EDITORIAL

Meet our new watersports columnist, Andrea Gaytan.

With this issue, we’re introducing a new column, and also want to introduce you to a new columnist. Andrea Gaytan will pen Watersports for you in each issue, in addition to writing about wakeboarding, wakesurfing and related topics on both boatingmag.com and our sister brand’s site, wakeboardingmag.com. We developed Watersports to ensure we could provide you with a regular, knowledgeable and experienced voice to illuminate the athletes, sports, boats, gear and lifestyle that combine to comprise all that the column’s name includes.

You’ll find Gaytan uniquely qualified for this role.

She’s a retired pro wakeboarder, and so has competed at the highest levels. In fact, Gaytan was the first woman to grace the cover of Wakeboarding in April 1997. Additionally, she’s a founder of wakedivas.com, “a platform where,” according to the site’s own copy, “all female wake riders could share stories, images and videos. A place where we can inspire each other, and share our experiences and knowledge. A place where we could share the history of our sport, from how it all started to where it is today.” That history gives her seasoned knowledge and experience through which to filter information from gear-makers, athletes, boatbuilders and more. This allows Gaytan to serve you readers and audience members in several beneficial ways. First, know that marine journalists get bombarded with info from marketers. Experience like Gaytan’s helps sift through the clutter to get to the info that’s most important. There are more reasons. Gaytan’s experience and proven expertise means she proffers opinions you can trust. She’s also a pretty good writer, as you will discover for yourself. We’re treating you to a double hit of Andrea Gaytan content in this issue. On page 30, Gaytan uses her inaugural Watersports column to share the story of young up-and-coming pro wakeboarder Mary Morgan Howell. More than just an athlete profile, it’s a story of patience, persistence and perseverance, and how those things, coupled with the support of family, can create an environment that leads to success.

Then, on page 74, Gaytan stretches out with a feature article about electric foilboards, aka e-foils. Portable, fun and fast, these smallest of personal watercraft harness the latest in battery and electric-propulsion technology. In this feature, she documents what e-foils are and proceeds to show us what they are capable of whether in surf or flat water. Oh, and she documented the first case of an e-foil towing a nonpowered foilboard into big surf during the course of this story, working with Lift Foils pro Brian Grubb, and photographer and videographer Zach Stovall.

Welcome aboard, Andrea!

Gaytan’s experience and proven expertise means she proffers opinions you can trust.