North American Flyboard Championship 2015

North American Flyboard Championship – 2015

Location: Cypress Black Bayou, Louisiana
12 miles north of Shreveport
Date: June 4, 5 and 6th, 2015
Registration: March 9 – May 5, 2015

Photos Courtesy of Jack Stone Productions

BACK TO BACK NORTH AMERICAN FLYBOARD CHAMPIONSHIP
WINS FOR DAMONE RIPPY!

NORTH AMERICAN FLYBOARD CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 OFFICIAL VIDEO

PASSION

Sport. A world filled with competitive fire, comradery, intense excitement, disappointment and every emotion in between. It’s also fueled by passion. The 2015 North American Flyboard Championship was to come to Shreveport, Louisiana and fill the Red River with high flying action directly in front of their downtown boardwalk. Restaurants were set to cater, sponsors were ready and willing to support, the press was encouraging the public to head to the boardwalk and see something that they’d never seen in their lives.

Instead the rains came…

Not directly over our location but up river and in devastating quantities. Flooding occurred in many parts of the state and the dam that was to be shut so the Red River would slow and calm and allow for our Championship event needed to remain open. The river rushed and so the event was dead… right?

Passion.

Our event organizers fueled by passion and determination re-imagined the entire event from the ground up in 20 days and allowed the best Pro Flyboarders in the world this very elusive and special opportunity to prove just how far their flying had come. At the same time the event allowed the Hydroflight community to strengthen relationships and develop a better understanding of how necessary it is that we all pull in the same direction if we want our sports to grow.

So, as the river continued to flow in downtown Shreveport top Pro, Veteran and Women Flyboarders from around the world competed and inspired each other and their fans 30 minutes away on Cypress Lake.

THE FLYING WAS RIDICULOUSLY EXTRAORDINARY!

What was even more insane was how the expectation level of fans, family members, friends and media had gotten so high.

Superman to double backflip combo… nice, what else you got?

I have watched our athletes from Qatar (2013), Toronto (2014), Dubai (2014) and now Shreveport (2015) and the progression of their flying is nothing short of incredible. The progression spans across all areas as well. Speed, technique, height, risk, aggressiveness, creativity, imagination, endurance, power, and style. Each brought to a whole nother level, each making the lives of the judges very difficult.

Take a minute to check out some highlights from our Top Eight Pro Competitors and don’t forget to scroll all the way to the bottom of this page for a complete photo gallery of all the competitors.

AND THE WINNER IS….?

PRO DIVISION TOP EIGHT – FINAL STANDINGS

• 1st Place – DAMONE RIPPY
• 2nd Place – JAKE OREL
• 3rd Place – HUNTER VERLANDER
• 4th Place – ASHTON BEUKERS
• 5th Place – BEN MERRELL
• 6th Place – CHAD BELL
• 7th Place – SUKSAN TONGTHAI
• 8th Place – CALEB GAVIC

VETERAN’S DIVISION TOP EIGHT – FINAL STANDINGS

• 1st Place – DONG-WON YANG
• 2nd Place – BRANDON SAMUELS
• 3rd Place – ANTHONY MARTINEZ YAGUE
• 4th Place – TODD SAWISCH
• 5th Place – ROBERT JASZCZOLD
• 6th Place – SEAN SHAVER
• 7th Place – RODNEY NELSON
• 8th Place – RICH MCGAHAN

WOMEN’S DIVISION TOP EIGHT – FINAL STANDINGS

• 1st Place – FERNANDA VILLENEUVE
• 2nd Place – NELLIE KUBALEK
• 3rd Place – KRISTEN SMOYER
• 4th Place – VALENTINE CAMBRON
• 5th Place – IVONNE SASTRE
• 6th Place – STEPHANIE WELLS
• 7th Place – SHYANNE MITCHELL
• 8th Place – KIM DA-YEOB

Download your free H2RO ‘INSPIRE” Desktop Wallpaper

HUNTER VERLANDER SUCCESSFULLY LANDS THE FIRST FLYBOARD TRIPLE BACKFLIP IN COMPETITION IN NORTH AMERICA!

TOP 32
(which turned into Top 34 after the addition of two appeals)

With four hours until we start Championship Saturday I’m going to have to drop a few videos in from the Veteran’s and Ladies Divisions and simply let you know that the level of flying in all divisions shot way up from Qualifying as riders got back to the freestyle runs they love and had 2 minutes each to rip and go big. H2RO has been very impressed with how far so many competitors have come with their flying and the great support everyone at the lake is showing one another.

VETERAN’S DIVISION TOP TEN

WOMEN’S DIVISION TOP FOUR

H2RO LEAD SPONSORS

H2RO SPONSORS

QUALIFYING ROUND RESULTS

QUALIFYING ROUND HIGHLIGHT VIDEO

The 2015 North American Flyboard Championship Qualifying Round proved to be much like a mid-term exam needing last minute cramming, cheating off a few friends papers and making notes on your arm for quick reference when the time starts ticking. Strategy, math and execution all had to come together in order for a flyer to achieve a top 32 result. Irregardless of your base points score on your card it really came down to did you execute what you wrote down and how many bonus or deductions did you receive. It took the happy accidents out of the equation and for the first time turned a random freestyle event into a calculated extreme sport. Some big names struggled while some flyers with simpler cards did well. Are the base points across the board correct… no…. but even the flyers who struggled with the format believe it is a necessary component to have if we want our sport to move to the next level.

The short history of Flyboard Championships

Let’s meet our Judges!

Ladies and Gentleman, we present the Judges for the 2015 North American Championships.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

• Brian Farlin – Owner of Extreme Hydro Flights from Flushing Michigan.
• Miss Lauren Vizza, Miss Louisiana, from Shreveport, Louisiana,
• Miss Bre Hill, a member the Shreveport-Bossier City Sports Commission, from Shreveport, Louisiana.

TECHNICAL JUDGES:

• Head Judge, Jason W. Burns, Clarkston, Michigan, former judge for both the IJSBA and APBA, Jason understands the importance of fairness and thoroughness that comes with judging. He is well versed in the new rules of the competition and will head up the video review process if there is any disagreement between Technical Judges as to completion of tricks.
• Mr. Alex Barreira, Flyboard Distributor for the Eastern side of Canada and from Quebec Canada. He was judge under old system last year and looks forward to working the new scoring system this year.
• Mr. Malvin Quinones from Puerto Rico. The Turbo Tech himself, will change hats this year from Technician to Judge and will bring technical expertise and flyer knowledge to the panel.

RAW VIDEO FOOTAGE:  Due to the fact it looks like the change in venue has made it impossible to live stream the event we will be doing our best to upload raw video of the runs on our H2RO Facebook Videos page. Edited videos will also be posted as they are created and we hope you will share and enjoy.

NEWS – EVENT VENUE CHANGE: We were notified yesterday by the Corp of Engineers out of Shreveport who control the lock and damn system downstream of the competition area, that due to massive rains and flooding north of Shreveport, the Corp will not be able to close the damn during the NAFBC. When the damn is open, the current is quite severe and not conducive for boat traffic and certainly not for a competition of this magnitude. This competition has always been flyer focused; providing you a safe venue, so that your talents are the focal point is our main priority. Because of this, the decision has been made to relocate the competition venue to a fresh water lake that is 12 miles north of Shreveport at the Cypress Black Bayou. If you are a spectator, your view will be just as close up and personal. Spectator or Athlete, pack a bag for a day at the beach because there is a great recreational area where you can sun, swim and watch all at the same time. They even have a small zoo with whitetail deer, pot bellied pigs, and peacocks!

JUNE 1st -NAFBC Updates

• Adrian Boucher – OUT
• Sonnie Bean – OUT
• Daniel ‘Iron Man’ Kaufman cannot attend due to peak Flyboard season here in Canada but we’ll get him back in Dubai.
• FlyGirls are on their way and lookin’ confident.
• Ashton Beukers and Geoff Hulet arrested at Hong Kong Airport for noise complaints… just kidding. See you soon guys!
• Hunter ‘Poison Dart Frog’ Verlander is apparently doing things out on the water that should be illegal. Kids warmed up.

See you soon… Blaine

Chat #NAFBC with Shawn Galiotto:

WEDNESDAY NIGHT – TRICK CARD SUBMISSION

Well as expected some flyers came in understanding every nuance of the new rules and had their 5 trick card for qualifying dialed in and others asked good questions but upon hearing the answers needed to do some creative thinking and re-imagine their first run. The energy in the room was excitement and nerves and we all can’t wait to get started today! Keep your eyes on this page for updates…

Have a look at the 2015 Pro Competitors… why he’ll win, why he won’t… let’s debate before they elevate and create!

Check out our N.A Championship Strategy Article!

PLEASE REVIEW OUR OFFICIAL RULES AND EVENT FORMAT

2015 North American Flyboard Championship Competitors

H2RO is excited to visit the home of Ark La Tex Flyboard and connect with owners Rich McGahan, Paula McGahan, Randy Arendell and Lisa Turner Arendell. Paula has been named the 2015 Flyer Liaison and will be in charge of all the questions or concerns the flyers have once they reach the competition.

H2RO has witnessed incredible progression from Toronto in 2014 to Dubai and we expect the second North American Flyboard Championship to blow minds and capture the public’s imagination. This is the year Hydroflight Sports become a force within the extreme sport landscape.

Watch the most exciting new extreme sport live… for free! Let us know you’ll be there on Facebook and please share our event with your fellow sports fans! North American Flyboard Championship Facebook Event

Let’s talk #nafbc on Twitter
#nafbc Tweets