About

The iWinch is a wakeboarding / wakeskating towing device which was designed and fabricated in Murfreesboro, TN on Wednesday, March 15, 2006. The construction took place in a small garage at the home of Michael Williams. The iWinch consists of a 6.5 HP Briggs & Stratton Engine, centrifugal clutch, and a spool all housed inside of a steel frame. The name "iWinch" was conceived by Chris Wolfgram to incorporate the fact that the internet played a critical role in the research and design of the project. Wolfgram designed, funded (as a broke college kid), and built the winch with the help of David Mullis and a few other close friends. Although they were not the first people to procure the idea for a wakeskating winch, they were among a select group of people to actually take the idea of a homemade wake towing device from concept to creation. They were likely the first ones in the state of Tennessee to build a winch designed for towing wakeboarders and wakeskaters. For inspiration, Wolfgram, Mullis, and Williams found some of the information they were searching for on a website called winchskating.com[1]. When they began construction, there was a limited availability of information pertaining to a winch used for their intended purpose. Wolfgram stated, "we owe a lot credit to several friends from online forums. These sources helped us troubleshoot our project by answering questions and providing insight." Since the information was limited at the time, making the iWinch functional was successful through trial and error. Today, if you want to build your own winch for wakeskating and have any questions or doubts, one need look no further than the internet. Pertinent information and answers are plentiful on many websites like winchskating.com[2] or wakeskating.com[3] to name a few. One can even purchase a winch designed specifically for the purpose of towing a wakeboarder , wakeskater, or snowboarder from a variety of retail outlets.

When Chris Wolfgram and friends started their homemade winch project, they weren't much different from others engaging in similar projects; they wanted a winch that could allow them to ride in remote locations which were not previously possible. Some of their first sessions were in a flooded retention ditch along the side of the Bell Street Parking Lot at Middle Tennessee State University. To be able to ride all day long on less than a dollar of gas in one to two feet of water was surreal. A journalist for The Daily News Journal, a newspaper in Murfreesboro, TN , snapped pictures which evolved into a full page spread on the back of the "Local" section of the newspaper. It was obvious that both the sport of winching and towing device used were intriguing. These guys were really proud of the newly completed iWinch and even more excited to use it. They began promoting the iWinch like their intention was to start a global enterprise and sell winches. Wolfgram said, "at the time, I really wasn't thinking about selling winches, I was just having fun riding and promoting WINCHING!" That summer, Chris, Michael, and David helped Jim Andrews throw a rail jam in the front parking lot of JOA Marine in Buford, GA. The promotional possibilities using winches seemed endless. Later that summer, Chris Wolfgram used the leftover lumber from the Ambush / Liquid Force Slider Exhibition to build a huge pool-to-pool kink rail in the backyard with the permission, help, and house of friend Jason Snyder. The iWinch pulled a rail jam and towed a host of riders all summer long. Toward the end of that first summer, they used the iWinch for a wakeskate photo session. A fellow wakeboarder and photographer Kit Furder took a picture of Chris Wolfgram doing a Frontside Boardslide on a wakeskate which made a page in Alliance Wakeboard Magazine's 2006 Annual Photo Issue. On the page of the magazine, you can clearly see the iWinch alongside driver Kyle Wells. Since then, a second iWinch was built featuring an all-aluminum frame and TAV2 Torque-A-Verter.

Chris Wolfgram, David Mullis, Michael Williams, Edgar Perez and friends continue to promote winching through word-of-mouth and the website: iWinchGlobal.com[4]. The passion of the iWinch crew can easily be summarized by the fact that fiance Gloria Bearden, now wife of Chris Wolfgram, requested a hot-pink iWinch Groom's Cake be served at their wedding last June.