Jeff Barrus and the NADS water ski racing team bring us up close and personal in one of their recent races at Pittsburg on video.

America’s Sam Frey pulled off this superb bunny hop. I’m waiting for the name of the photographer who did an excellent job of capturing the moment.

America’s Roy Frey pulled off this superb bunny hop. I’m waiting for the name of the photographer who did an excellent job of capturing the moment.

America’s Katelin Wendt pulled off this superb bunny hop. I’m waiting for the name of the photographer who did an excellent job of capturing the moment.

America’s Mallory Nordblad pulled off this superb bunny hop. Cameron King was behind the camera and captured the moment at Lake Elsinore, California.

See other bunny hops and airborne shots here

The American Water Ski Educational Foundation formally inducted Kris LaPoint and Marsha Fitzgerald (more) into the AWSEF Water Ski Hall of Fame on April 19 at the Omni Orlando Resort in ChampionsGate, Florida, USA.

This year’s honorary starter of the Catalina Water Ski Race began helping to organize ski races in 1970. He was the race director for the Anacapa ski race (from Oxnard to Anacapa Island and back).

Update – April 17:
I have been told that you can make reservations for The Coast Hotel for the Catalina ski race weekend.

Thank you,
Ken Vaughan  -  Commodore Long Beach Boat and Ski Club
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With the high profile 60th Catalina Water Ski Race fast approaching, I thought it would be good to share a couple of interesting Catalina snippets of information. Thanks to Ted Hoffman who helped put this together.

Ted Hoffman has just sent me the line up for the 1980 Catalina with yours truly listed as a Junior Boy. The British Water Ski Federation sent an official team to the 32nd Catalina Water Ski Race which was made up of:

America’s Kurt Schoen pulls off a bunny just before Easter at the Parker race this year.

Corbin Heinbuch pulling off a bunny hop amongst a gaggle of boats at the 2005 US Nationals/Open. Scott Atkinson of USAWS (USA Waterski) and editor of “The Waterskier” magazine captured the moment.

America’s Todd Haig pulled this bunny out of the hat at the 2006 US Open in San Diego and Daren Van Ryte was captured the action.

America’s Mike Avila performs a superb bunny hop on a fun ski a few years ago. Incredibly, it was even after he hurt his arm.

Great new movie action of Jeff Barrus (from his helmet & boat) as he gets a little workout before Catalina.

Peter Procter, Mallory Nordblad and Marshall Cole enjoyed overall wins at the Parker Marathons on 8 & 9 March. Full results are at www.nwsra.net

Daren Van Ryte of www.ocphotographics.com was at Havasu on the weekend capturing America’s best (and a few visitors) in action. Below are a bunch of shots which Daren has kindly provided for publication.

Marshall Cole, Peter Procter, Mallory and Lacey Nordblad celebrated overall marathon wins at Lake Havasu USA on the weekend in America’s first big event of the season. The 2008 NWSRA Marathon / Sprint Series is sponsored by Nordic Boats. You can get full official results now on the “Race Results” page at www.nwsra.net.

The 2008 season of racing in the USA will kick off on 16 & 17 February at Lake Havasu. Get full details of this and other American racing for the 2008 season at www.nwsra.net

Justin Frank writes …As the dust begins to settle from last week’s event (Karl Brooks Memorial Golf Tournament), I’ve had some time to reflect on what a great time was had by all.

The American NWSRA has published its tentative race calendar for 2008. Racing kicks off at Lake Havasu on 16 & 17 February and runs through until October.

Justin Frank writes … (7 Dec 2007) First of all we would really like to thank all the sponsors, participants, and supporters that have already signed up for the tournament. Your quick responses to getting your entries in are greatly appreciated. This is a true testament to how tightly knit of a group we can be, and we just wanted to let you know how thankful we are for each and every one of you.

Chuck Stearns, Mike Avila and Marsha Fitzgerald – As in most sports, water ski racing has seen its fair share of accomplished athletes over the years.

The USA National Water Ski Racing Association (NWSRA) has announced that it expects to modify its race format in 2008.

USA Water Ski has today reported that the American Water Ski Educational Foundation’s 10-member Hall of Fame Selection Committee has announced that Kris LaPoint and Water Ski Racing’s Marsha Fitzgerald will be the 2008 AWSEF Water Ski Hall of Fame inductees.

Ski Racing’s family of Chris, Kim and Elliott King are all members of Lake Arrowhead Water Ski Club (LAWSC) in the USA and Elliott raced in the 2005 Worlds.

The 2007 Mike Berry San Francisco Bay Ski Race will take place on 27th October and the proceeds will go to Benefit Contra Costa Hospice in memory of Mike Berry.

Longboard Ski Failure – Written by Bob Maher

The 2007 US Open in San Diego will take place between 12 and 14 Oct and this year, the organisers have added a new fun class which they hope will entice some of the old, retired racers to dust off their skis and come have some fun.  Speed will be limited to 60mph based on GPS.

The results of this year’s Lake Mead Marathons in the US are now available on the “Marathon Results” page at www.nwsra.net

The 2007 Mike Berry San Francisco Bay Ski Race will take place on 27th October.

Dan Van Ryte captured the Catalina action in a compendium of superb shots. You can review them at www.ocphotographics.com – When you are there, click on “Gallery” then scroll to the bottom of that page.

To watch the Catalina live on the Internet, go to the following web site:

Rick Lemmon, Co-Race Director of the Catalina has just published the latest list of catalina-ski-race-entries7-19-07.pdf for the 59th Catalina Ski Race – Saturday, July 21 @ 8:53 & 9:00am

Safety Equipment Note:  The Entire team(ie. skiers, drivers, observers, navigators/ throttles) MUST

The 59th Annual Catalina Water Ski Race will be broadcast LIVE on the Internet for the first time in history!

NOTE: As soon as the URL for the live feed is available, it will be published on www.skirace.net

To pre-order your copy of this month’s Catalina Movie, click on the image below and download the order form.

Canada’s Louis Simard was horribly mugged whilst walking one evening in Hawaii, en-route home from the Worlds in New Zealand.

Jon Cole has just told of his horrific accident whilst working on his boat.

Ren Hanami is busy writing articles about Catalina competitors for inclusion in the forthcoming blockbuster jumboscreen movie.

With the 59th Catalina Water Ski Race approaching fast, this is your prime time to become part of the best Catalina movie ever.

Britain’s Karl Brooks snapped up two wins in the US Marathons on the weekend behind Randy Davis and Dennis Hall.

Kyle Cummings has withdrawn from the US World Team.  Andy Anderson moves from the alternate into a skiing position. Sam Frey has been named the alternate. Get more USA news at www.nwsra.net

Congratulations to the following skiers who have been selected for the American team to compete in the 2007 World Championships (updated 19 March):

Todd Haig, Erin Saunders, Greg Anderson and Katelin Wendt tied up overall wins at Parker on 10/11 March. You can get the full results on the Marathons page of www.nwsra.net