Riding on Air at Thai Wake Park

I didn't buy the board because I needed one.

I bought it because of how it looked under someone who knew what they were doing.

Watching Gavin Stuckey ride, everything felt lighter. Not just physically - in how he moved. No resistance, no forcing it. Just flow. That kind of riding tells you more than specs ever will.

So I followed the signal.

I'd been riding a Liquid Force Peak 2022 for a while - solid board, did the job. But watching Stuckey on the Grail was like watching someone speak a language the Peak didn't know. So I picked up a Liquid Force Grail from the Intensity Shop right at Thai Wake Park Lumlukka, where I ride most.

But the real reason only shows up once you're on the water.

From Skateboard to Wakeboard

I've been on a board since I was six. Growing up in Austria, I skated everything - parks, streets, ledges, whatever was in front of me. It wasn't a phase. It was the thing that made sense when nothing else did. Twenty-plus years of that and the muscle memory goes deep - balance, weight transfer, reading surfaces, committing to tricks before your brain catches up.

When I moved back to Thailand in 2022, I needed something. Skating in Bangkok heat is a different kind of punishment, and I was looking for a new outlet. Someone mentioned Taco Lake in Bang Na.

I showed up not knowing what cable wakeboarding even was. Turns out there was another guy there that day doing the exact same thing - a dude named Hayden, also first time on the water. We both ate it hard, got back up, ate it again, and somewhere between the third and tenth fall we were both hooked. That was it. We've been riding together since.

The skating background translated more than I expected. Board feel, edge pressure, understanding how your weight shifts during a press - it's the same language, different surface. The water is more forgiving than concrete, which is nice. But it also means you can push harder without the same consequences, which is dangerous in the best way.

From skating streets to riding waves - board sport runs deep

The Feeling You Can't Fake

First set out on the Grail, it hits straight away.

It doesn't feel like you're cutting through the water. It feels like you're gliding over it.

There's less drag, less stick. The board doesn't fight you - it moves with you. Presses come easier. Edges don't bite too aggressively. Everything feels smoother, more controlled.

At one point I caught myself thinking:

It feels like I'm touching the water without actually touching it.

That's the difference. Even with a bit of breeze kicking up chop across the lake at Lumlukka today - hot season, 31-degree water, the air thick enough to chew - the Grail cuts through it like it's not there. Where the Peak would catch and skip, this thing just flows.

Or, to put it how I actually said it to Hayden when I came off the water:

Fast as f*ck, boy.

That about covers it.

The Board: Liquid Force Grail

This is Gavin Stuckey's pro model, built under the Liquid Force umbrella that Jimmy Redmon co-founded and shaped into one of the most influential brands in wakeboarding. Redmon's design philosophy has always been about stripping things back to what matters - less gimmick, more ride. You can feel that DNA in the Grail. Stuckey took that foundation and tuned it for modern park riding - stripped down, responsive, and built to flow rather than fight.

Coming from the Peak 2022, the difference is night and day. The Peak is a good all-rounder - stable, predictable, does what you ask. But it doesn't have the speed or the flow of the Grail. The Grail runs a hybrid 3-stage rocker that keeps your speed consistent through transitions without washing out. Stiff through the center, soft at the tips - so you get stability underfoot but the flex you need for presses and feature work. The base is flat-to-single-concave, which is a fancy way of saying it releases off rails and features without catching. And the CNC-machined Paulownia wood core keeps the whole thing light without sacrificing durability.

• Hybrid 3-stage rocker - consistent glide, explosive pop off kickers
• Stiff center, soft tips - stability plus press-friendly flex
• Flat-to-single-concave base - clean rail release, less resistance on features
• Paulownia wood core - light, strong, responsive
• Aggressive angled rails with curved edge channels - predictable edge hold, fewer corrections

The Body Behind the Board

Most people don't think about what happens off the water. I do - it's literally my job.

I'm a strength and conditioning coach and nutritionist by trade. When I started riding regularly, I couldn't help applying what I know. Wakeboarding loads your body in specific ways - the cable pull taxes your posterior chain, presses demand core stability and hip mobility, and repeated sessions without proper recovery will grind your shoulders and lower back into dust.

So I started helping other riders at the parks. Not coaching the wakeboarding itself - there are better riders for that - but the stuff around it. How to build the right muscle groups so your body can actually handle what your brain wants to try. How to recover between sessions so you're not wrecked by Wednesday. How to eat around training when it's 38 degrees and your appetite disappears.

The skating background helps here too. I spent decades learning what happens when you ignore your body and push through. Wakeboarding is more forgiving than concrete, but the repetitive strain is real. The riders who progress fastest are the ones who take the off-water work seriously.

What's Next: Three Towers

I've been thinking about this for a while, and now I'm building toward it.

Thailand has 2-tower cable systems scattered across different parks. Some run one alongside a full-size cable for beginners. But nobody has put three 2-tower systems side by side in one location - one for beginners, one for intermediate, one for advanced with a stair drop.

That's the plan.

Three separate 2-tower cables running adjacent to each other, each dialled to a different level. Beginners get their own cable at the right speed with the right features - no intimidation from watching someone throw a tantrum 360 off a kicker while they're trying to stand up. Intermediate riders get a step up without being thrown in the deep end. And the advanced cable gets a proper stair drop, aggressive features, and speed that matches what serious riders need.

Nothing like this exists in Thailand yet. I want to change that.

Between the coaching, the nutrition work, and years of riding the scene here, I've seen what's missing. It's not more parks. It's smarter parks. Ones that understand progression isn't just about time on the water - it's about the right environment at each stage.

The Real Take

Most people overthink gear. I watched someone better than me, saw what they rode, and tried it.

Now I get it.

It's not about the board doing the work for you. It's about removing what gets in the way. The Grail strips out the friction - the drag, the unpredictable edges, the heaviness that creeps into your legs after an hour - and leaves you with just the ride.

From skating streets in Vienna at six years old, to falling face-first at Taco Lake in 2022, to pulling sets at Thai Wake Park on a board that feels like it's barely touching the water - it's all the same thing. Find the surface. Read it. Remove what's in the way.

The Grail just happens to be very, very good at that last part.

Stay Tuned

Now that the board is dialled in, the next goal is clear: conquer a raley. The plan is to put in the hours on a 2-tower system, build up the commitment, and send it.

We'll keep you updated.