Joel Barfield recently posted a video on our Facebook page of a small kid shreddin the wake behind a Mastercraft X2. Cutting hard, crossing both wakes, shreddin back and forth, we couldn’t believe this little guy. At first glance we thought this was just a random video Joel found of a little guy rippin it up. After watching the entire video, we were wrong and quite surprised when we recognized the waters of North Louisiana.

Meet Beau Block. Beau is the 5 year old son of Tommy and Kelly Block of West Monroe, Louisiana. “Tommy purchased our Mastercraft X2 in June of this year..upon purchasing the new boat, he inquired about a board for Beau where he was referred directly to Hyperlite!”  said Kelly. Beau’s parents purchased the smallest board manufactured by Hyperlite, they thought since Beau was so light weight that riding the board would be a problem for him.  ”To our surprise, he got the feel for it after our first trip out!!…After 3 weeks, he is crossing both wakes, doing small jumps, cutting out and touching his booty to the water(terminology??) and riding with one arm/hand!!” said Kelly. Could Beau be the next Harley Clifford?

Proud mom explained they are taking things one trip at a  time to learn and gain experience. Even though Beau is only 5, his parents already see his passion for the sport. “HE LOVES IT AND WE LOVE THAT!!” said Kelly. We will be keeping up with Beau and his progression, at this rate we wouldn’t be surprised if Beau has an invert by next season.

A few facts about Beau:

Name: Beau Block
From: West Monroe, Louisiana
Age: 5 years old on March 4
Parents: Tommy and Kelly Block
Type of Board: Hyperlite
Boat: Mastercraft X2
How long he has been riding: About 3 weeks
His favorite songs to ride to: “Cricket on a Line”, by Colt Ford – “Baby”, by Justin Beiber and his newest favorite…”Can’t Touch This”, by MC Hammer per Joel Barfield!
Preferred Speed: 16 mph
Rope Length: 65 feet

Games and Tailgate Parties

Grab the latest Louisiana Wakeboarding t-shirt to keep the vibe alive during football season! Short sleeve tee’s will be printed first, long sleeve tee’s/hoodies will be available as soon as it starts getting cooler.  Shirts are being pre sold now, please allow up to 2 weeks for delivery. Order here…

Joel Barfield’s INT Experience

By: Joel Barfield

I was introduced to the INT league through my friend Cody Townsend and his family. He had been riding in it for years and this past summer, he invited me to come and compete in it. I thought this would be a great oppurtunity for me to get some competition experience under my belt, considering I have only been in two competitions in my wakeboarding career – LSU Invitational & Regionals in Beaumont.

INT tournaments are held in multiple states all over the United States, but the closest one to Louisiana was the Arkansas INT. My first trip there was an awesome experience because it was all new and exciting to me. It was a great fun and family-filled atmosphere. I would say 90% of the riders were from Arkansas, so being a rider from Louisiana, I wanted to do the best I could to represent us.

In the first 4 tournaments, the podium seemed to be just out of my reach. That was the motivation I needed to get better and finish off the summer with hopefully a spot on the podium. The last two tournaments were definitely the best two. I had two awesome stand-up runs which resulted in a 3rd and 2nd place finish. I was thrilled to say the least, and I can’t wait until next summer to compete again!

Joel is currently ranked 6th in the INT men’s intermediate division.

Final Stop of the Texas Wake Series

August 27-29

No better place to host the final event then the great SETx Lake!

No doubt that Empire Wake loves this place and has intentions of hosting events here for years to come.

We feel it is also the best place to host the final party to celebrate the season with everyone who rode the series all year.

We hope to have a huge event and a great ending for year one.

There will be a Texas Luau, night time double up contest, giveaways, and of course one sick nasty Tige 24ve to make it happen!

Texas Tige will be out there to support along with our good friends at Red Bull!

It’s getting near that time again and the ULL Wakeboard competition is coming up. Everything is going to be the same as last year. DJ, food, Snowballs, and lots of wakeboarding and wakeskating. EVERYONE is welcome to enter and there will be 6 divisions. Beginner,Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Girls and Wakeskate. $40 and you get a chance to win a bunch of cool stuff from our sponsors no matter what division your enter.

SPONSORS:
Rukus
Bennett’s Boat and Ski
Highend Automotive
Louisiana Wakeboarding
RedBull
Third Coast Cables
more to come…

DIVISIONS:
Beginners – No Inverts, No spins higher than 180
Novice – Up to 1 invert, no spins higher than 360
Intermediate – Up to 3 inverts, no spins higher than 540
Advanced – Anything goes
Girls – Anything goes
Wakeskating – Anything goes

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
August 14
Gates open at 10:00 am
We dont stop until everyone has rode in each class

August 15
Gates open at 11:00 am
Top riders out of each class ride
Annouce the winners in the afternoon and hand out prizes

DIRECTIONS TO LAKE

Further information or questions? Contact Ian Mcdougall

Ian Mcdougall
ULwake@gmail.com
ragincajunwakeboarding.com

MAKE YOUR PLANS!

Are you bored on the weekends? Can’t find a boat to ride behind or party on? Does your dad own a $80,000 wakeboard boat that’s not weighted enough but wont let anyone else drive it? Maybe you like to party all day long, naked. Whatever floats your boat (pun intended), this is the weekend for you…

MOON LAKE REAWAKENING!

It’s all goin down JULY 23RD – 25TH on the glassy waters of the Ouachita River. Come get your ride on wether you have a boat or not. A free ride is for anyone to catch a set on another boat. Show up at Moon Lake Marina with your board and jacket, wave some green at someone and jump on their boat and ride some of the best wakes in Louisiana.

Join us FRIDAY night at 8 p.m. at Monago Fieldhouse on 165 north by ULM campus for the MLR Video Premier. Fieldhouse will have drink specials all night and some of the best burgers and wings in town!

2pm Saturday – Warhawk Wakeboarding KICKER Contest in front of Moon Lake Marina. Anyone can enter, $10 entry fee. Come watch as the best in the area compete to win best crash, biggest air, best trick, and the overall TOP GUN winner. TOP GUN gets at least $100 cash and a prize pack, others get prizes also… (There will be a prelim and finals. Top 3 riders get to compete in the prelims. Each rider gets 3 shots at the kicker. Biggest air, best trick, and best crash can be taken at any point in the contest.)

Between the prelims and the finals, SUNCOAST SOUND BUMP Contest will take place in front of the marina… have you ever heard 5000 watts of music be blasted at you? Muchless from a boat!?! Winner recieves a prize pack from SUNCOAST SOUND!

EVERYONE who hangs around for the awards will get a wrist band that gets you free cover at TOP GUN for the MLR FOAM PARTY! Dont get dressed to impress. Just party with the best in boardshorts and bikinis! TOP GUN will have drink specials all night!

Warhawk Wake will be raffling 2 Company Severace wakeboards with bindings. Yeah, thats right… You have a chance to win one of the sickest boards on the market. Swamp Sports will be set up all day Saturday with some of the best deals on Company and Obrien Wake gear.

For Information, contact Nick McDonald at 318-381-2058.

Message from Ken Gremillion regarding Moon Lake ReaWAKEning:

See photos about navigation issues within and around Moon Lake. There is no chance of hitting any submerged obstacles if you follow what’s posted there. The Ouachita River is a river, keep an eye out for floating debris. I haven’t seen anything in weeks but an occasional log, refrigerator, or dead gator is likely.

Parking at the boat launch: Moon Lake Recreation Area (the boat launch) is a US Army Corps of Engineers facility. There is a $3 fee for launching a boat unless you have a Corps of Engineers yearly pass. No fee for parking cars or other vehicles not pulling trailers. Moon Lake Marina is just past Moon Lake Recreation Area on Moon Lake Road. There is no parking fee (today, but knowing Joey, that’s subject to change at will). If you use the facilities at Moon Lake Marina (park, lounge, #1, #2, or throw items in their trash) please purchase something from them. Their hamburgers are not that bad. Their beer and sodas are cold. NO GLASS allowed at the marina. They don’t like for you to bring drinks into the place, but you bring something glass in, watch out, they will not be nice to you!

No Wake zones: To my knowledge, there’s only one true no-wake zone on the Ouachita in the Monroe area. However, as a general rule, the locals do try to observe “no wake” zones around houseboats parked on the river to some degree. That doesn’t mean that you have to idle by any and every houseboat that you see, but use some common sense.

Sandbars: You’ll notice several sandbars/beaches along the Ouachita. There are a couple that people claim to own. However, they don’t. Land from the water’s edge up to the point of normal high water is considered public land. So feel free to stop on any of them you wish. The normal high water mark is quite high for the Ouachita.

Litter: the local wildlife and fisheries agent are just a stringent as anywhere else with regards to life jackets, fire extinguishers, etc, but litter is one of their pet peeves. They hide and wait for people to litter, and will even video you doing so for evidence.

Riding: Moon Lake is just a bay off of the Ouachita River. Most riding is actually done in the river. Upon leaving Moon Lake you can navigate either down river (south) or up river (north). Down river is pretty much straight out of the lake, slightly left. Up river is a right upon leaving the lake. You can ride in either direction, but will run into more traffic if you go down river (south). Going north, you have unrestricted travel for miles and miles (to Arkansas). A few miles south and you’ll encounter a large “no-wake” zone and some bridges.

The Ouachita River is a great place to ride. I hope this info helps make the experience more enjoyable for you and your crew.

Stop searching, it’s here…

You can finally stop searching for “cable parks in Louisiana” because Louisiana’s first and only full service wake park is here. Third coast will cater to beginners all the way up to pro riders and have something for everyone in between. All rental equipment (boards, helmets, vests) you need to get your ride on will be available at the park, just in case you forgot something. Third Coast is NOT open yet, but it won’t be long fellas. Stay tuned…

Things you should know about TCC:

Pulls will be given by appointment so please call ahead to reserve your spot

Each session will start at the beginning of each hour so show up 15 minutes before you are scheduled to ride

Only 6 people will be allowed on the cable for any given hour to maximize each riders riding time

Hour Session rates are still to be determined

Want to save a few bucks? Grab a $350 year pass from Luke Romero at Rukus in Lafayette.  Each cable session will be $5 with a pass. TCC will accept cash or checks made payable to Third Coast Cables.

TCC will also offer lessons at $65 an hour, $45 for every additional hour with same coach and student.

Want to be the first to know? Become a fan of Third Coast Cables on Facebook or visit their website here.

Just in, a little GoPro HD Camera footage from the Atchafalaya Basin on 6/27/10. Ian McDougall doing sweet stunts all over the Swamp!