Presented by CWB Board Co.
(THIS CONTEST ENDED ON 9/1/12)
Riders Choice Awards Archives:
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August is the month that sees more wakeboarding throughout the world than any other month of the year. Sure, I can't back that up with any evidence, but my instincts tell me it is so. Despite the fact that everybody spends so much time on the water, we still run the WakeWorld Riders Choice Awards presented by CWB Board Co. awards throughout August because we know that's when the stoke for our great sport is at its highest! 2012 Was another banner year for our 12th annual visit to the polls. You, the riders, submitted more votes than ever and we thank you for your efforts!
We've counted up the votes, determined the winners and have already put some shiny glass trophies in the hands of the winners. The only thing left to do is tell you all about it...
But first, we first need to hand out some prizes. As if having the privilege to vote wasn't enough, we also gave each of our voters a chance to win some great prizes from CWB Board Co. Check your email inbox to see if you've won one of the following...
- CWB Wakeboard of choice
- CWB Bindings of choice
- CWB Wakeskate of choice
- CWB Wakesurf Board of choice
- CWB Life Vest of choice
- CWB Handle and Mainline of choice
- 5 Pairs of Kicker Cush headphones
- 5 Pairs of Oakley sunglasses
- 10 Pairs of Honu sandals
- 10 Cases of Rockstar Energy Drink
So what do the results look like for 2012? Some things changed and some things stayed the same. Be sure to click on each category to see the runners-up.
The Top Male Wakeboarders stayed the same as far as the top two positions, but there was some movement after that. Harley Clifford, the first Aussie to ever grab the top spot, has maintained that spot for the third year in a row. Newcomers to the top ten include Raphael Derome and Steel Lafferty forcing out Adam Fields and Randall Harris.
In the Top Female Wakeboarders category, the #1 spot has swung back to the woman that has held this spot for nine of the last 11 years, Dallas 
Friday, after Amber Wing displaced her for the last two years. We also welcome Meagan Ethell to the top five at the expense of Emily Durham.
In the Top Wakeskaters category, we have Reed Hansen holding on to the top spot for the second year in a row. In a changing of the guard, we see both Scott Byerly, Aaron Reed and Brandon Thomas all fall out of the top five to be replaced by Ben Horan, Daniel Grant and Danny Hampson.
He didn't make it into the Top Male Wakeboarders category, but newcomer Shota Tezuka did manage to walk away with the Rookie of the Year trophy. Meanwhile, youngster Mike Dowdy performed well enough to to grab the Most Improved Rider award.
It's the second year of our two new rider categories, but we've only had one rider win the Rail Rider of the Year and Cable Rider of the Year awards 
as Raphael Derome and Tom Fooshee, respectively, repeated their winning ways for 2012.
Shifting from riders to products, this year's Wakeboard of the Year remains in the hands of the most popular name in the Riders Choice Awards for 2012 with the Liquid Force Harley. The Binding of the Year category remains unchanged with the Ronix One sitting in the top spot for the fourth year in a row. There's a change at the top of the Wakeskate of the Year category with the Ronix Boomstick topping the competition. Finally, Inland Surfer made its first appearance on the podium in our Wakesurf Board of the Year category with 
their Swallow model receiving top honors.
In a close battle between two boats that made a big splash in 2012, the Boat of the Year category goes to the MasterCraft X-Star with the Nautique G23 not far behind. Malibu Boats not only took third place with their MXZ, but they also acquired the Innovation of the Year award with their new Surf Gate wakesurfing system.
Finally we get to our two video cateogries. The Video of the Year category is for the best full-length DVD release and it goes to Defy from BFY Productions. The Web Video of the Year went to the most impressive video found on the Interweb and for the second year in a row it goes to a video based in Thailand with Breddas by the Hoppe brothers.
Be sure to click on the links below to see the full results for every category and jump on the links at the top of each page if you want to see the Riders Choice Awards for the previous years. Thanks to everybody that submitted a vote and to all the sponsors that provided such great prizes!
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