Font, Pigozzi quietly exit Nautique roster amid shrinking support for elite waterskiing
Nautique signed the two promising juniors in 2019 (image: Nautique)
By Jack Burden
Reigning world trick champion Patricio Font and Dominican slalom skier Robert Pigozzi appear to have parted ways with Nautique Boats, marking another quiet contraction in elite waterskiing’s already narrow support structure.
Font, still firmly at the top of the trick world, shared a succinct goodbye on social media: “Thank you Nautique for the past 6 years of success and memories, it’s been real.” Pigozzi, who has struggled to maintain top-tier form in recent seasons, made no public statement—but both names have vanished from Nautique’s athlete page.
Their departure bookends a partnership that began with hype. In 2019, Nautique signed the duo in a press release touting them as “two of the hottest waterskiers in the sport right now.” While Font delivered on that promise—becoming a two-time world champion and breaking one of the sport’s longest-standing world records—Pigozzi’s once-blazing rise has cooled, his recent struggles a stark contrast to the swagger and dominance of the pre-pandemic years.
Font’s exit is the more jarring of the two—not just because of his ongoing dominance, but because it leaves a glaring void. He was the last male trick skier with a dedicated boat sponsorship, aside from MasterCraft’s Joel Poland, whose all-around excellence across all three disciplines keeps him marketable in a way few others are.
The backdrop to this is a sport under economic and cultural siege. Waterskiing, once the centerpiece of lake life, is being increasingly marginalized by the rise of wakeboarding and wakesurfing. Manufacturers have followed the money: Malibu effectively cut ties with elite skiing in 2024, terminating longtime promo manager Dennis Kelley and losing both Regina Jaquess and Thomas Degasperi—who quickly found refuge at Nautique.
That lifeboat is starting to feel overcrowded. With Font and Pigozzi’s apparent departures, only 14 professional skiers now hold boat sponsorships globally—eight with Nautique, six with MasterCraft. Fewer boats, fewer deals, fewer lifelines.
The waters are getting choppy. And for athletes at the sport’s summit, there’s less and less boat beneath them.
