The 36th World Cup Stop is expected to attract over 140,000 spectators this year. The beautiful Indian Ocean-front City of Mandurah in Western Australia, currently basking in 32C sunshine, will host World Champions, World Record Breakers and the highest ranked athletes in Wakeboard, Jump and Shortboard. The spectacular event will take place on March 15/17 as part of the   Action Sports Games and the annual Crab Fest. Also included will be Skateboard, BMX and Freestyle Motocross. In other words, it will be a real  Boardsports extravaganza !

A year ago, when City Mayor Paddi Casey confirmed the exclusive four-year contract with the International Waterski & Wakeboard Federation (IWWF), this guaranteed that Mandurah will be Australia’s home for the World Cup series through to the end of 2015.

As the first World Cup Stop of the 2013 season, the competition for places has been tougher than ever. With just three weeks to go, athletes from 23 Countries have already been confirmed, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Singapore, Sweden, Republic of South Africa, Russia and USA. All but one of the reigning 2012 Mandurah Champions have confirmed that they will return to defend their titles this year  – Wakeboard Harley Clifford AUS and Raimi Merritt USA, Jump Freddy Krueger USA, and Shortboard Clementine Lucine FRA and Aliaksei Zharnasek BLR. Sadly, super star Jumper Natallia Berdnikova BLR is still recovering from a knee injury and will not defend her Jump title on this occasion.

MasterCraft will again provide the World Cup competition boats and technical support. The Waterski and Wakeboard action packed programme highlights and athlete numbers in each event are as follows (GMT+8hrs) :

FRIDAY March 15

07.30 – 08.45   Jump Women Semi-Finals (8)

08.45 – 09.35   Shortboard Women Semi-Finals (8)

09.35 – 10.50   Shortboard Men Semi-Finals (12)

11.00 – 13.30   Wakeboard Practice

SATURDAY March 16

07.30 – 10.00   Jump Men Semi-Finals (16)

10.00 – 13.30   Wakeboard Men Quarter-Finals (20)

13.30 – 15.30   Wakeboard Women Semi-Finals (12)

15.30 – 17.30   Wakeboard Men LCQ (12)

17.30 – 18.50   Wakeboard Women LCQ (8)

SUNDAY March 17

08.30 – 09.05   Shortboard Women Finals (4)

09.10 – 09.55   Shortboard Men Finals (6)

10.00 – 10.40   Jump Women Finals (4)

10.40 – 11.40   Jump Men Finals (6)

11.45 – 13.45   Wakeboard Men Semi-Finals (12)

13.45 – 14.45   Wakeboard Women Finals (6)

14.45 – 15.45   Wakeboard Men Finals (6)

16.00 – 16.30   Wakeboard Double Up Competition

17.00              Awards Presentation – Jump, Shortboard, Wakeboard, BMX, Skate

Social Media, a full live Webcast throughout, plus regular news bulletins and photos, will make this 36th Waterski and Wakeboard World Cup a truly global event. The support of the Government of Western Australia, Department of Regional Development and Lands, Royalties for Regions, Eventscorp, City of Mandurah and Eyres, have made this a major combined effort to highlight the magnificent local facilities. Visitors will be spoiled for choice with seven local Golf Courses, Twilight Cruises, Treetop Walks and even fresh oysters at Dolphin Quay !