The team at Broho did an excellent job in hosting the last qualifying stop of the season.  The great tall trees and surrounding hills prevented wifi and cell service and more photos and updates will be coming soon.  The Nautique Big Dawg sponsors deserve special recognition for their support of the Big Dawg around the world.

Next stop – The Finals under the lights in Texas on August 14 – 15, 2014.  See you there!

FRIDAY, July 18, 2014
Practice Day
The Nautique 200 did not stop pulling Big Dawg skiers all day on Friday.  The mornings start off cool and crisp and then the temperatures rise to a comfortable 80-ish degrees.  There is blue sky and sunshine most of the day.  The Broho team worked all day to make the site top-notch for this West Coast stop.  The ski site is beautifully manicured and the water skiing conditions are fantastic.  Water temp is about 80 degrees.

The area is unique with a surprise of Mount Ranier perched in the background on the drive from the airport.  Roadside coffee shops are abundant and the roads are twisty and turney like a slalom course.  The area is dotted with unique businesses like Ranch Cow Mattresses with a huge pinata-style cow, you can get your car serviced and repaired and buy flowers at the same establishment, and why not sell spas if you are in the stove business.  The local Nautique boat dealer, Pacific Nautiques, brought some beautiful shiny Nautique 200′s for display.

To see photos and more visit our Facebook page

Follow the Dawgs

Broho Lake is located about an hour South of Seattle, Washington. It sits nestled into the trees of Graham, WA. Built in the late 1980′s, it is a slalom specific site, and hosts an average of 3 tournaments per season. The Broho Park Water ski Club prides itself on our Memorial Day weekend event, which is usually the first tournament of the ski year in the Pacific NW area. Every year Broho organizes a handicapped format Head to Head 4th round, which has become legendary. Because of the surrounding tree cover, the water conditions are usually top-notch, and the water quality is crystal clean.

Seattle is close to Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens.  There is plenty to do in the Seattle Metro area related to waterfront, or the Experience Music Project.

Broho is looking forward to  hosting this 2014 Nautique Big Dawg World Tour event this coming July 19 & 20, and encourages you to join us in the fun, whether you want to enter the event, or just come see some terrific skiing.

DATES:
July 19-20, 2014

LOCATION:
Broho Ski Lakes
13420 288th Street East
Graham, WA

Contact:  Richard Doane 206-799-7086

SCHEDULE:
Saturday, July 19, 2014
Rounds 1 and 2 at 8:00 am.
BBQ lunch for the skiers/officials, and the Big Dawg banquet on-site Saturday evening after the day’s events are concluded.

Sunday, July 20, 2014
Head to Head for the Sweet 16
Sweet 16 photo shoot 8:15am
Head to head 9:00am
Podium presentations after tournament completion

PRACTICE:
Friday, July 18 2014
noon until dusk
$20 per ride

TRAVEL:
Airports
Seattle/Tacoma International Airport 1 hour from site
Portland Oregon International Airport 3 hours from site

Car Rental:
Car rental available at airports

Hotels:
Puyallup, WA area
Less than 1/2 hour from Broho site

Class C Tournament
Thursday, July 17, 2014
SkiPark Lake, host of the 2001 and 2008 Western Regionals
15 minutes from Broho

For pictures and more updates – Follow the Dawgs

DATES:
July 5 & 6, 2014

LOCATION:
Baurech, France
Contact Thierry Malhomme +33.5.56.21.35.30
nauticsport@sfr.fr
Website

SCHEDULE:
To be announced

The weather was cooperative and just a slight tail wind off the dock made the playing field slightly more challenging.  Jeff Rodgers was a favorite to win, but he found out that it was not as easy with this seasoned group of athletes.  See his comments and others here:

Thanks to all our sponsors, officials, skiers and everyone involved in making this an exciting event around the world.  A special thanks to Obrien for supporting the series and helping to create a refreshing spectator sport.

Friday was a calm day of practice with skiers pacing the dock in anticipation of the weekend’s competition.  Many skiers took advantage of a practice set behind drivers Tim Cost and Becky Lathrop.  The conditions remained calm with a slight texture on the water and an occasional sprinkle of rain.

Saturday’s fun began promptly at 8am and the first skier to take the water was legendary Ham Wallace.  Ham skied the first Big Dawg back in 2004.  We also welcomed new dawgs on the block, Jeff Rodgers and Jason Seels who proved Big Dawg status with good scores.   Ward McClain came back strong after two broken legs last year and ran 39off in both rounds.  Chet Raley was looking strong and focused with his solid style and attitude.  Jed Blackburn had the most spectacular falls of the day with a double front flip and a proper binding release mid-air.   There was an hour delay for lightning in the area and skiers were on the water well after 7:00pm.

The brackets are a very close match-up and Sunday will be a day you don’t want to miss.  Check with us on Twitter @skibigdawg and follow the live brackets.  A few statistics of the day:

38′ off (11.25m) was run 56 times by 33 different skiers

2014 Finals Qualifying Spots

Follow the Dawgs

DATES:
June 28-29, 2014

LOCATION:
Cedar Ridge Ski Lake, Canton Mississippi
Tournament Drive, off Robinson Road
10 miles East of Canton, MS
GPS Location of lake 32 37 34.74 N 89 52 45. 78 W
For GPS address, enter Skiers Point, Canton, MS.
Tournament Drive is 700 ft. East of Skiers Point

SCHEDULE:
Saturday,  June 28, 2014
2 full qualifier rounds 7:30am
32-off (13 meters) max starting line length

Banquet following tournament.  Details to be announced.
Each skier registration includes lunches and a banquet ticket.  Additional banquet tickets will be available on-site.

Sunday, June 29, 2014
Photos at 9:30am
Head-to-Head with Sweet 16 at 10:00am
Details for a Class C slalom tournament on Lake 2 to be announced.

PRACTICE:
10:00am on Friday
$20 for 4 passes
Practice rides may be available on Lake 2 during the tournament on Saturday, details to be announced.

Lunch will be available on-site Saturday and Sunday

TRAVEL:
Airport
Jackson, Mississippi (JAN)
From the airport, the site is 42 miles

Car Rental
Car rental is available at airport

Camping
Limited camper electrical hookups available
$20 per night
Must be reserved and paid with entry

Hotels
All hotels listed are in Canton at exit 119 (MS Hwy 16) off I-55N

La Quinta Inn & Suites
152 Soldier Colony Road, Canton

Hampton Inn
133 Soldier Colony Road, Canton

Americas Best Value Inn
119 Solder Colony Road, Canton

Best Western
137 Soldier Colony Road, Canton

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites
157 Soldiers Colony Road, Canton

Quality Inn & Suites
125 Soldiers Colony Road, Canton

Days Inn
123 Sidney Runnels Dr., Canton

Brentwood Inn & Suites
145 Soldier Colony Road, Canton

Numerous other hotels at I-55 Exits 108 (Madison) and 105 (Ridgeland), 10 to 13 miles south of Canton.

Live Brackets will be provided WiFi permitting

Sunday, April 13 start time 9:00am

Saturday, April 12, 2014 PRELIMINARY ROUNDS RECAP

Saturday’s preliminary was one of the most exciting on record.  Everything ran smoothly as the Nautique 200 handled some of the best 34mph skiers in the world.  Skiers in the first round were pacing themselves and testing the conditions.  In the second round, Greg Badal set the bar high by opting up to 39 off from his opening pass of 32 off and ran it.  The end result was 1 at 41.  Chad Scott had a little misfortune of the rope not being shortened and ran 38 twice.  With the elevation of over 5000 feet, it proved a test of cardio endurance.  Luckily, he pulled a rabbit out of his hat and ran 39 and ended up with a score of 1 at 41 off.   Dave Miller was a little shaky on his 38 but that rope was to easy for him and his 39 was a good clean comeback.  Dave took the lead with a score of 2.5 at 41 off.  West Palm Beacher and Okeeheelean Harald Hintringer cruised the course with all his passes ending up with 1.5 at 41.  Andy Mapple with his smooth style opts up and gets 1.2 at 41 and Frenchie Thierry Malhomme stayed strong and kicked out a score of 2 at 41.

Other skiers scored their personal best under pressure.  Eric Kolb USA ran 2.5 @ 38 off in his second Big Dawg tournament.  Antuan Saade of Mexico also scored a personal best with 2 at 38 off.

The Sweet 16 head to head on Sunday will be a test of strength, strategy and endurance.

Once again, thanks to our host Carlos Lamadrid, and our officials and sponsors.   A big bark out to Perez Priego Jose Antonio who has helped us acquire a stronger wifi signal so we can bring you the results and photos of the day.  Gonzalo Peschiera has also been working behind the scenes to make the event and the Tour a success!  Round of applause please.

Friday,April 11, 2014 PRACTICE RECAP

The famous Nautique 200 spent the day pulling Big Dawg Skiers from around the world.  Water temp is about 78 degrees and there was a slight tail wind off the dock.  The site is grand and a big thanks to our host Carlos Lamadrid for welcoming us to this beautiful property.

Start time for Saturday is around 8:30am and probably no chance of a rain delay in this area.

We don’t know how many practice sets Dave Miller took but we think it was under 3.  Richard Doane from the upcoming Broho Seattle stop is also among the competitors this weekend.  He is excited to host the Nautique Big Dawg this year.  Superstar Andy Mapple took some time to ride in the boat with Becky Lathrop at the wheel.

A big thanks to our sponsors for giving the opportunity for skiers to participate in such and exciting event.

For more pictures from Friday visit our Facebook Page.
 

Hotel Information

The Nautique Big Dawg World Tour continues into the 2014 season and another year of excitement.

April 12 – 13, 2014
Guadalajara, Mexico
More Info 

June 28-29, 2014
Cedar Ridge, Mississippi
More Info 

July 5-6, 2014
Baurech, France
More Info 

July 19-20, 2014
Broho, Seattle Washington
More Info 

Finals
Texas with the US Water Ski Nationals
Thursday, August 14, 2014 – Pre-lims
Friday, August 15, 2014 – Finals under lights
More detailed schedule coming soon