Taupo Unhooked was blessed with amazing weather from the first day to the last!

On Wednesday we got all pilots up to speed on the winch and sorted out some last minute adjustments to the boat winches.

The first heat on Thursday was a great success with Dan Stephens (a.k.a. Diggler) from Queenstown leading the competition.

The second heat on Friday kept Dan on top with the remaining pilots competing for 2nd place.

Taupo Unhooked had two female entries this year and the ladies were showing their best tricks.

Marika from Czech Republic displayed some amazing high wingovers and loops and Aniko from Hungary surprised everybody with her first ever tumble!

Saturday, the day of the finals, started with a strong wind from the wrong direction so we could not tow the pilots up in the air. To kill the time we organized a big slip'n'slide (thanks to Placemakers Taupo for sponsoring!) which was heaps of fun.

In the afternoon the wind turned and we could proceed with the finals. All pilots had to try and land as spectacular as possible on the raft located about 75 meters from the lake front. Many pilots went in the water, but a couple made it onto the raft.

Several pilots spiraled low over the water, touching the water with tip or body, but the most impressive landing was by one of the female contestants; Aniko. She spin-landed her wing from approximately 10 meters onto the raft!

The day was closed with some amazing swooping by Taupo Skydivers and a death-defying base jump from a tandem!

Taupo Unhooked wouldn't have been possible without the help of many people:

Wayne Roberts - Main organizer, boat tow operator
Tom French - Boat driver
Matt Taggart - Boat owner
Rob Whittall - Boat tow operator
Ewen Rintoul - Boat driver
Michel Verhagen - Website, dyneema, releases, slip'n'slide
Steve Mahoney - Rescue boat driver
Francois Lategan - Rescue boat driver
Heyden Neeley - Morning setup, launch marshal, air traffic controller
Yvonne Neeley - Morning setup, pilot shuttle driver
Mark Poole - Pilot shuttle driver, cable retrieve swimmer, camera man
Rory French - Cable retrieve swimmer
Rhys Akers - Air traffic controller
Nedeljko Zvijer - Camera man
Richard Castro - All photos on this page

and many, many others! Thank you all, without you Taupo Unhooked would not have been possible!

End results

MEN:

1st Dan Stephens, Queenstown/NZ
2nd Troy Wyga, Queenstown/NZ
3rd Michel Verhagen, Gouda/The Netherlands

WOMEN:

1st Aniko Hegedus, Budapest/Hungary
2nd Marika Pechackova, Czech Republic

SPECIAL AWARD (for going in the water 14 times):

Craig Taylor, Queenstown/NZ