The 2011 year for figure eight barefooting was more exciting than ever. From Peter Flecks dominance of Footstock, to 4 different winners in the 4 individual events that make up the World Barefoot Center Figure Eight Series, which ultimately ended with a tie between Keith St Onge and Ron Blouw for the series championship. What follows is a recap of the WBC figure eight series events from 2011.
The WBC figure eight series started in June at Footapalooza in Rolling Prairie Indiana. 26 footers participated and Marc Donahue started 2011 where he left off in 2010, by winning the event over Keith St Onge. In the first run of the finals, Marc and Keith completed 3 and ½ 8’s, which ended up being the longest run of the day, when Keith beat Marc to give them each one loss. Marc turned back around and beat Keith on the run off after 2 and ½ 8’s. JJ Link took third with Ben Dieser a strong fourth, followed by Ron Blouw in fifth. The event takes place on a private lake and the view is spectacular from the shore. This is a great venue for a figure eight event.
JJ Link, Marc Donahue, Keith St.Onge
JJ Link , Marc D, Keith St Onge,
The next stop in the series was the Glen Meuller Figure Eight Challenge that takes place in St Louis, where 39 footers took to the water on a lake that only opens to ski boats on this one day for this tournament. This event offered prizes for the “best fall”, the “first 8”, and the “longest 8”, as well as the standard top finishers receiving awards. This event was won by Ron Blouw who needed to beat the undefeated Tim Knoezer twice as he was coming from the loser’s bracket. JJ Link again finished third, followed by Keith St Onge and Greg Fatla. The event takes place at a private country club, and is run by Tim Knoezer and Anthony Gramalino. If you get there early you can watch the ski show the night before.
Tim Knoezer, Ron Blouw, JJ Link
Tom Knoezer, Ron Blouw, JJ Link
The third event in the series is the Clean Lakes Festival Barefoot Challenge. This is just one of the many events in the Clean Lakes Festival, located in Madison Wisconsin. This event was won by Jon Debelak, who had to come from loser’s bracket to beat a previous Clean Lakes figure 8 champion Paul Stokes twice. Ron Blouw finished third, just ahead of his cousin Eric DeVries who was a strong fourth and Aaron Schoezel was fifth. One of the really cool things about this event is it’s proximity to downtown Madison. As is expected for any event in the figure eight series, this event was well run by Bob Manke and Paul Stokes.
Paul Stokes against Mike Netzer in Madison, WI
The last event in the series takes place at the World Barefoot Center. This event had 32 barefooters competing. David Small held off his business partner Keith St Onge to win his second consecutive title in this event. David and Keith did 8 after 8 in the two final runs, with Keith winning the first run to give David his first loss. David was just two solid to beat twice in a row and David won the run off over Keith. Ben Dieser finished third ahead of Marc Donahue and Ron Blouw. Like last year, there was an awards presentation located at the WBC ski school with food and drinks. The world Barefoot Center was a great host for the event.
Swampy, David_Small, Keith_St_Onge, Ben Dieser, Marc Donahue, Ron Blouw at the WBC Figure 8 Finals
Swampy, David Small, Keith St Onge, Ben Dieser, Marc Donahue, Ron Blouw
In the overall standings, Ron Blouw and Keith St Onge ended in a tie for the points lead, with Marc Donahue in third. Just how close was it? The two footers each finished with 125 points. Neither footer finished lower than 5th in any event, Ron had a 1st, a 3rd and a 5th, while Keith had two 2nds, and a 5th. Each footer had 2 wins in the finals, with Ron coming from the loser’s bracket to win twice in the final round in St Louis, and Keith came from the loser’s bracket in Indiana and in the WBC tournament to win on the first run each time, only to lose the next run in both instances. Each footer finished in the top three 2 times. They faced each other twice and each won once. It was indeed too close to call.
The entire series was very competitive with multiple winners in the individual events. Of the top three finishers in the individual events, there were 9 different footers to finish in the top 3, with Keith, Ron, and JJ the only three to place in the top three twice. The event was very competitive. The events attracted multiple footstock winners and other figure eight winners.
Keith St.Onge, Ron Blouw & Marc Donahue
Keith St Onge, Ron Blouw, Marc Donahue
This is a great series and the events went off very smoothly with great leadership. The WBC figure eight series motto is “no one left on the beach” and the tournament allowed duct tape to prevent blisters and either deep water starts or starts from a step off ski. It allowed for beginners as well as advanced footers to compete against each other. All ages were included with men and women competing head to head, there were even two sets of husbands and wives competing in the Florida event. This is a great way to get to know other barefooters who have a similar passion for the sport. It is also a way to go head to head with some of the best barefooters in the world, and who knows….anything might happen. If you have never tried a figure 8, join us at one of the events for next year, I bet you will get hooked. The event was sponsored by Reef Safe Sun Care, US Gear, and the World Barefoot Center.
By: Ron Blouw & Keith St.Onge
