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Wakesurfing Help


GRGKng

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Hey guys,

Recently started wakesurfing, just got my boat about a month ago. Right now I'm riding on the Inland surfer Red Woody, I'm about 268 pounds 6'2", and its been a pretty nice board, a lot smoother going straight than my oogle, which is probably a bit small for me, but its fun in its own way, the Red woody seems a little slower response wise. Anyways, I'm having a bit of trouble finding the "sweet" spot. I'm regular, and with my VLX I'm putting 750 in the rear locker, 370 under the seats, and 400 up front. The wake produced is big, but I'm having a bit of trouble making it clean, should I be adding more weight and re-calibrating the power wedge? We usually only have 2-3 people in the boat, so if need be I could just through a 550lb sac on the seats too. This may seem like a dumb question, but are you guys just using a hand held gps to calculate speed? Last thing, when I'm riding (cant ride without the rope) I always find myself on the front part of the wave, really close to the transom, and always on the biggest part of the wave, am I riding right? There have been a few times where I've been able to creat slack in the rope to the point where I could toss it in the boat, but then I just lose speed and end up having the rope yank me back in.. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

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Hi,

I am 270 pounds too, i ride the same boat (diamond hull) and the same board. i have no extra ballast and i an able to ride without rope. Front, center and right ballast full, wedge 100% and speed 15.7 km/h ( i have found that speed is better when there are only 2 person in the boat).

PM me i can send you a link with a video as my english is not good enough to explain good where i ride. i can say not in the middle of the boat, on the side.

Stephane.

Hey guys,

Recently started wakesurfing, just got my boat about a month ago. Right now I'm riding on the Inland surfer Red Woody, I'm about 268 pounds 6'2", and its been a pretty nice board, a lot smoother going straight than my oogle, which is probably a bit small for me, but its fun in its own way, the Red woody seems a little slower response wise. Anyways, I'm having a bit of trouble finding the "sweet" spot. I'm regular, and with my VLX I'm putting 750 in the rear locker, 370 under the seats, and 400 up front. The wake produced is big, but I'm having a bit of trouble making it clean, should I be adding more weight and re-calibrating the power wedge? We usually only have 2-3 people in the boat, so if need be I could just through a 550lb sac on the seats too. This may seem like a dumb question, but are you guys just using a hand held gps to calculate speed? Last thing, when I'm riding (cant ride without the rope) I always find myself on the front part of the wave, really close to the transom, and always on the biggest part of the wave, am I riding right? There have been a few times where I've been able to creat slack in the rope to the point where I could toss it in the boat, but then I just lose speed and end up having the rope yank me back in.. Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

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At a month, you are just at the point where you should be able to free ride easily, unless you've spent tons of time in other wake sports. You probably have the wake you need, you just need to focus on basics.

Rule #1: don't be too quick to throw in the rope. If you have slack, you are surfing. Until you learn to get the balance of the board, just keep the rope in your hand. People frequently fall or lose the wake because they get off balance when throwing in the rope. When you can ride with slack and not pull on the rope for more than a minute, then think about dropping the rope. Drop it and let someone in the boat pull it in for best results until you are really comfortable on the board.

2: after you get up, lean forward slowly with your shoulder closest to the boat (if you ride regular, this will be your left shoulder). Lean until you just start to feel the board catch the wave and move toward the boat, then lean back or "hit the brakes". Do this repeatedly and keep holding the rope. You have to get the feel of the board. Also, as you get slack in the rope, keep your arm straight and drop it down to your waist, don't pull it in to your chest. Just like skiing or wakeboarding if you pull your hands into your chest, you will eventually fall backwards. If you are leaning right, you will almost certainly pearl the board, or drive the nose into the wake and go over the top. This is normal and it means you are getting a feel for how far forward you can lean on this board. As you get more skilled, you can carve up the wake and really lean aggressively to get speed, then back off.

To surf well, you have to learn to react before things happen. When I'm way at the back of the pocket and start rushing toward the boat, I'm leaning back on the brakes way before I get close to boat (or else carving up the wake). I tend to move the board around under me and then apply pressure. So I move the board forward without changing my weight, then put more pressure on the front to get speed.

Keep your knees slightly bent so little bumps don't knock you off balance.

Cleaning up the wake is a lot about list. You can also play around with the power wedge, but I find all the way down is always best. To get more list, make sure all of your ballast (including Voice Activated Ballast, AKA passengers) are all on the surf side of the boat. Don't fill the opposite side ballast. If you have a large cooler, dog or anything over 50 pounds, put it on the surf side if you can. It's sometimes hard to keep people in the right place, but I can watch the wake as a person moves from one side of the boat to the other and see it change.

Lower speed usually makes a taller wake, whereas faster speed makes a longer pocket. Lower speed and higher wake are usually better for learning. Don't worry so much about getting the exact GPS speed, look at the wake and adjust accordingly. If it's really high and seems to close to the boat, go up. Small adjustments are best. Use .2-.4 at a time and wait a few minutes for the cruise to catch up and the wake to settle out. If you want to check the speed, a handheld GPS or a speed app on your phone are totally fine.

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At a month, you are just at the point where you should be able to free ride easily, unless you've spent tons of time in other wake sports. You probably have the wake you need, you just need to focus on basics.Rule #1: don't be too quick to throw in the rope. If you have slack, you are surfing. Until you learn to get the balance of the board, just keep the rope in your hand. People frequently fall or lose the wake because they get off balance when throwing in the rope. When you can ride with slack and not pull on the rope for more than a minute, then think about dropping the rope. Drop it and let someone in the boat pull it in for best results until you are really comfortable on the board.2: after you get up, lean forward slowly with your shoulder closest to the boat (if you ride regular, this will be your left shoulder). Lean until you just start to feel the board catch the wave and move toward the boat, then lean back or "hit the brakes". Do this repeatedly and keep holding the rope. You have to get the feel of the board. Also, as you get slack in the rope, keep your arm straight and drop it down to your waist, don't pull it in to your chest. Just like skiing or wakeboarding if you pull your hands into your chest, you will eventually fall backwards. If you are leaning right, you will almost certainly pearl the board, or drive the nose into the wake and go over the top. This is normal and it means you are getting a feel for how far forward you can lean on this board. As you get more skilled, you can carve up the wake and really lean aggressively to get speed, then back off.To surf well, you have to learn to react before things happen. When I'm way at the back of the pocket and start rushing toward the boat, I'm leaning back on the brakes way before I get close to boat (or else carving up the wake). I tend to move the board around under me and then apply pressure. So I move the board forward without changing my weight, then put more pressure on the front to get speed.Keep your knees slightly bent so little bumps don't knock you off balance.Cleaning up the wake is a lot about list. You can also play around with the power wedge, but I find all the way down is always best. To get more list, make sure all of your ballast (including Voice Activated Ballast, AKA passengers) are all on the surf side of the boat. Don't fill the opposite side ballast. If you have a large cooler, dog or anything over 50 pounds, put it on the surf side if you can. It's sometimes hard to keep people in the right place, but I can watch the wake as a person moves from one side of the boat to the other and see it change.Lower speed usually makes a taller wake, whereas faster speed makes a longer pocket. Lower speed and higher wake are usually better for learning. Don't worry so much about getting the exact GPS speed, look at the wake and adjust accordingly. If it's really high and seems to close to the boat, go up. Small adjustments are best. Use .2-.4 at a time and wait a few minutes for the cruise to catch up and the wake to settle out. If you want to check the speed, a handheld GPS or a speed app on your phone are totally fine.

Thank youvery much!

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Tyger, great post.

I just learned ropeless (finally) and its exactly like you wrote.

Coming to this forum is actually what taught me how to do it properly and setting up the boat from posts like that. Thanks Malibucrew members!

oh and for GPS, to me it doesn't matter the 'real speed' as long as you know what your dash says and you adjust according to that.

I know for me its good at 9.6mph on the dash but in reality it could be 10.8 for all I know.

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martinarcher

At a month, you are just at the point where you should be able to free ride easily, unless you've spent tons of time in other wake sports. You probably have the wake you need, you just need to focus on basics.

Rule #1: don't be too quick to throw in the rope. If you have slack, you are surfing. Until you learn to get the balance of the board, just keep the rope in your hand. People frequently fall or lose the wake because they get off balance when throwing in the rope. When you can ride with slack and not pull on the rope for more than a minute, then think about dropping the rope. Drop it and let someone in the boat pull it in for best results until you are really comfortable on the board.

2: after you get up, lean forward slowly with your shoulder closest to the boat (if you ride regular, this will be your left shoulder). Lean until you just start to feel the board catch the wave and move toward the boat, then lean back or "hit the brakes". Do this repeatedly and keep holding the rope. You have to get the feel of the board. Also, as you get slack in the rope, keep your arm straight and drop it down to your waist, don't pull it in to your chest. Just like skiing or wakeboarding if you pull your hands into your chest, you will eventually fall backwards. If you are leaning right, you will almost certainly pearl the board, or drive the nose into the wake and go over the top. This is normal and it means you are getting a feel for how far forward you can lean on this board. As you get more skilled, you can carve up the wake and really lean aggressively to get speed, then back off.

To surf well, you have to learn to react before things happen. When I'm way at the back of the pocket and start rushing toward the boat, I'm leaning back on the brakes way before I get close to boat (or else carving up the wake). I tend to move the board around under me and then apply pressure. So I move the board forward without changing my weight, then put more pressure on the front to get speed.

Keep your knees slightly bent so little bumps don't knock you off balance.

Cleaning up the wake is a lot about list. You can also play around with the power wedge, but I find all the way down is always best. To get more list, make sure all of your ballast (including Voice Activated Ballast, AKA passengers) are all on the surf side of the boat. Don't fill the opposite side ballast. If you have a large cooler, dog or anything over 50 pounds, put it on the surf side if you can. It's sometimes hard to keep people in the right place, but I can watch the wake as a person moves from one side of the boat to the other and see it change.

Lower speed usually makes a taller wake, whereas faster speed makes a longer pocket. Lower speed and higher wake are usually better for learning. Don't worry so much about getting the exact GPS speed, look at the wake and adjust accordingly. If it's really high and seems to close to the boat, go up. Small adjustments are best. Use .2-.4 at a time and wait a few minutes for the cruise to catch up and the wake to settle out. If you want to check the speed, a handheld GPS or a speed app on your phone are totally fine.

Those two points are huge when learning to surf! Good advice I couldn't have wrote it better. Rockon.gif

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Okay tried leaning forward to go forward, and i always seem to end up going left and diving my board into the water... maybe too much weight on my heels? For some reason it seems easier to wakesurf on my oogle than my red woody? And Im about 270 pounds 6'2"..

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One thing I didn't see mentioned is toe position. I don't know if everyone is the same but most of the guys I ride with position the toes on the front foot close to the edge of the board. Might help you some.

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Might be a longshot, but can you get more racks, specifically for wakesurf boards?

photo-12.jpg

You can order another set for that tower, IIRC they are like $700+ each.

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Okay tried leaning forward to go forward, and i always seem to end up going left and diving my board into the water... maybe too much weight on my heels? For some reason it seems easier to wakesurf on my oogle than my red woody? And Im about 270 pounds 6'2"..

As Ruffdog says, foot position is important and you may be too much on your heels. When I was learning, I had trouble with the left side of my Broadcast digging in like you. In the water, you most likely have your feet more heelside to tip up the board while you are pulled up. After you get up, wriggle your feet more toeside. This will help prevent the left side from digging in (assuming your ride regular foot). You can go pretty extreme toward the toe side on most boards.

However, overall you need to get the feel for how much you can lean on the front of the board without it digging in. There's no shortcut to this, it just takes practice. Keep the rope in your hand and you will learn to lean on the backside of the board and pull out when your board pearls some of the time. I can't submerge my board on command and recover yet, but if it ducks under the wave, I can usually recover freeriding without the rope.

Hang in there and keep practicing. Above all try to get slack in the rope, even if it's just a little and do that over and over again.

List is the lean of the boat when one side is closer to the water and one side is higher. For riding regular, the port side rubrail should be within a couple inches of the water or lower while the starboard side rubrail is almost a foot above. When we have the right list, the swim platform is 4-6 inches underwater on the surf side and out of the water on the other.

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Alright guys, I made a pretty nice wake today, by putting a 750 in the rear locker, and two 550 on the seats, and a 400 close to the bow. This made the wake big, but still not as long as I'd like it, and also I noticed the vent on the side is under water, is this a bad thing?

Thanks!

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