MasterCraft Withdraws Sponsorship of the Pro Wakeboard Tour

[Horton]

I do not usually post wakeboard press releases but I thought this was weird. I have no idea what the undercurrents or back story is.

 

 

Vonore, TN --- MasterCraft Boat Company announced today it has chosen to withdraw its sponsorship of the 2015 Pro Wakeboard Tour season, opting out of the final year of its contract with World Sports and Marketing, the event-marketing firm that activates the PWT. MasterCraft and World Sports & Marketing have over 25 years of bringing pro watersports and its pro athletes to fans all over the country. However due to the ever changing landscape of wakeboarding, event marketing, athlete and fan expectations, MasterCraft has chosen to move forward with a new direction for the 2015 summer season.

 

“MasterCraft thanks the team at World Sports for over 25 years of making the Pro Tour such a highly regarded event,” said Aarne Clow, MasterCraft team and event manager. “Despite our wonderful history, there have been so many changes to the wake scene over the last few years that have resulted in the slow decline of attendance and participation, we felt it was the right time to go back to the drawing board, work with our team of world class athletes and deliver a different experience for 2015 and beyond.”

 

While details of MasterCraft’s forthcoming event is still under lock and key, its goal remains to bring a premium experience that progresses and exposes the sport, improves the life of the athlete and rejuvenates the fans of wake sports. More information will be coming out in the early spring of 2015.

[ForrestGump]

Wakesurfing has kicked wakeboarding to the curb over the last 3 years.

[Zman]

gee, darn

[boarditup]

Just a guess, but I think you may see some more combined events to draw together all of towed watersports. Also, you may see the boardsports tied to other events - X-games style. I would guess they want to expand the brand and not have the same formula year after year.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

@shaneh, Wakesurfing? If it was easy, anyone could do it. Oh, never mind.

[Ed_Obermeier]

Wakesurfing is not a sport. It's an activity. Kinda like tubing.

[eleeski]

It is sad when any sport starts to fade. Wakeboarding is fun. As is surfing. We need them all.

Eric

[gator1]

overheard in the ski shop, customer to salesman: "dude, I'm an awesome tuber. Which of these is your fastest tube?"

[Brady]

@Ed_Obermeier. I agree. Wake surfing is what you do inbetween sets! ANY water sports in decline only hurts us skiers in the long run. The little budget slalom boats gets is because of the bigger budgets being spent on "more popular" activities on the water. Anything we can do to promote ALL forms of water activities should be a priority. Well, everything except water boarding. :)

[Olssonen]

Can it have something to do with the fact that more and more wakeboarders abandons the boats in favor for the cable parks?..

[MrJones]

This seems really strange. I thought wakeboarding is where the money went when it left pro skiing? I admit to knowing nothing about the wakeboard scene. Is this just an issue with Mastercraft and the tour, or an issue with the entire sport?

[gregy]

They may be planning to take the wake board events away from a tour and more like skiing with single events.

[E_T]

MC was basically funding the tour on it's own. I think 6 stops. It's hard to justify all that money if you can't tell if it even sold 1 boat. Yes it kept the name out there, but the people who went to the events where the hard core crowd. (Not very well marketed to others ).

[MattP]

By the sounds of the press release

work with our team of world class athletes and deliver a different experience for 2015 and beyond.”

They already have something in the works. Remember they also sponsor the Wprld Cup of Wkaeboard and Waterski.

[DW]

Hopefully the funds will slide over to support some slalom events... They just happen to have a new vessel to promote.

[Drago]

I was just commenting to a friend , "I think wake boarding is dying". Snowboarding is decreasing, too (don't quote me, but -13%, or for those of you who don't understand "off", 87%). Alpine skiing has increased approx the same. I think slalom is increasing, no data to back that up.

[The_MS]

This is the rebirth of Waterskiing.

[crashman]

Marcus Brown has done a great job of reaching out to the non-buoy crowd which is a necessary ingredient for the rebirth of waterskiing. Growing up I skied behind a 17 ft tri hull with an outboard but I still somehow felt connected to the guys on the bud waterski tour. I don't see that with wake boarding- it seems the message there is that if you're not boarding behind a 6 figure boat big enough to sink a small fishing boat then you're not part of the "in" crowd. For any of these sports to survive on a pro level it needs to be inclusive of the guys who have never seen a course or a boat with ballast.

[Texas6]

People are getting too soft when Surfing becomes a bigger sport than wakeboarding or skiing. It appeals to the masses because the masses can do it far more easily than wakeboarding or skiing without getting tired or needing to stay in good shape. Its the equivalent of a watersports lounge chair, comfortable for the masses.

[Bulldog]

Wake boarding and all board sports for that matter have carried the boating industry for a number of years. I am sure this is the beginning of a different tour or structure for wake boarding. I LOVE slalom but any day on the water with friends or family is fantastic. Does not really matter what kind of ski/board/feet you are riding.

[swc5150]

Skiing is making a comeback on our lake with the young kids. The crew of a dozen or so boys my 12 year nephew hangs with are done with boarding, and surfing is way too boring for them. All are into skiing big time. Further, they get into DD ski boats and love how fun they are to drive...just an added bonus our sport provides. I know when I drove a Super Air 210, I couldn't believe how it had zero fun factor...slow, bulky, sluggish, etc. These kids are actually poking fun at the huge wake boats now as big, dopey roller makers. The parents on the lake aren't disappointed either, as their saving "boat loads" of money on ski boats versus wake barges. This may or may not be a microcosm, but I'm enthused by it.

[eyepeeler]

On our public lake I am seeing much less wakeboarding and a lot more jetskiing. A lot cheaper to own a jetski than a $100 k wakeboard boat.

 

[MrJones]

Have the boat companies killed the Golden Goose with the $110K plus wakeboard boats? Is that a cautionary tale for 3 event boats?

[dtm]

Couple of things....I know a guy that owns a "ski" shop, selling snow skis, water skis, wakeboards, etc.. He has noticed a significant decline for the demand for wakeboard gear, and an increase for slalom. One of his thoughts was that the adults that are supplying the boats were getting injured and unable to continue boarding. -I have gone to several INT events and seen the large wakes posing more of an impediment to performing tricks than it was an enhancement....for 95% of the boarders. Secondly, I'm not sure that I see the big wake boat market as a necessary partner for the long term success of the towed watersports community, or more specifically the AWSA. How long is it going to be before all motor boats are forced off of public waterways due to the damage and chaos created by the ridiculous wakes? And how long will it be before the private lake owners come to the realization that the damage caused by the boats far outweigh any benefit? An article in a recent WaterSki magazine suggested that we "work with" the big wake boats as a coalition to protect our water rights, but noted that the big wakes were the root of most of the opposition to our rights. Does this make sense?

[jimbrake]

@Texas6‌ - bingo! You nailed it. People have been getting soft for a while now when it comes to recreational sports/activities. Tubing, PWCs, wakeboarding, and now wakesurfing are far easier to just jump into and do immediately than slalom water skiing. Please don't anyone call wakesurfing "surfing". Real "surfing" (on a real board in real waves) is way, way more difficult than wake surfing.

 

The same phenomena is occurring in surfing with SUP. People that never learned to paddle and catch a wave prone are going out at breaks on SUPs because it's (f-----g) easy and it's all being hidden behind the guise of "aloha".

 

I HATE the easy way out.

 

I too am seeing a small, slow return to water skiing in our area and definitely seeing a strong return to snow skiing over snowboarding.

[TallSkinnyGuy]

Adding to what dtm was saying above... There is a private community with lake near me that does not allow any boats with ballast tanks on the lake. Also, powered boats have to be under 21.5' in length. There are other specific rules that are specific to reducing wake size of boats on the lake with the stated goal of reducing erosion.

[oldjeep]

How do they enforce the ballast rule? Can't have them or can't use them? On my boat filling the front tank is how I get rid of the wake.

[Nick Sullivan]

From what I have been told, MC is pulling back on its promo program too.

[MattP]

@ShaneH‌ have you heard this? ^

[oldjeep]

How many promos do each mfg do? I seem to remember seeing a plate in the 2013 WTT MC that we use that said #x out of something around 50

[skinut]

Alpine skiing made a come back, in part, due to the development of non-traditional skis, shaped, fat, etc and how they were used. Those skis encouraged younger skiers to hit the terrain parks that they saw their snowboard counterparts hitting. Fat skis made powder skiing easier which was always a strength with snowboards. Watching guys like Shane McConckey shred a huge chute on his 130mm wide powder skies gave a new meaning to extreme skiing.

 

If water skiing is to ever make a come back I think it will be through the development of innovative skis and ways to use them. The Radar Satori comes to mind. Skis will have to be able to be used behind a behemoth wake board boat. The purpose of skiing will have to change as well. If you watch the extended version of Marcus Brown's lake life you will see a couple of shots of them skiing behind the Mastercraft Xstar. They weren't cutting through the wake but using it to jump and carve on. Imagine a new division in a wake board tournament, Wake Slalom.

 

Just like with the changes in alpine skiing, water skiing will have to make that leap to bring in new blood. Eventually, with exposure to water skiing in it's new iteration, I think people will start to want to take their skiing to the next level which would be true slalom skiing. Just my $.02

[rodltg2]

Stereo makes these , not slalom but kinda what your talking about. Would love to try them.

 

http://www.stereoskis.com/wakeskis

[TallSkinnyGuy]

@oldjeep‌ The lake rules state that you cannot obtain the required lake registration sticker for your boat if it has ballast tanks designed for increasing the wake size. I would imagine a ballast tank designed to decrease wake size would be allowed.

 

Regarding what skinut said, the snowskiing analogy is spot on. I snowboarded for 15 years because I found it more fun, but then finally got onto modern shaped skis a few years ago and have only snowboarded once since then. The new skis are so much easier to ski on I found it to be much more fun than it used to be.

 

I think more public lake slalom courses would have a huge impact on increasing interest in slalom skiing. Unfortunately it has been about 20 years since I had access to a slalom course, but I remember that I found open water skiing fun, but course skiing was completely addictive. I borrowed a portable course from a friend for about a month and skied it nearly every day that month (behind a 17-foot tri-hull open bow family boat with a 115 hp outboard). The slalom course gave me so much more "feedback" than open water skiing it just drove me to keep doing it and find ways to improve.

 

I know there are a lot of issues with setting up and maintaining slalom courses on lakes with public access, but this would certainly increase interest in the sport. When I was a kid we always had to watch out for the snow ski patrol when we were jumping because one could get their lift ticket taken for jumping. Now the ski resorts build terrain parks for their visitors. With proper motivation, lakes would put in slalom courses (or allow them to be put in). It's the motivation that is the challenge.

[jimbrake]

Sorry that slalom water skiing, snow skiing on race skis, surfing on short boards, and sinking a putt into a 4.25-inch hole are so hard.

[SDNAH2OSKIER]

I dont know why you would buy a wakeboard boat for 100k when you can buy a perfectly good used 34 foot twin screw Carver flybridge that will throw up a ramp like nothing else. You can put way more stickers on it and play xbox in the salon between runs.

 

[slow]

I think you do what ever is fun. Personally slalom is my go to water sport but I also really enjoy wake surfing. Its relaxing and fun particularly on a public lake after 10:00 am when it's to rough for anything else. I also like both kayaking and SUP. We have SUP races here and there is more to it than you realize.

[swc5150]

I should add that my nephew even thinks the 200 is too big and begged for an older MC. My brother bought him an '86 MC, and now he's the "cool" kid in the group. $5,500 and all the kids prefer it to the $100k+ wake boats.

[jipster43]

The '86 Rainbow MC! That is a classic!

[Waternut]

I'm not sure I've ever heard a single person say that wakesurfing is more exciting to watch than wakeboarding or even slalom skiing. It's a really cool concept but not really interesting to watch for very long. That said, all the comments about it's easier and more like tubing are total BS in my opinion. Maybe that's true behind the gigantic wakeboard boats with a 15+ foot long wave. On a slightly more reasonable boat, I've found it considerably easier to teach people to ski and wakeboard than wakesurf....just saying. Got a guy on my lake right now who can land 360's and all sorts of other tricks on a wakeboard but can't figure out how to stay in the wake on a surfboard.

 

Honestly, I really think the cable park is far more of a threat to boat manufacturers than anything else. Let's be honest, wake sports are primarily younger generation sports and to be competitive in these sports you need $100k+ boats. Not too many rich families that can afford that for their kids and even fewer kids who can afford that for themselves. But for $20-$30, you can drop your kid off at the cable park for half a day or more. It's a safe environment for kids because there aren't any drugs or cigarettes allowed, it's cheaper than daycare, and something a kid wants to do. Who needs a boat?

[swc5150]

@jipster43‌

Classic team colors too...white, with red rainbow. Fun boat!

[rodltg2]

Nautique does not see cable parks as a threat from what I've heard .

[oldjeep]

Judging by the number of Nautique G boats on Minnetonka I wouldn't be worried either.

[jcamp]

Nautique definitely saw cable parks as a threat, which is why they bought the Orlando Watersports Complex (OWC) and another Miami cable park and started the Aktion Parks subsidiary. http://www.aktionparks.com

[rodltg2]

From what I was told by the west coast rep was that they see cable parks as a stepping stone to buy a boat.

[wtrskior]

Cable parks are not a real threat to wakeboard boat sales. People who buy 100k+ wakeboard boats aren't not buying them because they can ride a cable, and typically that's not who's riding the cable anyways, maybe the boat owners kid.

 

Its just another growth avenue for wakeboarding, although I've been told by industry reps there aren't any cable parks in America that actually make money, OWC included. There is a stepping stone to buying a boat if you ride a cable, esspecially as your cable riders age and make more money to afford these boats.

 

OWC also has a boat lake...

 

[rq0013]

MasterCraft payed a second company to run the pro tour. That company owns the rights to the name, "the pro wakeboard tour". MasterCraft is going to do the events on their own, under a new name. Might even do joint wakeboard, slalom events. That's the true story. No need to freak out

[XR6Hurricane]

@dtm Well said. We have seen skiing making a bit of a comeback around here too. Actually had two slalom skiers on the lake at the same time earlier this year and I haven't seen that in years. I even saw someone slalom skiing behind a pontoon boat. Saw noticeably more skiers on the river this year too. One thing I've noticed about the wakeboarding thing too is that almost none of them actually look like they are having a good time. They are always down in the water, doing a faceplant, or within 10 seconds of a faceplant whenever I see them. Seems like it has a very low success rate for the everyday person compared to skiing. They watch us going back and forth past them all morning without a single fall and they have this blank look on their face like they just don't get it.

[TallSkinnyGuy]

@XR6Hurricane -- Your experience with wakeboarding seems very different from mine. The wakeboarders on our lake seem to be having a great time. Also, I have come to the conclusion that slalom skiing has a much longer learning curve than wakeboarding, i.e. wakeboarding is easier to get to at least an "intermediate" level than slalom skiing. Also, I know I am doing a lot of things wrong, but I fall a lot when slalom skiing. Many of those "falls" are me letting go of the handle before actually falling, but I know it is inevitable, so I let go before incurring a hard fall. It is not uncommon for me to fall three or four times each set.

[Waternut]

In fairness, if you were trying to sell boats would you admit that you're afraid of cable parks even if you were? If you do, you're basically taking a stance against cable parks and that's a terrible place to be for the sport. Cable parks have virtually limitless options on what they can build and offer to the rider. Boats have a consistent wake but the rider is the one who has to be creative in order to make it fun. Both offer different experiences.

 

It's like skiing open water vs skiing the course. Both can be fun but depending on what you want to do and your skill level, you probably have a preference. I prefer the course myself but I do have my own boat to ski open water. If there was a $5k-$10k per year extra cost to do one vs the other, I'm pretty sure I'd do the cheaper one regardless of which is more fun.

[BrennanKMN]

I know that if I never had the opportunity to ski a course water skiing would not be my go to sport. The slalom course is what got me hooked. Otherwise I would have been that 1 ski hack you see take a pass or two every few weeks behind his Bayliner.

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but open water skiing is extremely boring for me after spending my days running the course. That is 1 thing I believe all these other sports have going for it. You don't need a course or private water to have any fun. You can go out on almost any lake and have a blast. That is very hard to do for me as a dedicated course skier. However, learning to trick has changed that!