Chad Sharpe has had a long and successful wakeboarding career of which any athlete would be envious. At a young age he moved out on his own from Canada to Orlando to pursue wakeboarding. Little did he know that he would become one of the most well-known and legendary riders to date.
 
In his early days, Chad was a member of the Pointless Crew, pushing the limits of the sport and riding every day with the best wakeboarders on the scene. Chad has always been that rider that charges hard, so hard that it’s sometimes scary to watch. How he has avoided serious injury, we will never know, but we are thankful and watch with admiration.
 
Nowadays, as an owner of Ronix Wakeboards, Chad spends a lot of his time out at Lake Ronix, one of the most progressive and coveted wakeboarding spots in the world. When he isn’t out there riding one of the multiple cable systems or building insane obstacles, he is either on his home lake, Hiawassee, or traveling around to various clinics, demos and contests. I was fortunate enough to catch Chad in Orlando and tag along with him for a typical day at Lake Hiawassee and Lake Ronix.
 
WW: Who has influenced you in wakeboarding?
CS: I’ve always been influenced by the guys that I’ve ridden with over the years and all the riders that I looked up to. Riding with the Pointless guys every day was really motivating. And now, watching some of these young dudes is pretty amazing and influential also.
 
WW: What advice can you give to up and coming wakeboarders?
CS: Stick with it. Don’t get discouraged. It’s not all going to come at once. From contest riding to getting and keeping sponsors, you really have to grind it out, work hard and pay your dues. All the good stuff will come in time.
 
WW: What are some hurdles you've overcome?
CS: Moving to Florida from Canada to wakeboard and train is still, to this day, one of the biggest hurdles I’ve overcome. It was really expensive, but I was lucky enough to have some established riders like Jeff Heer take me in. I ate lots of Ramen noodles and cheap fast food. Also, as an athlete, the main hurdles have been just trying to stay healthy and injury-free over the years.
 
WW: Whose wakeboarding career do you admire the most?
CS: Probably guys like Danny [Harf] and Parks [Bonifay]. Parks is one of the most decorated and well-known athletes to this day, and Danny has won all of the biggest events over the years, has had ground-breaking video sections and continues to do so. There are also some young riders whose careers I’m really interested in following… Massi [Piffaretti], Dom [Hernler], [Mike] Dowdy, Raph [Derome], just to name a few. There is a very talented pool of young riders at the moment, and I’m very interested in the direction they will take our sport.
 
WW: What are your biggest accomplishments?
CS: Some of my favorite accomplishments over the years are: Silver Medal at X-Games, biggest frame count at Parks’ Double or Nothing, Alliance ROTY, Pro Tour win and some of the fun video sections over the years.
 
WW: What cross training do you do?
CS: I try to mix it up. I get really bored doing the same thing over and over again. I bounce between road and mountain biking. I also do running, gym, hockey and lately I have been doing a ton of paddle boarding.
 
WW: Where is the future of wakeboarding going?
CS: I think we are already starting to see it…guys doing multiple double flips off of the wake, cable and System 2.0 parks becoming much more popular and so easy to access, boat wakes getting bigger and better, etc. I feel like the sport is just going to continue to grow.
 
WW: How do you have a hand in that?
CS: Well, at the moment I’m at a Malibu Rider Experience, and then I’m going straight from here to a Ronix 5 Gallons of Freedom Tour where we spend time coaching and teaching people how to wakeboard, hopefully bringing new people into our sport.
 
WW: Who do you like watching wakeboard most?
CS: That’s tough to name one single rider. There are a lot. Riding at Lake Ronix daily, it’s amazing to see the progression and lines from Dom and [Austin] Pratt. On the boat, I have been riding with Massi a lot. It’s cool to see his unique touch on tricks. There are so many amazing riders out there.
 
WW: Who do you mostly ride with?
CS: When I’m out at the lake, I ride with the Ronix crew. Most of them are out there daily. At home behind my Malibu, it changes day to day. Over the past couple of weeks, Massi, Tony Carroll and Oli Derome have been over. Watson lives across the lake, so we ride together a bunch.
 
WW: Who are your sponsors?
CS: Ronix Wakeboards, Rockstar Energy Drink, Malibu Boats, Duvin Clothing, Woodroze, Performance Ski & Surf, Bern Helmets and MyPakage.
 
WW: Explain your part in Team Ronix.
CS: Team rider, owner and day-to-day Lake Ronix guy.
 
WW: I feel like over any other team, Ronix riders are a big family. Do you agree?
CS: Yes, definitely. It's a very tight crew. The whole team is around and working together daily at the lake. We have a lot of good people.
 
WW: Any secret Ronix plans you can share with us?
CS: There are some, but it’s too early to reveal any of that.
 
WW: What events have you done this season?
CS: So far this season I have ridden most of the WWA events, including the Malibu Evolution Pro Series.
 
WW: Where else can the people catch you this year?
CS: I will be at most of the Malibu Rider Experience events, as well as the southern Ronix 5 Gallons of Freedom events.
 
WW: What are some recent international trips you've been on?
CS: My most recent trip was to Argentina for a contest. It was a great trip… amazing people and amazing food. The event was really great and went well. I ended up staying for a couple of extra days for some sightseeing and eating and hanging with friends from there. Thanks Dan, Robbie, Mariano and Fede.
 
WW: What wakeboarding trip has been your favorite?
CS: It’s hard to pick just one, but any trip to Radar with the crew is great. Also, three weeks in Tahiti with most of the Pointless crew was amazing.
 
WW: At one point, I believe you held the record for highest air... Is that still valid?
CS: As far as I know, it is. I won Spring Ride two years ago and missed my record by only two frames.
 
WW: What do you enjoy to do in your down time?
CS: I love cooking, traveling with my girl and fishing.
 
WW: Whatever happened to your blog "funwhenwet?"
CS: I think it just ran its course. It was never a funded site. I was just doing it for fun, but it was starting to get expensive in order to keep the quality up to par.
 
WW: What were you wanting to come of that?
CS: Not a lot, just some fun coverage for my boys and myself.
 
WW: Since your huge "no life vest scare" several years back, have you had any close calls?
CS: No. Knock on wood. It's too easy to wear a vest now with how comfortable they are.
 
WW: How often do you return to your homeland?
CS: I go back about once a year. I wish it were more often, but I always run out of time to get up there. I really miss it.
 
WW: Who pushes you the most?
CS: The guys I ride with and mostly the crew at Lake Ronix.
 
WW: How long do you plan on continuing to compete and work on progression?
CS: For as long as this body holds out or until it's not fun anymore.
 
WW: What are your future plans?
CS: To be the first Canadian president.
 
WW: Who would you like to thank?
CS: Thank you to all of my friends, family and sponsors. Thanks to WakeWorld, too. Y’all have been good to me over the years.