Thanks for you patience.  We had over 700 amazing entries to read - and the editors of Transworld Wakeboarding and Alliance Wake have come to a final decision:  Congratulations to Kellen from Covington, WA - his description of how Liquid Force literally saved his life earned him a $1000 evo gift card!

Kellen's winning entry (Liquid Force):

I used to suck at wakeboarding.  People would laugh and point, say mean things, and never invited me to any parties.  Then I bought my first LF board from evo and everything changed.   No longer was I the object of their vicious verbal harassment, but rather a spectacle of wakeboarding envy among the crew.  "Make fun of this!" I'd say as I threw down a sick air/grab/spin/awesome move thing!  And they couldn't, because of the afforementoned radness.  Girls were like, "heyyyyyyyyy", and guys were like, "Damn, that girl just said "Heyyyyyyyyy" to that used-to-be-douchebag-turned-epic-rider-I-wish-I-was-that-cool-guy".   Girls were knocking down my door for a piece of this guy.  Luckily, I was able to prop the door back up my LF wakeboard so the landlord didn't notice the damage.  One fine young lady in particular thought I was so radical, that she said she could overlook my buckled appearance since I rode LF.  Turns out SHE rode LF too!  Sparks flew, the engine ran wild, broke, we paddled to shore, and then BAM! 9 months later our little baby girl was here!   So, in summary: I sucked, LF saved my life, broke my door, propped up my door, knocked up my girl, delivered my baby, and now we're here - the land of awesome, grooming our 8 month old daughter to be the next Amber Wing.  Can you see if Shane's available to coach in couple years?  Thanks.   No you're ADD.  Love, Kellen 


And the runners up:

Submitted by Loren  from Ooltewah, TN (CWB):

Wakeboarding is the passion that fills my summers and the balm that soothes my soul.  The stress of life melts away when I see my reflection in the glass on an early morning set.  The company that seems to best align with my philosophy is CWB.  I am currently riding an '07 Transcend with Zeus bindings.  With the exception of one particularly hard fall, where the lever of the bindings made a visit to my nether regions, this gear has made me smile for 5 years.  What else in life can you argue provides that type of consistent joy?  Just look at the CWB rider's attitudes and videos to see how their entire focus as a company is fun.  From the legend Schwenk to the dirty up-and-comer Dowdy, CWB's entire stable is stocked with riders who love this sport, and live as if they know they are privileged to be doing what they do.  Go riding with them, and you'll see they will throw a huge raley for the weekend warrior who wants to see the 'Superman', and do it with a smile.  I guess the strongest statement I could make in support of a company is that if I woke up one morning magically transformed into a wakeboarding god, I would want my underground lair to be stocked with CWB gear for my superhuman feats and my sidekicks to be the SHAT crew (Schwenk, Hansen, Adkison, and Twelker). 

Submitted by Jordan from Maple Grove, MN (Ronix):

I wake up in the morning, roll out of bed, and look at my two killer wakeboards hanging on the wall. The Ronix Phoenix Project, and Ronix One aren't just boards, they're my tools. My weapons of mass destruction. The shake to my bake. The earth to my quake. They're why I kill it on the cable and the lake. My Relek and One bindings that go with them just sweeten the tea that is my setup. On numerous accounts, something has gone wrong, be it a broken fin, or a busted boot, Ronix has always stepped up and been very easy to work with, going so far as to replacing full pairs of bindings once. The customer service is almost as fantastic as the product itself, serving me well ever since I picked up the sport.  Coming into my first contest soon, you can bet that I will be repping the backwards "R." Whoever said "You can't blame your gear" must have never ridden a Phoenix Project before, because if I manage to stand atop the podium this weekend, you can bet that everybody around will know I ride Ronix, and that the gear is half my game. 
 
Thanks to everyone who voted - it was fun!  

If you need any gear from your favorite brand this summer - you know where to find it : evo wake shop