John isn’t just our sales representative in the US, but also an experienced pro rider. Among other things, he has proved that with his victory at the Langenfeld Open 2017.
It’s no wonder that this contest is a concept based entirely on UNIT hacks – the American really knows his way around them.
Hi John! What comes to mind when you think about hacks?
Mostly I think about progression. Hacks have always been about finding creative new ways to ride features by putting different shapes together; they’ve been the origin of many rail designs. To me, hacks are a super cool opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done before, and kind of influence the sport.
When you plan a hack, what’s your goal?
It’s about making something different. A lot of times the final version isn’t in my mind at the beginning. I just take the features apart in my head and throw things together to see what comes up. Sometimes that’s the coolest part: you imagine something and it gets you excited to ride, and maybe it’s something that hasn’t been thought of before.
“That’s what I look for in a hack: something that you can’t really experience with just a single rail, or the rails we currently have. It’s something that will give you a different feeling on a wakeboard.”
– John Dreiling
Some wakeparks might have reservations about hacking. Do you find that our features are easy to modify?
Definitely. They come apart so easily. That’s why the process of hacking is very simple. There have been hacks I showed to parks that have been done in ten minutes, and some of them were the best I’ve ever ridden. The good thing about UNIT features is that every single part of them floats. The corners and edges are rounded. Like this everything is safe, without leaving the fun behind.
Do hacks offer advantages for park owners?
Yeah, of course. On the business side, hacks are a great way to get people out to the park and keep them excited about wakeboarding, which is super important to me. Exploring and seeing what’s possible with your friends is part of what builds the community. We all love the feeling of hitting fresh setups — it’s almost like learning and landing a trick for the first time. You might be familiar with a certain feature, but as soon as it’s been hacked, it leads you to get creative and find new lines on it. That’s one of the most fun things about wakeboarding.
If you want to see John in action on various hacks, check out his video titled “Hacked” filmed at West Rock Wake Park.
Originally, the interview with John appeared in our first UNIT Magalog. If you don’t have it on your shelf yet, you should order the must-read right away. We’ll be happy to send it to you free of charge.