02/04/07: Shannon Best: Australian Wakeboard Hall Of Fame Induction.

On February 4th 2007, Shannon Best was inducted into the inaugural Australian Wakeboard Hall of Fame in Brisbane, Australia. Sponsored by Boarder magazine in conjunction with the Australian wakeboard tour, Shannon was duly given this prestigious honor after well over a decade of representing Australian in the international wakeboard scene.

Shannon burst onto the wake scene in the early 90’s after leaving his cable training parks in South Eastern Queensland as he became the first Australian wakeboarder to head to Florida to compete, train and hone his skills at the Quiet Waters cable park in FL. Shortly after Shannon was competing regularly on the wake tour for 7 years in total, winning the Pro Am in Oahu, Hawaii in 98 and the 2001 world cable championships in Orlando, FL. Shannon was the first Australian to have a pro model board named after him. Along the way Shannon witnessed the birth of the twin tip board, the changing of competition formats, the development of bindings, the birth of EVA and balsa cores and of course the sport of Kiteboarding!

The awards night was a huge success and a great opportunity for Shannon to relive old times with friends and receive the recognition that he deserves. Shannon paved the way for his fellow Australians wakeboarders who followed him overseas to lead the charge against the worlds best and succeed. Daniel Watkins, Brett Eisenhower, and Josh Sanders have all excelled in Shannon footsteps and they too were duly rewarded into the Hall of Fame.

On hand to witness the induction at this prestigious black tie affair were Shannon’s proud parents who were ecstatic to see their son being honored after so many years on the road raising the level of not only wakeboarding, but also pushing it even further to kiteboarding and beyond.

Congratulations Shannon!!