Kevin Henshaw, O’Neill Wake The Line, Cologne, Germany. Florian Suess photo

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The Spectacular O’Neill Wake The Line presented by Relentless Energy Drink wakeboard event stunned the 8000 strong crowd under a burning hot sun at the incredible setting of sold out Stadionbad Cologne.

The atmosphere throughout was thick with tension from the awe inspiring head to head format and the brand new, extremely technical and demanding set-up created by UNIT Parktech yet again. Featuring the Tech-Series as well the new and improved stair set, the abilities of the riders were pushed to the limit throughout the day, every one of them raising their game round by round.

Year on year the level of boarding and skating pushes further ahead and this year’s event was no exception. Bigger airs out of the much bigger quarter pipe, presses in every direction, bigger and more technical rotations on to and off rails not to mention several double flips going down alongside a whole host of 900s.

With many new faces in the line-up because of the new qualifying series of events held in the US and Europe, the big names were under a lot more pressure. Reigning champion Nico Von Lerchenfeld, succumbed to this pressure in the second round of head to heads against O’Neill team rider rider Steffen Vollert, who made it through the Langenfeld qualifier to squeeze ahead of Nico, into the Super Final and secure a third place finish.

It was the Raph Derome Show all the way through though, with not a single waiver in any round. Doubles, 900s and some of the most insanely technical and tweaked out rail hits ever witnessed. Seasoned O’Neill Wake The Line competitor and more than capable rail rider, Kevin Henshaw pulled out a run that under any other circumstances would have run away with a clear win, but this time securing him second place at arguably the most closely fought WTL in it’s 5 year history.

Not to be outdone, the huge Stadionbad crowd were left with their jaws on the floor with the wakeskate superfinal, Daniel Grant, retaining his title to yet again prove he is the man of the moment when it comes to skate.

For more information go to waketheline.com.

Results

Wakeskate
1. Daniel Grant
2. Jan Kissmann
3. Lukas Suess

Wakeboard
1. Raph Derome
2. Kevin Henshaw
3. Steffen Vollert

About O’Neill
O’Neill, the original California surf, snow and lifestyle brand, was founded in 1952 when a young man named Jack O’Neill took his unstoppable passion for surfing and used it to beat Mother Nature at her own game. Pioneering the world’s first neoprene surf wetsuit, Jack had successfully found a way to extend his surf sessions in the bone-chilling breaks of Northern California. He opened up the garage doors to his first surf shop soon after.

While many things have changed since those humble beginnings, Jack’s initial vision of producing functional and innovative board riding products continues to lie at the core of everything the company does. O’Neill’s set of core values – innovation in style and technology – has seen the brand devote itself wholeheartedly to the evolution of action sports. From the first neoprene surf wetsuit and board leash, to the world’s first stitchless board shorts and range of groundbreaking wearable electronics, O’Neill’s spirit of innovation will always drive the company forwards.

Today, O’Neill can be found the world over. In touch with its rich heritage and the universal appeal of board riding culture, O’Neill will always be committed to growing its reputation as one of the world’s leading youth lifestyle brands based on a unique half-century of history as the First Name in the Water.

The 2012 FISE contest just wrapped up in France yesterday with Raph Derome dominating the competition by winning all three divisions; Rail Contest, Best Kicker Hit and Best Rail Hit.

FISE Rail
1. Raph Derome
2. Keith Lidberg
3. Shane Bonifay
4. Nico Von Lerchenfeld
5t. Kevin Henshaw
5t. Marc Rossiter

FISE Best Kicker Hit
1. Raph Derome
2. Nico Von Lerchenfeld
3. Shane Bonifay
4. Hugo Charbit
5. Dominik Hernler
6. Keith Lidberg

FISE Best Rail Hit
1. Raph Derome
2. Kevin Henshaw
3. Felix Georgie
4. Keith Lidberg
5. Dylan Miller

Kevin Henshaw puts in work traveling around Europe to session his singnature UNIT rails. Always out for a good time, Henshaw is sure to play around on other obstacles along the way. Dude rips.

This is the final installment of our first permacation series. When we all talked about how we would release each location edit, we all knew and agreed that the Henshaw Hotel would be last because it best represents our main focus and goal, which is to bring fun back into riding. Anyone who has stayed at Kevin’s before has witnessed what happens when riders from all over the world come to stay. It’s always fun and it’s always interesting. Huge thanks for the support given by Slingshot, Active Water Sports, and Kevin Henshaw for hosting the project. Big thanks to all the riders Zach Schneider, Kevin Henshaw, Keith Lidberg, Mikey Ennen, Raph Derome, Clayton Underwood, JD Webb, Bob Sichel.

Video by Ioda Media

Dub Monday #2 from Alliance Wakeboard Magazine on Vimeo.

Kevin Henshaw, Olivier Derome and Dylan Miller throw down on Nico’s Unit rail at OWC. Get down with the sickness people!