How long did it take before you started landing new tricks?
VW: By maybe my tenth time out I had learned to ollie and by the end of my first season I could ollie 180 and almost jump the wake without a tower. The next season I immediately learned wake jumps, and shuvits came about half way through. This season, I got shuvs down, along with liptrick variations including shuvs, and by the end of the season I could frontside 180 wake-to-wake almost every time. And I could do sliders and kickers after a couple of tries.

WW: Did you teach yourself or did someone give you advice while you were learning?
VW: My brother bought Snap when it came out, so I basically have most of it memorized as to shuvits and such, but for wake-to-wake I really try to listen to what my friends have to say. They helped me out a lot when learning w2w 180's. At the start of this summer, I went to Muskoka Woods camp for the Wake X program. I learned to hit sliders a lot better. The coaches there really helped me out. I also learned to improve handle passes from my friend's trampoline. I was out on that thing forever with a skate deck and handle every time I went to his house.

WW: Have you set any goals for yourself for next season?
VW: Well, for one thing I want to do all the contests around Ontario. I also want to come first in at least one. I have been talking to the student council at my high school about having a winch/pool demo during this thing called May Day. There's lots of bands playing that day and there are quite a few really good wakeskaters/boarders at my school, so that would be pretty cool.

I am also going to be filming a documentary on wakeboarding/skating in the Kawarthas and trips we take next season. Oh yeah, I also want to land a kickflip. I've got really close to them before.

WW: Who is your favorite wakeskater and why?
VW: That is really tough for me because I have a lot of favorite wakeskaters, but I would have to say Nick Taylor. He is like 17 or something. He's already got a pro model lined up and he is the craziest person I have ever seen on a wakeskate. He goes out behind a jet ski and just kills it and is incredible behind the boat too. He does lots of stuff switch, invented the 360 flip and can learn something just without being told what to do. I think it is kind of sad that he got "more" exposure once he landed the 3 flip. Like that was the turning point in his career. Before that, he was like a freaking diamond in the rough. He should have got this kind of exposure months ago.

WW: If a wakeskate company asked you to design a wakeskate for them, how would you design it?
VW: I recently made a wakeskate press in my construction class. Now my dad and I have been researching all the existing shapes of the current wakeskates and how they are made. I look at all aspects of what are done on wakeskates (sliders, wake-to-wake, etc.) and how the board would hold up in the conditions. We sketch out concepts. We presently have what we think are some innovative ideas. We also look at what will sell and how much we could sell it for.

WW: Winches seem to be pretty popular with wakeskaters. Do you use one?
VW: I never have, but hope to in the near future. They seem to be popular in contests now. The ones at Wakestock are always really cool. I could've done the one at Wakestock this year, but it was HUGE.

WW: Do you do any cross over activities in the off season?
VW: I snowboard, like a lot of other riders do. I find it helps me build the muscle in my legs and keeps me in shape. I really like to snowskate more now though, and lately I've been trying to go behind a snowmobile or ATV to really practice with the handle passes and such. I also do (what we call on wakeskating.com) a lot of floorboarding. That's just putting a skate deck or wakeskate on the floor and practicing with that.

WW: Where do you see the wakeskate industry in five years?
VW: It probably hasn't got as popular as wakeboarding yet, but it definitely is going to be different. There will be different videos for wakeskating and wakeboarding, but it would be nice if that stayed the same. I like how they mix some videos with both sports together and some videos are just for each sport. I personally do not want it to change that much from what we see now because this is the best it could possibly be, other than the tricks we are learning. And also in five years there will be little shrimp kids ripping and taking over contests. Like the youngest kid I've ever seen out there is like 14 (Andy Ross) and he's almost got kickflips now. Who knows how young the riders will get?

WW: Do you like hitting sliders more than performing tricks behind a boat or jet ski?
VW: I like to hit sliders a lot, but I think I like just going out and shredding behind a jet ski more. Like, imagine a perfectly calm lake (for me this happens like once every 2 weeks for like 3 days), getting up on a warm sunny morning, your dad asking if you want to go rip real quick, that really pumps me up most of the time. But sliders and kickers, etc. are definitely fun.

WW: What wakeskate are you riding and why did you choose to ride that particular board?
VW: Right now I ride the '05 Levelthirtn Superstar 41". I really love this board. It is the first concave deck I really got to improve on and learn a lot of tricks (last year I rode a flat deck). L13 has some wicked boards and really cool graphic ideas. The Superstar has just a small graphic in the middle and comes with stencils so you can, I guess, "trick it out." I can't wait for next year's decks.

WW: Are there any new tricks that you trying to learn?
VW: I really want to land a kickflip. I got super close to them last season. I also really want to get more confident/consistent with lip tricks with shoves in them. And I hope to be able to do a few more wake-to-wake tricks, mainly toeside. I've got heelside to a science.

WW: Can you give some advice to the people out there that are just starting out on a wakeskate?
VW: It takes time. Also, if you have any skate/snowboarding experience, that will really help you. And maybe if you have any cash you can possibly throw away, you might want to try a camp or wakeboard school/camp. I know there's quite a few around me. Team Fun, John Curtis Ski school, "P" Dot Wakeboarding and Muskoka Woods are all great.

WW: Is there anyone that you would like to thank?
VW: My parents, for believing in me progressing in this sport, towing me all summer, taking me to all the contests and on trips and not getting mad when I got mad. Oh yeah, and filming. My brother, for towing, filming and pumping me up to go shred. The Vandenbroek family for taking me riding and chillin'. Luke Hayes and family for taking me riding and for Luke always riding first to tell me how cold the water is. And last, but certainly not least, Paul Saberton of L13, for hooking me up and getting me into the best contests and more. You got some good karma coming you way man. L13 is gonna be HUGE!! If there's anyone else I forgot, sorry. You know who you are.

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