1. Wakeboard mania: Letter from performance ski & surf ordering more equipment your boss is amazed. Bill porter, owner of performance Ski & surf, hasn’t seen sporting equipment sell this rapidly in Orlando, Florida, since in-line skating became popular. But since May, you haven’t been able to keep wakeboard in stock. It doesn’t seem to matter much which brand–Wake Tech, Neptune, at full tilt-your customers, locals and tourists alike, are snapping them up and heading out to the water. These boards are outselling traditional trick water skis by 20 to 1.
“Maybe it’s because they don’t require big, fast boats,” you suggest. “I heard they’re using fishing trawlers out in Seattle, and they’re still catching wind because the slower boats make bigger wakes to launch from.”
Porter nods thoughtfully as he gazes at a photograph of professional wakeboarder Dean Lavelle at nearby Lake Butler. He’s bolding the same kind of rope any water skier holds, but he’s 15 feet in the air. His short, stubby, fiberglass wakeboard (which is strapped to his feet) is higher than his head and from the grimace on his face, it look as if he’s in mid-flip.
“I just hope none of these kids get hurt trying to imitate the pros,” Butter says.
“Nah,” you say. “Extreme sports-it’s the way of the “90s. Look at what happened to snowboarding. You’ll see wakeboarder at the Olympics soon.”
Your task: Butter has asked you to order another 12 Wake Techs, 8 Neptunes, and 10 full Tilts “Don’t worry about colors or models; we’ll be lucky to get this order filled at all from what I hear.” He suggests you draft a from letter for the three orders and he’ll supply the addresses and account numbers when you’re finished.