With the Supra Boats Pro Wakeboard Tour set to start it’s 29th season, we figured it would be fun to take a look back at just how far the sport has come. It’s obvious that wakeboarding has transformed and evolved a lot over the last few decades. And as the wakes continue to get bigger, the board technology continues to improve, and the athletes continue to progress the sport, there is no limit to what can be accomplished in the future. For a side-by-side comparison between the old school and what’s current, here are two PWT winning runs, 23 years apart. One was record-breaking, while the other was groundbreaking. Check out what more than two decades of progression has accomplished.
1995 PWT – Hartford, CT
Rider: Darin Shapiro
Age: 23
Setup: Hyperlite Shapiro (directional board) 144 cm with sandal bindings
Contest Format: Two passes, 25 seconds per pass, as many tricks as possible
Judging: Points system
Boat: No weight, no tower, no speed control
Pass No. 1
Switch raley
Air half-cab roll
Hoochie glide
Melan half-cab roll
Heelside back mobe
Switch heelside back mobe
Pass No. 2
Switch krypt
Melan heelside front flip
Batwing
Switch toeside back roll to revert
Air Mode
Results: 21,570 points, 1st place, and a new world record
2018 PWT – Lake Norman, NC
Rider: Cory Teunissen
Age: 20
Setup: O’Brien Exclusive 136 cm with Infuse bindings
Contest Format: Two passes, four tricks per pass
Judging: Subjective system based on ranking the riders against each other
Boat: 3,500 pounds of stock ballast, FxOne Power Folding Tower, Supra Vision Control System
Pass No. 1
Mute half-cab double back roll
Switch toeside frontside 1080
Nose grab heelside frontside 900
Switch mute crow mobe 540
Pass No. 2
Heelside backside 720 (flats)
Mute mobe 540
Crail tantrum to blind
Indy toeside double back roll
Results: 98.67 points, 1st place, eventually his first PWT Overall title
