Date: 02-28-2008
Author: Wakeskating.com Staff
View the 2007 Surf Expo Gallery here.
For more specs, check out the Oak Gallery in the board guide.

For 2008 Oak wakeskates has some new additions to their line up, namely the company's first signature model wakeskate under the name of Ben Horan. They also have a small line of wakeskate accessories to diversify not only their line up, the the experience any rider can have with their wakeskate and the terrain around them.

In addition to the aforementioned products, Oak is bringing back a slightly modified team model, along with the classic pool shape in the Global Warmer, and three other concaves named the Flake Flippin' Flapjack, Fur Chucker the and the Dirt Worshipper.

Sealing and Construction
For 2008 Oak has adopted a new sealing process for all of their wakeskates. The sealant is an epoxy two-part system, which consists of resin and hardener. The epoxy is hand applied to each board and is set aside for one week to cure. Once the board has set, the applied epoxy is lightly sanded for a smooth finish, and then a marine urethane varnish is sprayed on to finish the sealing and protective process.

Another new feature feature for the Oak line-up is the utilization of a cross-ply wood lay up. With each layer or ply of the wakeskate, the angle of the lay-up is alternated, which is designed to strengthen the deck and make it stiffer.

crossply

The alternating dark and light layers display the cross ply lay up.

Finally, despite what these pictures might be telling you Oak will no longer be using PBT as a base material on their wakeskates. Instead, the boards will be 100% wood (and made in the USA) with a heat transfer graphic applied to the base..

Accessories
Every Oak wakeskate will have a set of their new Rebar fins, which are constructed out of urethane (similar to what's used for bowling balls) and have a star shapped insert on the underside to help anchor the insert into the fin. Oak also has their Udders, which are included with the Team deck or can be purchased separately. They are contsructed of the same materials as the Rebar fin, but instead have a half-moon shape and are designed for nose/tail slides, mannuals, etc.

accessories

Oak's new Rebar fin and Udder board addition.

Ben Horan Pro Model

For 2008 Ben Horan was given the chance to design a signature model wakeskate, and it was probably one of the sweeter wood wakeskates I've ever seen due to its design features. However, it did go through a few design changes since the Expo. It was already decided that the board needed to be widened, but once it was widened, the 80 degree edge did not perform as well as they would have liked. The final shape ended up wider and the rail was angled to a steep looking 45 degrees so it would edge to Ben's standards, but the 90 degree rail on the nose and tail was kept the same. The top deck features on Ben's pro model were what really caught my eye, since it only has five inches of flat spot before the concave begins, allowing the rider to feel the concave under their toe and heel as you would the concave on a skateboard. There's also a little bit of concave in the nose and tail. After that, you're going to get yourself a wakeskate that's 41.4 inches in length and an 18 cross ply lay up of hard rock maple and basswood.

45 degree rail on the Horan
Sealed Horan deck, view from the top

unicycle madness

Inspiration for the graphic!

Pro model

Final product...

Team Model

The ever popular team board has returned for 2008 in a striking 40.5 inch asymmetrical concave. One modification for this season is the concave: it's been pushed out ¼ of an inch from the center on each side of the board, giving the board a slightly larger flat spot. The nose was also widend by ½ an inch from last year. After that, all design features found on the 2007 Team Machine will be returning for 2008.

team spirit

It's like a family portrait...

udders

These will come with your team deck...

Team Concave 1
Team Concave 2
Team Kick Tail
Team Edge

One aspect that sets the team board a part from the other boards in the line is it comes with a set of Oak's new wakeskate accessory named the Udder. They're urethane fin additions designed for the rider that wants to use different parts of their board for different tricks, like nose and tail slides or mannuals, etc. However, while the Udders do come with the board, it's up to each rider to drill the holes to accommodate them (instructions are included). For the time being, less fin holes means less areas in which water can seep into the board, which isn't a bad thing.

Other Oak Concaves and Flat Deck

With regards to the 40 inch Flake Flippin' Flapjack and the 41 inch Fur Chucker, and the 42 inch Global Warmer flat deck, these shapes have remained the same for this season. The 42 inch Dirt Worshipper has only undergone one design modification, that being the widening of the board by ½ inch.

40 stack