Waterski Pro Tour

When the Tour landed in Marrakech, Morocco in the middle of last June it broke new ground for waterskiing. Until that day there had never been a professional event held on the continent of Africa. And what a first event it was. Hospitality was on a new level, as were the scores – we saw the first 10.25m/ 41off pass completed in 2024 and, simultaneously, in Africa – and the coverage from the wild desert outside Marrakesh from TWBC (also event organizers) was typically stellar. One could have been forgiven for wondering: how can the organizers follow this?

Well, very simply, they went bigger. The Royal Nautique Pro – so named because of its association with the Royal Nautique Club on the Bou Regreg river – had more disciplines with the addition of tricks and a far more ambitious venue. Last year’s remote man-made lake outside Marrakech was replaced by a tidal river directly in the center of the city of Rabat, between high-end hotels and the newly built Grand Theatre. More spectacle was on offer also, with a synchronised drone show that will likely never be topped in waterskiing for surprise – think animated waterskiers moving through the air followed by messages in the sky and tournament logos.

Of course the tidal river – so close to the sea that many skiers taxied just a mile up the road for a post-event surf session at the estuary –  brought a unique challenge. Many of the athletes present have competed at the Moomba Masters in March of each year but the Yarra river has a peak current of a small handful of mph. In Rabat it was many multiples of that. Wind was a factor also on the wide open river, typically starting low and increasing throughout the day. After practice there were some concerned faces. With skiers so used to bespoke man-made lakes in the middle of nowhere, the curveballs of the venue would be a challenge. But, as many mentioned on the broadcast coverage, the sport needs diversity in its events to remain interesting and this could not fit the bill more.

Across two qualifying rounds, despite the challenging conditions, the standard was, perhaps surprisingly, high. On the men’s side it took a pair of  3s at 10.75m to make the final. Tim Tornquist was unfortunate to be first out with a 3 and a 2. Corey Vaughn topped the bill with 2@10.25m, heroically showing big scores were possible on the river. Jaimee Bull had earlier done the same, just missing her exit gate as she lost balance having stroked a 10.75m pass. 

The trickers field had two seeding rounds to get used to the water, with scores into 10k and 11k by the women and men respectively. In the end Anna Gay, the class of the field all weekend triumphed, scoring just over 10,000. On the men’s side Pato Font ultimately took the win in the final with a huge 12,390. With consecutive wins in Monaco and now Morocco, Font’s resilience, after a disappointing 18 months or so having previously been undefeated for years, is commendable and another string added to his already impressive bow.

Jaimee Bull also took her second win of the season, winning every round. Last off the dock, she did enough by rounding 2 at 10.75, holding off TWBC’s audience-voted Skier of the Day Neily Ross who ran 1 early in the final. Allie Nicholson, never not a podium threat and winner at last year’s event, took third place with 5 at 11.25m. Bull, who was disappointed to lose the inaugural title last year, took her place as Queen of Africa.

The men’s final saw changing conditions as the tide changed. The risk of starting at 12m and taking 11.25m the trickier head current/ tail wind direction to have 10.75 the supposedly easier way resulted in split skier strategies. In the end only Freddie Winter and Corey Vaughn, who used it so successfully in the first round, rolled the dice. It came off for Winter, who scored 1.5@10.25m and then waited to see top seed Vaughn fall halfway down 11.25m to give him the title, his first on the Tour since catastrophically breaking his leg at Monaco less than a year ago. 

In so many ways, these sorts of events don’t come along very often. Many comments from the pro waterski fanbase around the web mentioned their enjoyment of seeing the top skiers, usually so adept and graceful, seem human in their struggle in the conditions. But it should be noted that despite the huge tides, the big wind and the salty water, there were scores out on the river that would have won many pro events not so long ago. To do so in front of such scenery, in the capital of such a great country, in a continent still new to waterskiing, was exceptional to see. We couldn’t be more excited for next year’s event.