In this video, world-renowned, multi-discipline athlete, Brian Grubb dishes about the evolution of watersports. Having been riding for team @malibuboats  for over 20 years, Grubb started waterskiing, transitioned to wakeskating, performs at top levels at wakeboarding and wakesurfing, and now may be best known for his exploits riding foils. Check out what Brian Grubb has to say, and enjoy some great footage of Grubb doing what he does best.

The post Brian Grubb on the Evolution of Watersports appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

Like a lot of aspiring watersports athletes, Brian Grubb traded water skis for a wakeboard in the late ’90s, but it was a picture of a pro riding skateboard-style that would prompt him to trade bindings for sneakers and grip tape. Grubb would go on to be a driving force behind the burgeoning sport of wakeskating, capturing National and World Championships in his rookie year on tour and forging a career that would last for decades. It’s his relationship with Red Bull, however, that’s thrust the now 43-year-old into the national spotlight. Grubb’s recent drone-towed wakeskate session across the rooftop infinity pool of a Dubai skyscraper—followed by a 77-story BASE jump to the beach below— has become the energy drink behemoth’s all-time most viewed clip on Instagram.

Why wakeskating?

I grew up water-skiing and wakeboarding in Florida. I saw some shots in the mags of (wake pioneer) Scott Byerly riding with no bindings and had to try it. I loved the freedom of it and hitting rails and kickers was super fun for me. It was such a new sport that we were doing tricks no one had ever done and that was very rewarding.

Still, it was a pretty niche sport. How did you attract Red Bull?

I got connected with Red Bull back in 2001 with some help from my friend Parks Bonifay who was already on the team. I was getting a lot of exposure in the mags and doing pretty good competing in wakeboard rail contests on my wakeskate. It was a new sport, but Red Bull took a chance with me and together we helped grow wakeskating into what is it today. Red Bull is the best sponsor in action sports and goes above and beyond to help its athletes achieve their dreams.

Your career has lasted longer than most. How have you managed to stay popular?

I’ve dedicated my whole life to watersports, and it has been very good to me in return. I’m always trying to do new things and ride in places no one ever has. I’ve had some amazing opportunities to do this with the help of Red Bull and my other sponsors. I don’t turn down opportunities and am always on the move. I have a friend group that also lives like I do and we are always chasing the next adventure.

The latest stunt in Dubai was crazy. How do you dream up something like that, and what goes into making it happen?

The wakeBASE was my dream project. It was just a wild idea for a while, but started really coming together after we built the drone and now had a way to tow it. Red Bull has an amazing team that helped with the logistics in Dubai and with the Address Beach Resort. It’s a 79-story building and the pool is the highest infinity-edge pool in the world at 965 feet. It’s an awesome BASE jump with about 7 seconds of free fall.

Read Next: Brian Grubb and Cleopatra’s Pool

So what’s next?

I’m always looking for the next adventure and traveling around the world to find it. Lately I’ve been chasing big waves on the e-Foil and looking forward to going on the road this summer with Malibu Boats on the Just Ride Tour.

The post The Brian Grubb Interview appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

Brian Grubb headed to Slovenia for his latest wakeskating adventure with Red Bull, but this one was way different than any other he’d ever done. Rather than being pulled by a winch, cable, or boat, this time Grubb was pulled by a drone.

The drone, created by Infineon Technologies, was large enough to pull Grubb for 10 minutes at a time. To say that drone technologies are advancing would be an understatement. It’s pretty incredible for a rider of Grubb’s size to get pulled as easily as he does, while carving and doing tricks, that pull against the drone. Watch the full video above.

The post Drone Wakeskating With Brian Grubb appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

For the full story on their trip, check out the feature story here >>

The post SHOREPOUND | A North Shore Adventure appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

Wakeboarding is an escape for all of us, whether we’re just learning to carve or charging into double-ups. Part of that escape is also being captivated by what’s possible. What’s possible in terms of tricks? What’s possible in terms of locations?

Winching in Hawaiian barrels might be a pipe dream for most, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be dreamed about.

WBM: How did this trip come about? How long was it in the making?

Grubb: Parks and I have been going to Hawaii in the winter time for the last few years. Nick has a place in Maui so we’ve been meeting up with him to surf and do a bunch of fun stuff on the islands. We all talked about winching in the surf but could never line up a winch when the conditions were right. We all knew we wanted to get back out there this past winter and make it happen in some good swell.

In December we started working out all the details. Parks lined it up with Jamie O’Brien to use his winch, and we found a good place to stay.

We shopped the idea around but didn’t get much support at first, so we decided to just pay for it ourselves and make it happen. We would self produce it, and we knew it would pay off in the end. We got Bryan Soderlind and Austin Keen on board too, so our crew was dialed and made all the expenses cheaper too.

When word got out about the whole crew that was going and a great looking swell forecast, we got the support we needed!

WBM: What was the highlight of the trip?

Parks: I think the highlight of the trip was getting to watch the back door shoot out from Jamie O’Brien’s dad’s porch… It was some of the best pipe I have ever seen.

Grubb: The highlight for me was winching the shore break when it was big and just detonating on the beach. It takes so much effort to winch in those conditions. You only get 5 or 6 pulls an hour and the winch driver has to time it just right to get you in the perfect spot. I got a lot of waves but had two that stand out in my mind where everything came together almost perfectly.

WBM: Who caught the best barrel?

Grubb: That’s a close one between Parks’ cover shot and Nick’s backhand barrels. I love how Parks is dragging his hand on the roof and looking so casual but also loved watching Nick getting it on a wakeskate!

Parks: I think Nick Taylor did. He had some backside barrels that were insane. Grabbing his rail in big blue caverns… Bear got some great shots!

WBM: Favorite set… at Keiki Beach or Waimea Bay?

Parks: Keiki Beach for sure. I have never winched shorepound like that before! I have been to that beach many times, looked at it and said to myself, “How insane would it be to ride there?!” It was so scary and fun at the same time.

Grubb: Without a doubt it was the Keiki sessions. Everyday the waves were a different size and always changing, which we loved. We did Waimea mostly because we had time when the waves were too big and closing out at Keiki’s. It was a fun little rail at Waimea, but honestly, if the conditions would have been right at Keiki’s we would have been there all day everyday!

WBM: Who was the MVP of the trip?

Grubb: Everyone killed it on this trip. We had a great crew, but I’d probably have to give it to Bear. He obviously shot amazing photos the whole trip, but he’s got a great vibe and is high energy all day. He’d always encourage us to get one more if needed to make sure we nailed it. Those memories we made will last forever through his images and now in the pages of Wakeboarding Magazine.

Parks: I say Bear. He got some of the most amazing pictures I’ve ever seen. He even got a sequence of Koa Rothman’s wave of the year! He is the most talented photographer I have ever worked with. MVP… Or more like MVB.

The post A North Shore Adventure appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

Parks’ travel tips:
• Always try to snag a pillow or blanket from first class on international flights when you walk by. It is frowned upon, so make sure to hide it if you get one.
• I always pat the plane on the way out for good luck. It works — I’ve never crashed!
• Be nice and help ladies and old people lift their bags on the plane. I’ve been ­consciously trying to do it at least once or twice every flight. It’s like Delta CrossFit.
• I always try to keep my clothing bag the same size as a large carry-on bag. That way if you miss the cutoff time to check your bags, you can still bring your clothing bag as a carry-on.

Worst person to travel with:
Rusty [Malinoski], the notorious line skipper. I can’t even deal.

Most memorable road trip:
My dad and I drove six hours in the wrong direction one time. Just so you know, Greenville, South Carolina, and Greenville, North Carolina, are two totally different cities, and are really far apart from each other!

Grubb’s travel tips:
• Don’t always go for the cheapest fare. Stick to one airline and build your SkyMiles status.
• Keep your pockets empty except for your phone. Makes security quick.
• Take off your hat when you step up to the window of any customs official.
• When sleeping on long flights, wear a hat and pull the blanket over your head. It blocks all the light and distractions, and the bill of your hat keeps the blanket away from your face so you don’t get hot.
• Put your shoes on the conveyor first, before your bags, so you can put them on quickly, then grab your bags and go.

Miles you’ve flown:
1.5 million

Airport floor you’ve slept on:
Portland

Bucket-list destination:
Maldives

Danny’s travel tips:
• If you can’t get the first-class upgrade, try to grab a seat in the last exit row over the wing — otherwise known as poor man’s first class. The first exit row won’t recline, but the last row rivals first class for legroom.
• Get TSA Pre-Checked. You go through a shorter line and you don’t take off your shoes or remove your laptop. The Pre-Check line is usually about five to 10 minutes instead of 30 to 45 minutes.

Memorable travel story:
I was running super late and needed to catch what was the last flight of the day out of Orlando. After deciding I wouldn’t have time to park, I left my truck on the ticketing curb with the keys in it and ran inside. I checked in and checked my bags just before the cutoff time. When I went outside to park the truck, it was hooked up to a tow truck. The driver told me it was $50 to get the truck back and I could pick it up at the tow yard. I picked it up three days later and discovered a new form of airport valet that was almost the same price as airport parking!

The post Travel Tips from the Pros appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

Brian Grubb

“OWC really changed the wake scene in Orlando. It gave local riders and pros a place to ride ­together and progress wakeboarding and wakeskating on the cable and on the boat. Some of those parties they had out there in the early days were legendary. Watching Parks go above the cable on the Indian line was so insane. It’s hard to ­believe OWC has been open for 17 years, but in that time it’s helped launch my career and many others along the way.”

Shaun Murray

“This was right around the time when we started experimenting with rails and kickers at home, and we started bringing them out to OWC on trailers. ­Gerry Nunn and I would bring my PWC, put on barefoot suits, and do ­crazy stunts on the big cable. It really allowed me to expand my switch riding and brought a whole new aspect of fun to the sport. The biggest thing for me was getting tricks and awareness consistent because of repetition. Not much can compare to the economics of time at the cable.”

Parks Bonifay

“I was beyond pumped for OWC to be built in Orlando, and even with no rails or kickers, I would do countless laps. Surf Expo would throw a huge party out there on Thursday nights and I would do the Indian line. I remember 3,000 people stacked along the shore, yelling at me to keep boosting. A couple of times I remember looking up and seeing the cable slightly below me. So much fun! But no matter how high I went at those parties, Jeff Heer was ­always on the start dock telling me to go bigger. Good times!”

The post The Birth of OWC appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

Filmed and Edited by Spencer Norris

The post Wakin’ & Bacon appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

Brian Grubb is always taking the off-season hitting up exotic locations and getting out of town to ride where he typically doesn’t (and others don’t either). This year, he set off to Turkey with the Red Bull crew to ride in a geothermic naturally-fed spot called Cleopatra’s Pool.

This area of Turkey (once part of the Roman empire) is full of history, including this man-made pool that was supposedly a gift to Cleopatra from Marc Antony. As the story goes, an earthquake caused all the surrounding buildings to topple into the pools so they are filled with the ancient ruins. They have since been recreated and the naturally occurring hot springs are a destination for many people to come swim and bathe in the warm waters. Air bubbles from the springs are constantly running up through all the ruins so the pool is also known for it’s “champagne waters”.

Check out the full gallery below.

Brian Grubb is supported by Hyperlite, Malibu Boats, Billabong, Zeal Optics and Red Bull.

The post Brian Grubb and Cleopatra’s Pool appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.

Off the southern gulf coast of Florida, about 8 feet deep in water, lies the ruins of one man’s personal Xanadu. The apocalyptic Star Wars looking structures off Cape Romano are a confusing sight to behold. The “Dome Homes” as they are known have been described as many things including something from an extra-terrestrial movie set or an evil’s villains hideout. In reality the domes were an eco-minded home ahead of its time that succumbed to heavy coastal erosion. A retired oil tycoon and avid inventor named Bob Lee dreamed up the project, his interest in renewable energy and living off the grid led him to build a series of self-sustaining geodesic domes that connected to form his home.

The location of the Dome Homes were miles away from society on a desolate but beautiful stretch of barrier island that is part of the 10,000 island chain. Bob spent over two years building the homes, battling logistics with it’s remote location and severe bouts of bad weather. The Lee family moved in into their home in the early 1980’s and stayed for seven years living happily off the grid with an island to themselves. Solar power and a water desalination system kept basic needs met and they took their boat to town in Marco Island when needed. A steady longshore drift over the years though slowly kept eroding the coastline and Dome Homes inched closer and closer toward the Gulf of Mexico. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew came through as a direct hit and battered the Dome Homes while leaving them in a state of disrepair. After the Lee family abandoned them they changed hands a few times before becoming an abandoned building boaters would party at on the weekend. The Domes were on dry land till 2004 when the steady longshore drift finally eroded the coastline and the pillars of the home touched the sea. 11 years later the home’s pillars are about 8 feet under water and on a rough day the crests of the waves can brush the bottom of all six buildings.

The Dome Homes became an official target for a wakeboard mission in the early summer of 2015 after years of discussion. Brian Grubb went on a scout mission by PWC and reported back that there was plenty of concrete debris in the water, the tide was kind of scary, but with the right conditions we could pull off something really unique. We reached out to Parks Bonifay and watched the weather for the right time to head south and mission out to the Dome Homes.

The First Go

On an early afternoon in April I met Parks and Brian, who brought two Red Bull PWC’s, at a Marco Island Marina that was to be our departure spot. Also meeting us there was local fire captain and wakeboard charter owner Dustin Beatty who offered to help with the wakeboarding trip. Dustin knew the area and all the waterways well so we let the captain take over! We loaded his Mastercraft X25 down with camera gear, camping gear, and supplies to build a massive kicker. The fleet then headed south to the Dome Homes, avoiding the open ocean by taking the 10 or so miles of backwater that were only navigable at high tide. An hour or so later we turned the corner of Cape Romano to get our first glimpse of the Dome Homes.

Though not very windy, the tide was ripping around the point and through the domes making driving the boat around them very difficult as we still checked them out excitedly. We unloaded the boat and set up camp as the sun went down and full moon came up. The feeling was truly surreal, the full moon lit up the domes and as the island’s only inhabitants we cooked fish, listening to music, took the jet skis out, and planned for the next day over some cold brews and a campfire. The next morning we got to work on building the kicker, spending about three hours getting it perfect in the brutal morning sun. Once finished we had to wait for the slack tide, the half hour to hour window between high and low tide where the currents would theoretically calm.

With a full moon the night before we would soon realize there wouldn’t be much of any slack tide that day. We loaded up the kicker and struggled mightily to get it into place, the tides began to switch quickly and kicker worked against us in any way it could. After about two hours of battling the tidal currents and now a new strong west wind we took a break and tied the kicker off where it was hoping to try again later. As the day wore on and the conditions only worsened we realized there was no chance of even riding in turbulent conditions around the Dome Homes. With the sun setting and the forecast for the next day only looking worse we decided to dismantle the kicker and leave the island before dark. A lot of hard work had been put in all day for pretty much nothing so spirits were low, on top of that the low tides were going to force us to take the open ocean back to the marina and the winds had been building all day. We departed at sunset on what was an unforgettable journey home. The waves were 4-6 feet and almost crashing over the bow of the Mastercraft as Captain Dustin guided us home into the night. Grubb and Parks followed closely behind on the skis while I held onto the dogs and kept an eye on them for safety. We hadn’t planned on navigating at night nor in such extreme weather so were more than relieved when we made it back to the marina. We were happy to be back but we also knew our journey to the Dome Homes wasn’t complete. Crazy to think such a unique and beautiful place could become equally as harsh and unwelcoming, certainly a lesson Domes Homes builder Bob Lee had learned.

MONTHS LATER…

The Victory Lap

Parks, Grubb, Dustin, and I watched the weather over the summer and stayed in contact until we found the perfect day to return to the Dome Homes. Our game plan for success this time involved a custom, floating kicker built by Dustin and a windless beautiful summer day during a smaller moon phase. We departed in the morning at 5am with glassy conditions and dolphins jumping in our wake following us on the way out. We quickly setup the kicker upon arrival and got to work using a multi rope anchor system that worked perfectly to keep it in place with the calm conditions. Parks took some cracks at going higher and higher on the homes before finding his line and pressing around one side of the curved concrete structure. Once the 10-15 foot drop starting taking its toll on Parks, Grubb switched the kicker around to other side of the domes and showed how well he can float out a kicker hit on his wakeskate. Grubb charged the kicker with huge frontside big spins with the apocalyptic ruins right behind him and jagged concrete debris underneath the water’s surface.

Captain Dustin charged the kicker a few times too knowing that there might not be another chance at these conditions. Our effort had paid off, the trials and tribulations we went through on the first attempt only made it that much easier for us on the second. By afternoon we had our fill and decided to head back as the wind began to pick up. As we pulled away from the Domes I stared at all the names that had been carved and spray-painted over the years. So many people had visited this place before and left their name but only one Parks Bonifay left his mark by sliding his wakeboard across it. Huge thanks goes out to Dustin Beatty as it wouldn’t have been possible without his local knowledge and expertise.

The post Dome Homes: Trip of a Lifetime appeared first on Wakeboarding Mag.