Nautique Boats: Congrats on winning the 2024 Pro Women Overall Nautique Wake Series Title! You’ve won this title two years in a row – tell us how you’re feeling!
Zahra Kell: Feeling amazing!! Doing some rest and recovery at the moment to make sure I’m at 100% for the upcoming season. I couldn’t be more excited!
NB: What is your favorite memory from this year’s Nautique Wake Series?
ZK: Oh, there’s so many to choose from!! I would say one of my all-time favorites from this year would be riding back into the dock after winning the 2024 Nautique WWA Wakeboard National Championship in Seattle, Washington with my boyfriend and all my friends waiting on the shore to celebrate!
NB: What does the Nautique Wake Series mean to you?
ZK: The Nautique Wake Series is absolutely amazing. They put on the best events and take you to some insane places all around the world; I’m so grateful for that!
NB: Over the years, the Nautique Wake Series has taken you all over the world. Which contest location was your favorite and why?
ZK: Absolutely!! I have so many favorites, but I would have to say the 2023 Nautique WWA World Wakeboard Championships in Portugal. It was such an amazing place. I took the win, and we got to travel through Spain afterwards for a mini euro summer!
NB: This season, you landed the first ever toeside 900 and handle pass backside 720 in women’s wakeboarding behind your Super Air Nautique G23. Tell us about what it took to land these monumental tricks!
ZK: Yes! I was so hyped to land both of these! It’s definitely a mental game landing tricks that have never been done. I actually tried the back 7 for about a year on and off. I tried in 2023 but stopped after a while because comp season was here, and I didn’t want to destroy my body too much. I gave it a shot after the Nautique Masters and landed it the same set! For the toe 9, I was rewatching my videos from riding that morning and saw that on my toe 7, I passed the handle on the landing, which made me super confident that I could do the 9. My dad was leaving for the airport to head back to Australia that day, so I asked him to take me out for a second set before he had to get on the plane. I landed it second try! The boat hype that day was real!
NB: Take us back to the beginning - how did your wakeboarding career start?
ZK: My dad was one of Australia’s first professional wakeboarders and my whole family was always into water sports, so I was born into it! I rode on my dad’s board with him when I was one, and then on my own for the first time at three years old! I started competing at around five or six years old, and I got second place in my first competition! I told my dad I wanted the better prize that the girl got for coming in first, so he taught me how to do just that!
NB: What does a day in your life look like when you’re in Orlando for the season?
ZK: I ride in the morning with my partner Ryan, my dad and my best friend, Euge De Armas. We hype each other up for a couple of hours and then head to the gym. We finish the day with another riding set most afternoons!
NB: What are your biggest career accomplishments so far?
ZK: Becoming the Moomba Masters Champion in 2023 was one of my favorite achievements, as it was my comeback competition, and it felt so amazing to win after having that much time off. I really put in the work to get back on top, so that one was a dream come true for sure! Also, winning the Nautique Wake Series in 2023 and 2024 was so insane and I couldn’t be happier to win the Nautique Wake Series two years in a row, especially since I’ve only been back for two years!
NB: Who are some role models that have inspired you, and how have they impacted your journey?
ZK: Definitely Shaun Murray. I love how good of a rider he is and absolutely love what he does on the social media side of things, especially YouTube. I think it really grows the sport! I got to go on the boat with him last summer to film and it was just such an awesome part of my season! I also love Eileen Gu. She’s an Olympic snow skier and lands these insane tricks that no one has ever done before, but she’s also a model for lots of designer brands. I think that’s so amazing as my goal is to definitely embrace my femininity in the sport as well!
NB: What do you see as the future for women in wakeboarding?
ZK: The future in women’s wake is HUGE! The girls are all stepping it up so much lately, which has been so insane to see! I’m so grateful to be one of the women pushing the limits as hard as I can. This coming year I see a lot more new tricks, more comps for girls and just overall an amazing season!
NB: What are your favorite features on the Super Air Nautique G-Series?
ZK: There are genuinely so many features that I absolutely love. I have really enjoyed the loveseat heater whilst I’ve been training in Australia in the winter. It’s been really nice as it’s been freezing cold! But ultimately, the best feature for me is just the insane wake; I’ve never ridden anything like it and it’s literally the building block to everything that I do!
NB: What are your favorite tricks?
ZK: I’d say my favorite tricks would have to be indy roll to blind and mute cab 5!
NB: What does Nautique mean to you?
ZK: Everything! They are the most important part of my journey and have supported me so well for so many years. I genuinely couldn’t be more grateful for that. The wake that these boats provide as well as the luxury experience you get whilst sitting in a Nautique G23 is absolutely unmatched.
NB: If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring wakeboarders, what would it be?
ZK: I would definitely say to put your absolute all into it! Working hard and then seeing that hard work payoff is so insanely rewarding and wakeboarding is such an amazing community to be a part of.
NB: What’s next for you?
ZK: I’m super excited for the 2025 season ahead. I’m heading over to Orlando for the summer to compete and I couldn’t be more thrilled! The locations of the 2025 Nautique Wake Series are so cool and I just can’t wait to experience that! Also, definitely some new tricks and growing as much as I can through social media.
