CK Koester

Cover shot

CK — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 11:12:04 +0000

RedBull Harbour Reach

CK — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:53:18 +0000

RedBull are one of the leading energy drink companies in the world. So when they approached me in january about doing an event with them, i was kind of excited!

This was the first time I’ve been in charge of organising an event, i mean everything from location and obstacles too choosing the riders! It was no easy task, but watching the whole thing evolve this year has been epic! Bellow is the official bulletin of the event. I ended up taking 5th so was a little gutted. i think if i hadn’t popped the handle on my final run chances are i would have made the podium! oh well it was sick and theres always the next event!

RED BULL HARBOUR REACH

As the end of the day drew-in on 30^th July, some of the world’s best wakeboarders dawned on the idyllic fishing town of Lyme Regis, hungry to walk away with the accolade of being crowned Red Bull Harbour Reach Champion 2011. Some 6,000 onlookers lined the shore to witness the first event of its kind in the world.

Twelve wakeboarders battled it out over two custom features inside the harbour walls, before turning for a second attempt to launch themselves over the 500 year old Grade One listed wall in search of the best trick in the air. Riders were required to hit the specially designed kicker at speeds in excess of 25 mph, clearing distances over 18 metres in length and the height of most masts in the harbour.

The harbour wall gave perfect glassy conditions for wakeboarding, whilst the other side of the wall, being open to the elements, presented a whole new challenge. With such awkward conditions at sea, a last minute change to the format had to happen to allow riders to get the most out of the amazing setting.

Qualifying Heat One was dominated by Johny Carne, who had a clean stand up pass, with a big hoochie over the wall, followed closely by brother Sam and Aussie Powerhouse Scotty Broome in third spot.

Qualifying Heat Two witnessed Dan Nott walk away with top spot in his first pass, pulling off an indy glide. CK, sitting in second spot after his first run, tried to step it up a notch and pull off a massive heel five, unfortunately dropping the handle mid-air. The final qualifying spot went to Louis Floyd with some steady riding throughout the qualifiers.

The top six from the first round went through to the final. Aussie rider Scotty Broome’s nerves got the better of him and he went down under, whilst Louis Floyd got a front edge off the canoe incline, leaving it all to play for. Johny Carne had a clean run in the first round, leaving it up to everyone else to step up their game if the wanted the win. In the second round CK went all out with one of the best rail hits on the step down boat, unfortunately he dropped the handle attempting a 450 off the canoe incline. WM Ski, Cirencester rider Sam Carne stomped the cleanest and biggest run, ticking all the judges boxes with stalefish glide over the wall, backboard front side 450 off the canoe incline, with younger brother Johny slid into second spot. Dan Nott secured third spot and the longest distance jump over the wall.

Final Results:

1^st: Sam Carne

2^nd: Johny Carne

3^rd: Dan Nott

Longest Distance: Dan Nott

Best Trick: Johny Carne

WakeLife

CK — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 18:48:48 +0000

So as you can see if you follow my blog I haven’t posted in a while. This is intact a positive for me, I was posting a lot but just because I wasn’t riding a lot. Now my body is strong my knee’s feeling much better and I’m busier. Therefore I have neglected my blog and for his I apologise!
I will follow this post with a series of bulletins about whats been happening!

Pro model

CK — Fri, 20 May 2011 12:52:25 +0000

Christiahttps://mail.google.com/mail/s/?view=att&th=1300c0dca37101eb&attid=0.2&disp=attd&zwn Koester’s CliCK Serie Sneak Preview

Only a few weeks to go before the unveiling of the designs for the new CK Pro Serie (CliCK Series) board, vest and helmet. A few months ago Jobe released the news that CK Koester would get his own pro series. In the past few months CK Koester and Jobe have been working hard on the design of the products in this pro series. At this point the designs have been sent to the manufacturer where they will go in production. To feed the hungry wakeboard addicts Jobe will be able to offer a sneak preview of the CliCK board.

Shape
For CK’s pro board Jobe has developed a brand new shape. In close cooperation with CK himself Jobe has created a shape that matches CK’s wishes exactly. “CK wanted a fast, stable board with the perfect hold on the water. That’s why we made a rolled edge that doesn’t go all the way down the side but turns into a sharpe edge. In combination with the long molded fins at the end of the extra wide tip and tail, this board has everything you need for a perfect release, an explosive pop of the wake and plenty of grip. Besides that the continuous rocker makes the board nice and fast. Because CK rides many obstacles he asked for extra ABS rails into the fins and channels to limit wear. Off course this wish has been fulfilled. This board has all features CK deems necessary for an optimal performance!” according to Jobe’s product developers.”

Graphics
The graphics on the CliCK has also been done in cooperation with CK. One of CK’s big passions is photography and this has played a significant part in the design. Furthermore the board is spotted with yellow and blue colors. It turns out a colorful board matching a colorful rider.

Vest and Helmet
Besides a board the CliCK pro series also consists of a vest and a helmet. Once again CK has made a large contribution to the end result. These items will be in a similar print as the wakeboard. The shape of the vest and helmet will be held secret by Jobe for a little longer.

Keep an eye on www.jobesports.com for the latest news on the CliCK Pro Series!

Sunday Shredathon

CK — Tue, 17 May 2011 19:21:33 +0000

Loaded

So Mid week a friend/Sponsor of mine (esherchiropractic) hit me up about a plan he had for a sunday ride. It was his birthday at the beginning of the week and as a wakeboard enthusiast, he had come to the conclusion that to get all the crew together the best bet was a wake shredathon.

The plan was to hit up both WakeMK and Boxend wakepark and also a new spot in that area Club Wake Park.

I met Lee debuse at JBski at approx. 9am for a spot of breakfast at the cafe. Slowly but surely everyone started arriving, maybe a bit late but all accounted for pluss a few extras! off we went with what ended up being a 6 car/van convoy.

First stop was Club wake park. This is a new spot opened at Grenden lakes. Its owned by a friend of our Toby Oliver, if i say so myself this site has the most potential of any two tower systems in the UK so far! It was so windy when we got to the lakes, but tucked away round the corner was a REEM little lake perfect size for a system 2.0. it was flat as anything and begging for a shred! So me and LDB strapped into our binders and opened up the shredathon. Luckily they had already built and positioned one rail, a perfect shape roof box. (i hear theres plenty more to come) we had a sweet slash about and made the most of the roof. After us everyone else was itching to ride too, Louis floyd and Freddie carter were up next followed by the rest of the crew! We had a few guys who were ready too start slaying up some inverts and what better place than a brand new 9meter high system 2.0. Me and Ldubbs donned our LDBwakeschool coaching hats and got to rayley training! Joe who conveniently was also the shredathon organizer, didnt waste any time and in about 20 mins was stomping rayleys left and right Literally!

At that we decided it was time to move on!

Wo TEVA

CK — Tue, 10 May 2011 10:48:37 +0000

So as you may know i was invited to the opening of the first System 2.0 in Holland. This is at the Downunder cable park in uterecht and is sponsored by the one and only TEVA. The guys from Teva invited a few of us out there to do some demos and ride in a comp.

The riders consisted of myself, Dec Clifford, Freddie Carter, James Young and Teva’s own Matt Crowhurst from the UK, plus numerous riders form holland such as Sjors van der ker koff and Ricky Lukassen and many more. It ended up being a good group of shredders with a super high level going down.

The Teva blue line 2.0 was about 200m long with Unit features, a flat bar, spine kicker and double banked incline box. Personally this is all you need for an ultimate rail shred set! i loved cutting laps on this bad boy pressing on my Jobe Guerilla flex.

It was a really good day and i ended up securing a 3rd place in the event!

I also got my hands on the Jobe CLICK prototype mark II but i will fill you in on that on another post

Theres a good video from the guys at Iwakeboard just click here and enjoy!

Spring Jam

CK — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:13:58 +0000

So Last saturday was spring jam. As you know if you have been reading my blog thus far, i still am not really ready for comps. But Spring jam is a cool event with loads of categories to ride in. They had obstacles only and seeing as i’ve literally only been hitting rails recently, it seemed like a nice test too see if i can still compete. Just incase i forgot over my time off :) As it happens I was fine. Not everyone road in the obstacles jam but there were some good slashers out there, with a stand out performance from Cain Hamilton who unfortunately had a few stacks in the finals. Matty C and scotty Broome also had some good shreds in both the Jam and the final!! I decided to ride a brand new board in the comp, the new Jobe Guerilla which has a proper fast deck and had me slipping around out of control for the first 10mins. However after that i regained control it and had a good ride. I qualified 1st in the Jam which left me ready for the finals, In which I stuck everything including a 9 off the kicker which was potentially a bit risky on my somewhat bum knee. But it felt ok and i secured the win! A perfect result for my first comp since August! Lets hope the rest of the season goes as well! I just want to take a moment to thank Mark and the crew at wakeMK for a sick event!

Check out this shot that Lex Balladon took of me.

Brighton WakePark

CK — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:08:09 +0000

So as you may have noticed if you’re a social network fiend, me and LDB headed down to brighton last weekend. We were invited down to do some demos for they’re open day.

Incase you dont know Industry wakeparks who are the UK distributors of Sesitec 2.0 have been flooding the country with the easiest ride ever! System 2.0 is the future of wakeboarding, they have been popping up all round the world in the past few years. its a perfect ride it can be placed almost any where and can be a fixed structure or just temporary for an event. Keep an eye out on here for exciting 2.0 events this year.

Whilst we weren’t busy shredding of faces off we made sure we did keep ourselves busy! Wakeup brighton were nice enough to loan us some stand up paddle boards (SUPS) if you know the lingo like me and Ldubbs. So immediately we took these out to the sea to find some swell, unfortunately there wasn’t much so we just putted about. well i did but lee spent most of his time on his back!

So we weren’t solely doing demos we had also been hired to ride in they’re promo video that AMP media was shooting. This isn’t available to view right now, but i will post it as soon as i can!

In the mean time check out this shot!

Health!

CK — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:50:32 +0000

With the current issue in the UK that 60% of the riders have some sort of injury its not hard to imagine why everyone is so concerned about health?

Some of us have realized that when we get back on the water the fittest and strongest riders will benefit the quickest. I however should have learnt this a long time ago, my dad is what some might say a “fitness freak”. Being a pro cyclist in his youth but still competing at a high level now, he is incredibly fit and had pressured me for a long time to stay healthy and how it will improve my riding. The ability to push that last 10% could make all the difference in your final run you so want to stick! However i have tried and failed over the years in and out of the gym. I have been a member of 3 different gyms in the last few years but have never really made the most of any of them. So you cant blame me if i want to sort it out once and for all and Nows my chance!

When I hurt my Knee I told to myself I would keep training hard long after I recovered and was back on the water. However it didn’t happen exactly as planned. I managed to stay in the gym long enough to get it up to strength, but as soon as I could I was back on the water shredding my face off. Obviously the gym then took a back seat, don’t get me wrong I was in there every so often but mainly only to use the pool and or sauna and I think my riding is paying the price. I have been getting some problems with it and I don’t feel strong enough to push it that extra mile. Something needs to change.

So in the last month I have hooked up with two new companies to help keep me on the top.

Firstly is Esher Chiropractic Centre they are hooking me up with regular treatment to keep my back fit and strong! As wakeboarders our bodies get put through tremendous pressures, which causes a lot of aches and pains. This is something which i have learnt that stretching alone cannot fix. You need something else! After talking to them, i have realized there is a lot more to the source of my pains and working with them seems to be fixing it! I try to see them once a month or so and they does wonders with me. I guarantee that working with them helped me to regain my title last year at the nationals as without him it would have been too painful! If you choose to take my advice drop in the the practice, its a very welcoming team that will be more than happy to help and fix your pains.

The other is Lakeside Health and fitness, this is the new gym which has opened at Liquid leisure. Shannon runs the gym and convinced me to join the team. I look forward to working with them more. I had my first session with shannon today and it was one of the harder sessions i’ve had ever. He had me working on all parts of my legs and they felt like jelly when we were done, to be honest they still do! So if you are looking for a real work out why not check in and have a go, or if your around the area come and find me because i’ll be in the pushing my limits!

I hope I haven’t bored you too much but as a thankyou why not check this MK mini edit from a few weeks back!

New Stuff

CK — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:10:36 +0000

Right so ive got things tell to you!

Last week i got the first prototypes of my new JOBE pro model wakeboard and vest. It was amazing, to get a board which is all mine. My style my design – my Baby! and to be honest i loved it, just had a few minor changes which are being done in the factory as we speak!! You need to know that this shape is a totally new shape, unlike any other board in the range. I have been working very hard with the shaper in the Netherlands to make a perfect board for everyone to SHRED on! And im very excited to release it towards the end of the year!

my knee has been hurting a fair bit recently so i had jobe send my through they’re new flex board – this thing is epic. i have never ridden a flex board before so didnt really know what to expect. My reasons behind riding this was that seeing as flex boards have completely flat decks absent of channels and fins, i therefore would stay away from kickers and inverts (no heavy landings) which in turn will protect my knee till its stronger! So the board this thing is real fun, its had me perfecting rail tricks which to be honest on stiff boards are proper hard. ive been working on hardway 270′s to switch nose press, to all you non snowboarders thats a heelside backside 270 on to a rail landing in a nosepress. i know see how easy rail riding can bee on a flexboard and how all the guys have been pushing rail riding the last few years.

However dont get me wrong, i am using this board to protect my knee, my new board is a stiff board as i much prefer the overall ride and i will back on it as soon as possible!

I broke my knee brace the other day sheered of both the stoppers, all i did was fell in head first of a rail guess the thing works as my knees still fin and the brace got fixed by Activ8 in about 10mins thanks dave!

finally be sure to check back to the news section of the website for some new info on my board coming this week!!

Peace out CHAMPS!