Wakestock 2012 - Another year, another Wakestock!

Sun or rain, sun or rain; with the weather forecasts showing a dividing line running literally through the Wakestock site, it was difficult to know what to expect as we made our way to Cardigan Bay on the Llyn Peninsular, North Wales for Wakestock 2012.

With the wettest June on record, floods across the country and no let up as we moved into July; things weren’t looking good for festivals across the UK. After a heavy start to the week, a site visit was held on Wednesday before the all clear was given for Wakestock 2012 to go ahead. In addition to the shuttle buses that run every year, a ‘Park and Ride’ service was set up at Pwllheli Marina to help drivers cope with the soft ground onsite.

As the campsite opened on Thursday afternoon, the weather certainly didn’t deter the thousands of festival goers who arrived ready to be the first to trail the new high tech wrist bands. In association with Samsung, Wakestock fans were issued with special RFID wristbands that were read on arrival to validate entry, providing secure access with virtually no queuing. And with the added ability to personalise wristband to ‘check in’ on Facebook and share experience with friends online at the Samsung Galaxy Note experiential stand in the arena; the bands proved a huge success.

Proving popular too were the improvements to the site layout; a larger rider area, a new swanky VIP area with an assortment of accommodation; Podpads, Festihuts, Bellepads, Beaupads, Campervan tents, Camel Camp tents and pre-erected Tents, and, the all new girls only Camp G.

And following on from the success of last year, which saw a full team of ExPix crew descend on Pwllheli Marina and the Wakestock festival site; ExPix had stepped it up once again for Wakestock 2012. Bringing with us our European team from Holland, our Welsh speaking promo staff and using our international PR teams in Canada, USA, Australia, Europe and Ireland; we were sure to get the message out there.

So as the wakeboarders got ready for the action with a practice session on the poolgap, Wakestock 2012 got underway with the Propaganda Party on Thursday evening.

But as the daybreak came on Friday morning the rain started and boy did it rain! We headed down to Pwllheli Marina for the wakeboarding qualifiers, where despite the weather it was all systems go. Held in the marina, start times are dependent upon the tide and this year high tide was early. By 09.00 the first of the day’s riders hit the water.  The ladies were first up and with Nicola Butler and Amer Wing in the line up it was going to be hard for the others to grab a spot, Hayley Smith edged out Jules Hayley whilst Megzy Barker took a spot behind Amber Wing. The men's qualifiers saw some of Britain's finest taking on all comers from around the globe; Jonty Green was killing it to take his heat above Edd Blundell and Marc Rossiter, Daniel Powers and Kurt Graham knocked out Wakestock stalwarts Johnny Carne and Ben Hitch, whilst Brenton Priestley and Dillon Mitchell took places above Scotty Broome and Jack Hammersley, and last but not least, the final heat saw Jorge Gill and the only rider to have appeared at every Wakestock, Matty C, take the last places in the finals.

Riding over and we headed back to the Wakestock site where we experienced the aftermath of the rain. Inexperienced campers who pitched their tents in the dip woke to find their tents floating in 9 inches of water in the two ‘lakes’ that had formed in the main camping area, keeping the Welfare Team busy as they handed out hot drinks, blankets and towels. Whilst campers salvaged what they could and were directed to more suitable camping areas, straw was distributed around the site and attempts were made to drain the ‘lakes’. But not everyone was put off by the weather; some were seen ‘relaxing’ whilst cries of ‘don’t take our lake’ were heard! However not all areas were as badly affected as you can see from the images below.

Back in the rider’s area and the security did a sterling job over the weekend ensuring everyone got back on site, pushing and shoving vans and cars and stamping down the muddied areas.

As the festival site opened for the night, the music got underway and the action started on the Pool Gap. After a practice session the night before things were starting to get tasty in the qualifiers; with most of the riders hitting all the rails the level of riding was definitely impressive. Trevor Bashir and Mitch Langfield (defending his title from last year) looked very strong, whilst Britain's rail specialist CK also looked pretty impressive. Rossiter was killing it too with some very stylish riding on the step up. So Friday's qualifiers were as follows:- heat 1:- Trevor Bashir & Mitch Langfield, heat 2:-CK Koester & John Tulley, heat 3Marc Rossiter & Brendon Priestley, heat 4:- James Windsor and Jonty Green.

On the West Stage, Rizzle Kicks got the crowd jumping with an outrageous performance of grooving before Calvin Harris raised the stakes to another level.

Saturday morning and the sun shone as riders and fans made their way to Pwllheli Marina for the Wakestock Wakeboarding Championship Finals. Within no time the promenade was packed with fans eager to see the world’s best wakeboarders. Again the ladies were up first and the rail seemed to be a problem for most of them, with several ladies not even hitting it at all, opting for wake tricks instead. However young Megy Barker seemed to have something to prove and was the only female to ride the whole rail. The real stand out of the day was Amber Wing who looked smooth and fluid on her run. The final positions were disappointing for the British ladies as all the podium spots went abroad. 1st Amber Wing, 2nd Hayley Smith 3rd Nicola Butler.

The men's riding also proved interesting with several riders in the semi's fighting for a place in the final; biggest shock of the day was Jonty Green who seemed to ride a near perfect run missing out in his heat. Sam Carne also rode well as did Wakestock regular and winner of the title the most times Dan Nott and they took on Danny Thollander, Daniel Powers, David O'Caoimh and Dylon Mitchel. With the tide dropping, the conditions were constantly changing, something that the visitors aren't used to, as such Dan Nott took the win once again.

1st Dan Nott, 2nd Danny Thollander, 3rd Daniel Powers

Saturday afternoon and it was time for more Pool Gap action as the WWA Rail Europeans continued well into the evening.  With over 40 riders competing for the WWA European Rails title, competition was once again fierce, although the stand out had to be Nico Von Lerchenfeld who was ollieing on to the down section of the middle rail.

On stage, Wakestock favourite Goldierocks threw down an amazing set. Charismatic and energetic, Goldierocks soon had the place crammed as she cranked up the beats. And to the delight of the fans, if not security, Goldierocks greeted fans at the end of the set before finishing with impromptu crowd surf!

Dizzee Rascal finished the night with a fantastic gig featuring pyrotechnics and lasers shows.

It was destination Abersoch Beach on Sunday morning for the Mystic Big Air Comp. Again the sun was shining and the beach was packed. Always a crowd pleaser the big air comp never fails to drag people from the small village of Abersoch to the waters edge. With the inconsistency of the waves this is anyone's competition. Getting over the kicker is the easy part, landing a big trick always poses a problem, even for the best riders. Connor Jones took the win and with it a place at the Harbour Reach competition coming up very soon.

Back at the festival site and there was no rest as the WWA Rail European Finals got underway on the Pool Gap. With semi's and finals to get through it was going to be interesting. Jonty Green managed to do a front flip off the middle rail conceding the fact he hadn't done enough to reach the finals which included, Felix Georgi, Nico Von Lerchenfeld, James Windsor and Marc Rossiter. The level was once again raised as these 4 battled it out for the title of Wakestock Rail Champion and grab the points towards the European title as well.

Chiddy Bang and Funeral for a Friend brought the crowds to the arena before headliners All American Rejects and Ed Sheeran took to the stage. With another two awesome sets, the night drew to a close and another Wakestock was over.

Despite all the rain the festival site held up amazingly well; all credit to the event staff who worked incredibly hard ensuring every effort was made to enable the festival to go ahead!

See you all next year????

Images can be found in the ExPix wakestock gallery follow us on facebook to receive updates