The elite pro athletes joined us at the Malibu Open for one of the most competitive waterski events in history. The Malibu Open is a professional waterski event that allows all the pros to battle it out in the slalom and jump divisions. Taking place in beautiful Trophy Lakes, South Carolina, we had our qualifiers on Friday, September 11th and our Finals on Saturday, September 12th all pulled by the renowned Malibu Response TXi and streamed on a live webcast for viewers from around the world to watch and witness this outstanding competition.

The slalom course saw non-stop action with neck-to-neck competition as the skiers fought for the crown. For those who need a quick refresher, skiers attempt to run the full 6 buoy slalom course with the shortest rope. In the Women’s Slalom division, we are proud to announce that our very own Malibu athlete Regina Jaquess took 1st completing 2 buoys at 41’off. The Men’s Slalom scores saw a first by creating the largest cut in a professional waterski event to date. To make the Men’s Final 4, one skier ran 3.5 buoys @ 41’ off and there was a four-way tie for the final spots with 3 buoys @ 41’ off. Malibu athletes Thomas Degasperi and Will Asher battled their way into the Final 4.   

The Jump division also saw many firsts in a competition. For reference, the Jump competition features skiers on two extra-long skis who ride over a ski ramp in attempt to travel the longest distance. Skiers are given three attempts to hit the ramp and the winner is determined solely off distance, no style points needed. Malibu skier Felipe Miranda set a new personal record in the Men’s Semi-Final Jump with an impressive 222 feet jump. Battling in the Jump Men’s Final was the infamous brothers and Malibu skiers, Felipe and Rodrigo Miranda where Rodrigo scored 1st and Felipe scored 2nd. The Women’s Jump also saw some strong competition with Malibu’s own Regina Jaquess scoring 2nd place.

For even more excitement, we were able to use innovative technology to record the amount of rope tension pulled by the skiers in the slalom competition. Frederick Winter pulled 990 lbs of rope tension while skiing the slalom course—a truly impressive amount.

Malibu Boats was honored to sponsor this incredible competition of the world’s top skiers. We are so proud to be a part of the ski community and want to say thank you to all of the skiers who came out and provided the audience with some jaw-dropping performance behind the Response TXi.

Check out the full list of results here.