Pine Mountain, GA (May 24, 2024) – The 31st Nautique Junior Masters presented by GM Marine was yet another impressive showcase today at Callaway Gardens. The record-setting Ski Nautique and award-winning Super Air Nautique G23 set the stage as the world’s best junior waterski and wakeboard athletes set course records and claimed titles on the infamous Robin Lake.
An exciting start to the day, reigning champions Hannah Stopnicki (CAN) and Jake Abelson (USA) defended their Junior Trick Masters titles behind the Ski Nautique with scores of 7,290 points and 11,790 points, respectively. Jake Abelson not only defended his Masters title, but with a preliminary score of 11,880 points, he also broke the Junior Men’s Trick Course Record (11,390 points), which he set in 2023.
In a stunning display of skill and determination, Trinidad Espinal (CHI) rewrote the record books in the Junior Women’s Slalom discipline. Skiing 5 @ 11.25 M, Trinidad broke the 23-year-old Junior Women’s Slalom Course record of 4 @ 11.25 M originally co-held by Nautique Team Athlete Regina Jaquess (2001) and Brooke Baldwin (2016). In the final round of Junior Women’s Slalom, Trinidad was pulled to yet another victory behind the Ski Nautique, defending her Masters title with 3 @ 11.25 M.
During Junior Men’s Slalom, Bautista Ahumada Cirrincio (ARG) skied 2 @ 10.75 M in the final to take home the Junior Men’s Slalom Masters title. Rounding out the top 3 were Jaeden Eade (USA) and Tim Wild (GER), respectively.
The junior athletes pushed themselves to new heights with captivating performances in the Junior Men’s and Women’s Jump divisions. The Ski Nautique pulled Kirsty Appleton (AUS) during the Junior Women’s Jump final to a distance of 42.8 M (140 ft) to win the Junior Women’s Jump discipline for the second year in a row. Jake Abelson (USA) claimed his second Junior Masters title of the day after soaring to 51.8 M (170 ft) in the final round of Junior Men’s Jump.
As final scores were tallied, Megan Pelkey (CAN) succeeded in defending her Overall Junior Women Masters title behind the Ski Nautique with 2,653 points. The Overall Junior Men Masters title was crowned with Jake Abelson (USA) accumulating 2,757 points.
To cap off the day, the award-winning Super Air Nautique G23 set up perfect wakes for the Junior Men’s and Women’s Wakeboard riders. Giulia Castelli (ITA) delivered an incredible performance taking the victory in the Junior Women’s Wakeboard division for the second year in a row with a score of 93.33. Also defending his Junior Men’s Wakeboard Masters title, Shion Takaiwa (JAP) demonstrated his talents to take the win, scoring 91.33 points.
For complete up-to-date scores of the Junior Masters, please visit masterswaterski.com.
An invitation to compete in the Masters is universally considered an acknowledgement of achievement for reaching the pinnacle in a given watersports discipline - only the world's most elite athletes compete at the Masters. This tournament is sanctioned by IWWF/USA Water Ski and WWA. Watch all of 64th Masters action live on Saturday May 25th starting at 8:00AM EDT, please visit masterswaterski.com.
About Nautique Boat Company:
Nautique is celebrating its 99th anniversary of delivering excellence in the marine industry. A subsidiary of Correct Craft, Nautique has been on the waters of the world with a passion for innovation since 1925. Delivering the very best waterski, wakeboard and wakesurf boats on the market, Nautique continues to drive progression with their award-winning technology and dedication to building the highest-quality boats imaginable. New technology, performance innovations and attention to detail are the cornerstones of what makes the Nautique brand the industry leader. Through the Nautique Cares initiative, employees and athletes dedicate themselves to not only making a difference on the water, but to extend their support to people in need around the world. The world’s best ski boat, world’s best wake boat, and a company that cares. To learn more visit Nautique.com
About Correct Craft: Celebrating 99 years of excellence in the marine industry, Correct Craft is a Florida-based company with global operations. Focused on “Making Life Better,” the Correct Craft family includes Nautique, Centurion, Supreme, Bass Cat, Yar-Craft, SeaArk, Parker, and Ingenity boat companies, Pleasurecraft Engine Group, Indmar Marine Engines, Velvet Drive Transmissions, Mach Connections, Merritt Precision, Osmosis, Watershed Innovation, and Aktion Parks. For more information, please visit correctcraft.com
