We here at WakeKite would like to welcome Chip Reihl as the newest member of the WakeKite Sponsored Rider Team. A water enthusiast for years, Chip has been putting on ski shows up in the Midwest for over a decade. He is a master at the hydrofoil, and also has the ability to put on a show with everything from skiing pyramids, doubles, barefooting, etc... After purchasing a WakeKite for addition into his ski show, Chip contacted us right away expressing his enthusiasm and new water addiction! With some riding guidance from team rider Kedzie Gunderson, chip has further sharpened his skills to become a solid member of the team. Thank you Chip for helping us to build the WakeKite sport further!

That's right folks ... "Come on Down!" ... WakeKite will be featured on the Price is Right for the first of many times this Tuesday, June 2nd, at 10 a.m. on CBS. And with all things going HD these days, CBS requested some HD video of WakeKite in action for airing on national TV. We responded and did an HD shoot in Florida just this last week...and it was SICK!!! These vids are fairly large but way worth the download. You won't see any of this video on June 2nd as we didn't have these vids done in time for this first airing ... however, the next taping of WakeKite on the show is June 8th...and we'll be posting up when that show will be airing (usually a couple weeks after the taping). Yet right here, right now, you can get a sneak preview of this killer HD footage. There are two videos to check out...one featuring the Superfly 9.0 and rider Kedzie Gunderson, the second featuring the Superfly 5.5 and rider Freddie Wayne. The filming and editing was done by Sean Kilgus...and this guy (if you don't already know) is genius. Check 'em out:

NEW Wakekite 9.0 HD video
NEW Wakekite 5.5 HD video

While on a recent trip to LA to observe the filming of WakeKite on The Price is Right (airing 6-2-09, at 10 am on CBS), my mom, Becky Jahns, and I, WakeKite Brand Manager Dan Meyers, got to stay with my mom's longtime high school friend and long popular actress Sally Struthers. What a blast we had with Sally and her friends!!!

While staying at Miss Struthers beautiful home in Beverly Hills, we had the pleasure of meeting voice coach and writer Rebecca Kaup, actor Christopher Youngsman, and rising young star Chris Scheffield (who turns 21 very soon!!). Chris became an instant WakeKite fan...and I had the distinguished pleasure of going with Chris to a local Hollywood prop store to "buy some limbs" ... yes, limbs as in body parts...for a workshop play he was doing later that afternoon. Well, Chris is one cool dude, as were the others. In particular, below is some more info on Chris and what he's working on in Hollywood. Yet overall, we owe a huge thanks to Sally for her hospitality and for showing my mom and I such a fabulous time! Oh...and another bonus was having dinner at Ketchup, a spot that Ashton Kutcher is part owner of and features many types of, you guessed it, ketchup (and the food rules!!!). So, now read more about cool Chris Scheffield and follow his career below...

Well summer is finally just about here for those of us who don't live in sunny Florida, and that means time to play on the water!!! Grab your WakeKite, its time to fly!! So since it hasn't been sunny and warm for myself in Portland, OR... I have made several trips down to Florida for some warm weather and great WakeKite adventures! My First trip down was back in Feb for the Daytona 500 which I posted an article about, but would like to just reiterate how great of a event that was!! I would like to tell you a little about my last two trips down there so you can see why we feel this year is going to be a great year for WakeKite!!! ... more below

For those of you keeping up with us you know that we introduced a rider late last summer/early fall, Freddie Wayne of Orlando, FL. Well I have been down to stay with him and his family 3 times in the past 2 months. First 2 trips were to get some testing done, along with great new photos for new Advertisement and Marketing Material by 2 great photographers, well know and Local Orlando Photographer Bill Doster, along with family friend of the Wayne's from Germany Vasco. Both of these trips were great, got some good riding time in, and also got even more people in the Orlando area aware and excited about WakeKite.

This last trip to Orlando was a very important one! This trip was for some HD footage of WakeKite to be used on CBS "The Price is Right." A huge thanks to an amazing guy Sean Kilgus who's passion for filming and growth of the industry we were able to put together a great clips for inclusion on "The Price is Right" along with a new small fun video!

I would also like to take a moment and thank the Wayne family for all they do for WakeKite, helping to grow the sport and all of its benefits to the local wakeboard enthusiasts there in Orlando and their contacts across the country! I would also like to thank them on a personal level as their hospitality and inclusion of me into their family has been above and beyond and I can't thank them enough! I truly feel part of the family! Thank you Fred, Darlene, Freddie, and Kristi!

- Kedzie Gunderson

Introducing ShadowBox, a Revolutionary 3-D Recording Device for WakeBoarding!

New London, Ohio, April 1, 2009: The ShadowBox is a revolutionary new concept in action sports that, with its first software application, allows wake boarders to track their rides and share them with friends.

The ShadowBox is a tough, fully-waterproof device, no bigger than a deck of cards which attaches securely to a wake boarder's deck. When the ride is over, riders can check out their ride data directly on the device, or upload the data to their computer later and analyze every aspect of their performance in 3-D detail.

Similar to the electronics in an aircraft, the ShadowBox uses gyros, accelerometers, magnetometers and GPS to determine position. In its first release, the ShadowBox features a software program called WakeTracker 1.0 that will capture the wake boarder's pathway; the height, distance, hang time, and speed of every jump; the rotation and spin rate of every trick; the speed and angle into the wake or at any point during the ride, as well as various other measurements. From training to competition to simple bragging rights, the ShadowBox will allow riders to truly see what they're doing and back up their hype. Riders can also send their 3D ride data to others on the web where, via the website and a free download of the WakeTracker 1.0 software, anyone can view their ride for free. While this first software application is tailored to the sport of wakeboarding, it is only the first of many sport and science applications to come in ShadowBox's future.

Backed by Kent Water Sports, the parent company of several major water sports brands including HO Sports, Hyperlite, Accurate, WakeKite, Liquid Force, CWB, Connelly, Pro Line, O'Brien, Absolute Outdoor and more, ShadowBox is a new brand and product line set to re-define how riders view and talk about their rides.

The ShadowBox is the brainchild of Joe Van Niekerk, a South African-born, Stanford University grad that holds his Master's in Mechanical Engineering. Working alongside Joe from the beginning, and doing the brand management and marketing for ShadowBox is Dan Meyers, a Portland, Oregon native and graduate from Oregon State University in Business. Also key in the design of the device has been Two One Nine Design (www.219design.com ), a product engineering firm founded by a group of Stanford graduate students. Involved in marketing material creation and ad design has been: www.nonbox.com, a top-notch marketing group out of Portland, Oregon and Brian Ziffer, a Flash web designer whose prior web works include Burton and Red Bull. The World Champion of Wake Boarding, Rusty Malinowski, has signed on as an enthusiastic endorser of the product.

For purchasing, the ShadowBox is available online at www.shadowboxlive.com. Pre-orders will begin online on April 1, 2009, with shipping to fulfill orders starting in late May 2009.

For more information please contact Dan Meyers at 503-550-6110 or dan@shadowboxlive.com

That's right...we've been contacted by CBS television to have WakeKite kite packages be a part of the prizes on the famous 'Price is Right' TV show - http://www.cbs.com/daytime/the_price_is_right - hosted by Drew Carrey! Well then, we just recently showcased at the Daytona 500, Seaworld Texas is adding WakeKite to their stunt mix and now ... we're going to be on one of the most famous game shows Hollywood has ever produced? Sounds pretty good to us here at WakeKite, where the future is just getting brighter.

As one of the founders of WakeKite, and it being "my baby for so many years, you can be darn sure I'll be in the audience when the first show is taped, featuring our awesome kites. I've been invited to come down, meet the cast, go backstage and "see it all from the inside". So yeah, I'm all smiles and WakeKite is going to get some SERIOUS exposure. WakeKite will be on the show at least four different times and each show will repeat six times. With millions of folks watching each show, well, WakeKite is going to get a major dose of prime time!

I'll be taking this great trip down to TV-land in late March/early April. Funny enough, I was just down in the LA area, supporting one of our dealers (Sports LTD) at the LA Boat Show. This trip was great, with a good number of kites sold, and some very fun side trips in my off time. When you're in Hollywood ... well, you have to get out and see the sights! Fortunately, I got to have dinner on the Queen Mary (and explore it), see a re-make of the famous Doors show at the Whiskey (40-year anniversary of the night Jim Morrison freaked on stage), go to Universal Studios (ok...I took one day off, a Monday)and just before taking off at the airport, I surfed at Bolsa Chica Beach (just north of Huntington) and had dolphins surfing next to me for the first time in my life; now that was dang cool.

Now...don't get me wrong. The life of the WakeKite Brand Manager is not all about trips to Hollywood, surfing and seeing the sites. But when you're in LA, you just have to make the time. Going down in a month for the Price is Right is going to be another highlight ... and I will definitely report on that fun experience to be had with pics and a post-trip write-up. I will also be posting a schedule on the website that shows when WakeKite kites will be airing on the show.

So ... for all you WakeKite rippers out there - keep ripping, and send us pics! And since you already bought a kite, maybe you can get to TV-land and make it on the show, surely you know the price of the kite!

Dan Meyers
WakeKite Brand Manager,
March 4, 2009

What an experience ... If you haven't gotten to see a NASCAR race up close and personal, I recommend the need to experience it first hand!! Its high energy atmosphere, die hard fans, and watching talented drivers race around a track at 180 mph inches from each other is a true talent!!

For the second year WakeKite was lucky enough to be invited to do exhibition riding at the Daytona 500 and what a great venue for the event!! The lake stretched across the backstretch of the track provides one of the best views of the races, along with views for the fans up in the stands down onto the lake ... Lucky for us, one of our young up and coming riders Freddie Wayne (Orlando, FL) was able to make the trip up and do exhibitions the first weekend along with join myself for the Second weekend of the event, giving WakeKite lots of exposure!! Unfortunately for myself, I didn’t get to ride as much as I would have liked due to flight delays (getting in a day late) and some pretty high winds, but I was so glad to be part of the event regardless!!

This is an event that I will never forget, and hope that WakeKite can be apart of for quite some time to come!! I would like to give a huge thanks to Bryan Holland of Centurion Boats for inviting us to come down for the second year in a row!! Also would like to thank the Wayne family for having me down and there incredible hospitality allowing me to stay with them for the weekend along with the following week in Orlando to get some riding in!!

Hopefully we will see you all again next year out there!!

- Kedzie Gunderson

Yes indeed folks, WakeKite is making another appearance at the Daytona 500 this year. Pro WakeKite rider Kedzie Gunderson and newly sponsored rider Freddie Wayne of Orlando, FL. will be at the famed track, riding for race fans on February 12, 13 and 14!

Both riders will be exhibiting WakeKite trick runs on the lake that forms the center of the track....for sure, this is one unique place to ride.

Last year, pro WakeKite riders Ben Noble (Portland, OR) and Raleigh Murch (Nashville, TN) represented for WakeKite, throwing down some HUGE airs in the fairly stiff headwind at the track. This time around, look for Kedzie to be shredding on the Superfly 9.0 and young Freddie (age 14) to be going big on the 5.5.

We will follow this article with some post race pics, and surely, some of the video we get will make it into our next video! Ladies and gentlemen...start your engines!

This month wakekite is featuring 16 year old, Maryland native: Kyle Barmoy. He's been with the team for almost a year now and continues to help us grow the love and education of our craft. Seen (above) riding the 9.0,

Here Freddie Wayne is captured in sequence on the Superfly 5.5. Photo courtesy of Kevin Zoodsma, Action Watersports

For generations in all sports it has always been said that the young, up and coming, will be the ones to shape the future of sports. Well, we are finding this to be true even here with WakeKite! Welcome the newest member of the WakeKite Team Family, 14-year old Freddie Wayne from Orlando, FL. Freddie is currently a Team Rider for Hyperlite down in Florida and now has ventured to riding the 5.5 series WakeKite and having a blast! First introduced to the kite by Kevin Zoodsma of Action Watersports (www.actionwater.com), back in 2007, Freddie was unable to try the kite as the 9.0 was the only kite available at the time. This last summer, Kevin recommended that Freddie be introduced to the WakeKite Crew and see about the possibilities of getting the new Superfly 5.5. Freddie met the crew there at Surf Expo and was able to walk away after the show carrying out his very own Superfly 5.5. We asked Freddie to keep us posted on his WakeKite adventures. Here are Freddie’s responses after riding with the WakeKite Superfly 5.5:

Q: What did you like about riding with a WakeKite?
A: I like how long you can float through the air, followed by the smooth landings!
Q: Does it help your wakeboarding?
A: Yes, it taught me many new raley tricks and how to control myself in the air on the tricks.
Q: Is it fun? What are the biggest benefits and thrills?
A: Yes, It gives me confidence to learn new advanced wakeboarding tricks. I had a mental block from falling on the wakeboard raleys and it gave me the confidence to focus on the technical part of the trick and not the fear I had before trying the WakeKite. The thrill is being able to fly through the air.
Q: Do you have other friends trying it out? What do they think?
A: Yes, they love it. I like watching their reaction when the kite lifts them up for the first time!
Q: How about coaches, anyone see this as a trainer for certain tricks?
A: Yes, they agree that it is a great way to learn, perfect, and progress with raley tricks.

Kevin Zoodsma of Action Watersports is seen riding the Superfly 5.5 for the first time here. Kevin was surprised to see that the 5.5 brought as much air as it did..compared to the larger 9.0.

It was Friday, July 25, the kind of day where you can't bear to work one minute longer because the summer sun has been whispering your name all day. As if that wasn’t enough to make you give two weeks notice, Portland was hosting their annual Brew Fest on the waterfront entertaining micro-brew enthusiasts from around the Northwest. The weekend forecast promised all sunshine and as the ten bridges over the Willamette River filled with weary commuters, the red kite flying below caught the eyes of every single one of them.

A few days previous, local entrepreneur Matt Maher of DreamLife Powersports Club contacted me with an opportunity to share WakeKite with the crowds of downtown Portland. For those of you who aren't familiar with DreamLife, they're a spectacular organization that works like a timeshare for toys. Members enjoy access to wakeboard and fishing boats, RV's, ATVs, snowmobiles, waverunners and much more without the hassles of storing or maintaining them.

I rolled downtown in our sparkling new 2008 Moomba V-drive (Provided by Skiers Choice and Active Water Sports) and met the DreamLife crew. They were sporting their Mastercraft X-1 and several new Yamaha waverunners. We planned to take advantage of the Brew Fest crowds as well as the rush hour traffic by showcasing the WakeKite, boats, and gear in front of the packed sea wall. Needless to say, it worked like a charm! We received hoots and hollers from people on boats, bridges the Brew Fest, and they were STOKED! With Dan Meyers taking video from the shore, we made pass after pass through the city with the kites, wake surfers, boats and waverunners. The exposure for WakeKite, DreamLife, and Hyperlite was Huge!

This was just one example of the guerilla marketing we’ve been doing all summer to increase exposure and public awareness of WakeKite and the great people who have supported us. Keep your eyes open and we might just show up in your neighborhood to take you for a ride. A huge thank you to Matt, Jason and Amelia at DreamLife, good people like you are hard to come by. Also thank you to Josh (Maddog) Madsen for the great photos. And finally, THANK YOU to everyone who's been on board and has loved WakeKite from the beginning. You guys are the grassroots of our sport and we’re eternally grateful to you all.

See you on the Water, Ben Noble

I got my first opportunity to tour the mid-Atlantic area of the country, and I'll have to say the experience was one to remember. Jeff Aitken, the HO rep and our trip sponsor ... threw together a well planned agenda set to capture some major corridors of his area. The idea was to hit as many spots as we could and evangelize for HO and Wakekite collectively. It was a whirlwind tour from Music City to Philly, Greentown, Jersey, Scranton, to Elkton ... it was very reminiscent of that famous Johnny Cash song.

Jeff arrived at the Philly airport with his new Ski Natique in tow (courtesy of Chessie Marine). Our first stop was Lighthouse Harbor Marina on Lake Walenpawpak in Greentown, PA. We were met with great enthusiasm here and possibly the next big breeding ground for Wakekite ridership. We hit the lake almost immediately with the Lighthouse crew (Sarah O'Fee, Jessica Onion, Matt Klipp & Josh Newman). I took a run in order to set the stage for what would become an epic set in Greentown. Josh and Matt were great students and quickly learned how to capture monster air behind the boat. The rivalry as Sarah and Jessica looked on only grew more extreme with each set becoming more and more polished between Josh and Matt. Needless to say they were indeed stoked about the product and are well suited to keep the fire burning; with their demo kite they'll no doubt provide a good example for interested consumers.

After leaving Lighthouse, we were off to San Bar with Ryan Sorenson. I remembered Ryan from a demo I did at Murray's at the last Surf Expo. He really took to the kite and gained some solid air on his first series of runs out in Orlando. I was anxious to let him try out our new 5.5 kite to see what he could do with it. Not-surprisingly he was very comfortable with his riding on the kite despite less than idea conditions as the wind was quite hectic. I wasn't surprised to see he maintained his mastery of the kite. After Aitken met with him on product display ideas and shared some sales tactics we were off to Scranton for the night.

From Scranton, we drove into Elkton, Maryland to Chessie Marine to help them with an open house. We ran demo's both day's during this event. Local Hyperlite rider Kyle Barmoy joined us and was stoked to try the kite. Unfortunately, day one brought 15+ mph winds cutting on-water time short. After some direction from Andy Palko in searching for the perfect cove, day 2 proved to be an epic set. Local customers (Rob Kreger, Frank Shanahan, & Bruce Cook) braved the chilly waters to learn to fly the 9.0. Each learning from the previous set, and passing a single drysuit between them ... they became quite good very fast and was begin their road to mastery very quickly. Their determination to learn the 9.0 was quite impressive. I'm told 4 kites were sold this day due interests generated from our sessions.

All in all – It was an awesome trip. I applaud Jeff for putting together such an aggressive schedule and putting up with me on those long road trips. We met some great people in the area, planted a lot of seeds and we really appreciated Jeff's extreme hospitality during our stay.

Ral/e

If there is a heaven, I believe it looks very much like Oregon in the Spring time. Those of you lucky enough to live where there are snowy mountains in winter and plenty of warm sunshine in the summer know what I mean. We seem to have seasons that perfectly and beautifully accommodate all our favorite outdoor activities, and to me, that's a little slice of heaven.

As we in Oregon are winding down from one of the best snow-riding seasons in decades, we seem to be caught in a restless purgatory between our beloved sports. Waiting patiently for the sun to work it's magic and raise the temperature of our waterways to bearable levels while still clinging desperately to the snow that remains on the hilltops. To keep people stoked on mountain riding, local Oregon ski resort Mt. Hood Meadows annually holds a huge event boasting rail jams, pipe contests, snow-cross, beer gardens, live bands, DJs, and multiple vendors associated with the sport. Drawing spectators and competitors from all over the northwest, this event kicks off their spring season with a weekend of fun for enthusiasts of all ages. Those of us lucky enough to attend this event were blown away by the epic 18+ inches of fresh dry powder that fell over the weekend.

This year, H.O's own WakeKite team was honored to share a display booth with our local Portland friends and co-kite supporters at Dreamlife Powersports. Dreamlife, a private club founded by Matt Maher and Jason Reuso, could be considered a "timeshare for toys". Membership to this exclusive club entitles you to the use of their name-brand line of wake board boats, wave runners, ATVs, snowmobiles, RVs and a huge array of other toys at a fraction of the price of owning, maintaining, and insuring them yourself. Check out their newly updated website at www.clubdreamlife.com to find out all the details.

The event was a huge success for us and as is usually the case, when people saw the WakeKite on display, they just had to stop by and find out what it was all about. With countless brochures and videos distributed over the weekend, the love of Kiting behind a boat continues to spread like wildfire as the summer months approach. This coming season will no doubt be our best ever and soon waterways all over the country will be dotted with kites and people soaring through the air with feather-soft landings. It was exciting to have multiple WakeKite owners stop by the booth and proclaim their new-found love for this growing sport! You guys rock and we love hearing about your experiences so keep them coming.

Folks were even more excited to learn about the versatility of the kites. Newly boasting hours of fun not only in the water, but also in the snow. Combining WakeKite with the ever-popular sport of snowmobiling once again proves the endless possibilities of this largely un-discovered sport and leaves only one question ... "What next?"

Don't have a snowmobile or a boat? Then be sure to get in contact with Dreamlife, the have an entire warehouse filled with anything you could possibly imagine for winter OR summer fun. Thanks to everyone who showed up to support us at Meadows this weekend and a HUGE thank-you to Matt and Amelia at Dreamlife! Your hospitality and easy-going friendship really made the weekend for us! Hope to do it again next year and look forward to more fun this summer!