Shaun Murray Serves Up Wakeboarding's Wildest Ride

Forbes

3 days ago

Seattle may be primarily known for its grunge music, its vibrant arts and culture scene, and even its temperate, if rainy, weather. But it's also a city known for its openness to the new and the exciting.
Enter Shaun Murray, the four-time wakeboarding world champion, to bring the weird and the fun to the water. This past month at Seattle's Lake Washington, Murray and friends held an all-new kind of wakeboarding competition called Can You Ride It.
The first of its kind event took place on August 2, during Seafare, the city's annual air and water show.
The wakeboarding event is the brainchild of Murray, who teamed up with Best Day Brewing to launch the event. Murray has already begun to explore the limits of what can be towed behind a boat on his YouTube channel and wants to make the event a regular feature on Seattle's biggest summer stage and across America.
One of the main attractions of Can You Ride It is the wild variety of devices contestants affixed to their wakeboards. Among the competitors were cowboys, a Roman centurion, and a guy drinking a beer in a moving lawnchair. There was also a realtor who built her wakeboard with 'for sale' signs, while others rode with tennis rackets, suitcases, and even one with a moving bar stocked with Best Day non-alcoholic beer.
Murray says he regards wakeboarding as a creative sport, and one that led him early on to experiment with whatever could be ridden while moving on the water.
'Ever since I was a kid, I'd grab whatever I could ride, even if it didn't float—a boat cushion, a bucket, whatever I could find—and see if I could ride it,' Murray said. 'Over the years, I've kept doing it with friends (and) other pro wakeboarders and waterskiers, and it's always a good time.'
He adds that having the right event partner and sponsor was huge in making such a fun event happen.
'Partnering with Best Day Brewing made perfect sense because they're all about fun and trying new things—so we thought, why not give everyone the chance to see what they can come up with? I had no idea it would be such a huge hit.'
Contestants rode upon the waters of Lake Washington while testing whether their homemade vessels were sturdy and buoyant enough to be pulled by a powerboat at speeds going up to 20 mph.
The event's judges included Seattle Sounders goalkeeping coach Tom Dutra and longtime US Men's National Team goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who is now also a soccer analyst for ESPN. Both judges assessed participants based on their creativity, stunt, craft design, and showmanship.
'I was impressed with the athleticism of the riders,' Keller said on the day of the event. 'The guy riding a suitcase was unreal.'
Related story: Tony Hawk talks new digs, home improvement.
'What I'm excited about,' said Dutra, 'is to see where this progresses. I think with a lot of new sports, you have to start something, build it up, and when you get creative with it, you get more people interested.'
But Keller and Dutra hinted that many newer sports that have taken off in the last decade, from pickleball to MMA, show that there is much more interest in sports beyond football, basketball, and other so-called major sports.
Dutra added, 'I think if you look at the sports that Red Bull (founded) years ago, up to now, you have to think there's a huge upside to Can You Ride It and wakeboarding.'
Energy drink Red Bull, launched in 1987, not only owns interests in extreme sports events but has expanded into soccer, skiing, and motorsports, and boasts partnerships with world-class athletes such as Lindsey Vonn and Formula One champion Max Verstappen.
When asked if he thinks watersports and extreme sports can expand beyond top-level competitions and be adopted by more of the general public, Murray said he's very optimistic.
'Wakeboarding's definitely come a long way, since boats and gear are way better now—and people see it all over social media. I get folks of all ages trying it for the first time, and that moment when they pop up and realize, 'I'm doing it!' whether they're 6 or 83 years old.'
Murray adds that the feeling people get from wakeboarding is 'addictive, and it's what keeps the stoke alive and people heading back to the water.'
Founded in 1950, Seattle's Seafair now draws more than two million attendees annually and also features boating races, a triathlon, a music fest, a classic car show, a visit from the Blue Angels, and more events open to the public.
Best Day Brewing shared the event's podium highlights via Instagram. Cameron Horn, from Boise, Idaho, nabbed first place riding a hobby horse, while second place went to veteran pro water sports athlete Tony Klarich, who took to the water on two tennis rackets while hitting tennis balls served from his boat. Seattle's own Randy Webster rode his suitcase wakeboard to third place.
VIDEO: Shaun Murray talks up wakeboarding and Can You Ride It.
Murray thinks that events like Can You Ride It are not only enjoyable to watch and do, but accessible to the public and relatable to everyday fans of summer fun.
'You don't have to know tricks, you don't even have to know how to wakeboard—you just need an idea and the guts to try it,' Murray said. 'People show up to laugh and have a good time, and some end up leaving thinking, 'Maybe I'll give wakeboarding a shot.''
He adds that it's an all-round 'low-pressure, fun way to get more people on the water.'
Most of Murray's dozens of career titles came between 1998 and 2020, and he was the first wakeboarder ever to land a 900, a two-and-a-half-time aerial over the water. Murray, 49, is the only rider ever to hold World, Pro Tour, and National championship titles all at once. Wakeboard magazine publicly recognized Murray as a legend of the sport in 2005.
Read Frye's recent interview with skateboard legend Tony Hawk.
##