The Spring Break Slam Wakeboard Rail Jam, presented by Nissan North America, took place Saturday, March 17th, on the beach, at the Bahia Mar Resort in South Padre Island during Texas Spring Break week.

Already scheduled to appear were some of Texas top riders including Gabe Lucas, Tom Fooshee, Joey Bradley, Clint Tompkins, Kyle Reed, Brett Little and Richie McKee. Liquid Force Pro Team rider Kevin Henshaw also came out from Orlando to represent for LF (and Canada)! When Henshaw saw that he was outnumbered…he called for back-up! A crew of his Canadian buddies, who were already traveling the country on their way to Orlando decided to head South and join the party! This added a fun twist to the event as four more crazy canucks, including James Balzer, Jono Boysen, Dustin O’Ferrall and Matt Bibby joined the beach side festivities.

The rail set-up, provided by Orlando based Step-Up Productions, featured a 12’ x 40’ starting pool that sat on top of a trailer nine feet off the ground, two forty foot down rails, and a 25’ x 40’ inflatable landing pool. It was all set-up on the beach just 50 yards from the breaking surf which made for a great backdrop to the event.

Dealing with the wind, sand and saltwater definitely had its challenges for the crew, but it never slowed down the riders who put on a great show for the Spring Break crowd! After watching a couple hours of top notch riding…the judges narrowed the field to the top two wakeboarders and the top two wakeskaters for the finals. The contest was a “Best Trick” format with the winning riders in both wakeboard and wakeskate taking home a set of KMC Wheels to spruce up their whips! On the wakeboard side of things…it was Kevin Henshaw (representing Canada) and Gabe Lucas (representing Texas) that would each get two more attempts at winning the grand prize.

The Liquid Force Pro, Henshaw, got to the finals with an insane Back Lip BS 360 to Back Lip to 90 off and he was pumped! “It’s the first time I have ever landed that trick,” said Henshaw, “And the only other time I have seen it done is when Keith Lidberg nailed to win the Blacktop Oasis Rail Jam in Southern California last year!” Henshaw was stoked, but unfortunately, when he attempted the same trick in the finals – he let go of the handle. CWB Pro Gabe Lucas saw the opening and went on to win the wakeboard best trick when he came in Switch TS to Boardslide BS 360 to Back Board off the rail. In addition to his set of 22” KMC Wheels…Lucas took home the Lucky Devil “Best Wakeboard Trick” trophy for the event!

The wakeskate finals also featured another Canadian, James Balzer vs. another Texan, Clint Tompkins. Balzer was riding great all afternoon and it was his BS Boardslide to FS Boardslide to Shuv-it out that propelled him to the finals. Tompkins, always the technician, went Front Board to BS 270 out. In the finals both riders fell on their first attempts and when Balzer fell again, Tompkins played it safe and Back Lipped the 40 foot rail for the win. He also took home a set-of 22” KMC rims and the Lucky Devil “Best Wakeskate Trick” trophy.

In addition to Nissan North America, the Spring Break Slam was made possible with support from the US Navy, Liquid Force Wakeboards, KMC Wheels, Spy Optic, CWB Wakeboards, O’Neill, Straight Line Ropes and Handles, H20 Clothing and Lucky Devil Designs. Media partners include Alliance Wakeboard, WakeBoarding Magazine, the Coastal Current Weekly and KFRQ-FM Radio.