Polar Bear Wakesurf Results, Sneak Peek

[ragboy]

Well the weather was amazing! Maybe we have to change the name of the event. ;-) What a great time we all had. This event has held up to my expectation of being my favorite event of the year. Its low key, small, and just people that REALLY want to surf, and surf until they drop. We will be posting many pics (about 250 or so) and several videos in the coming days, but I wanted to give you a sneak peek.

First, special thanks to our partners California Marine Sports. The Fulfords are a great family to work with, and we love 'em. Thanks to Dennis Horton and my Wake9 crew for all the help, and special thanks to Phase 5 Boards and Inland Surfer for their support.

This picture says it all:


IMG_1257 by wake9, on Flickr

These board racks were filled completely, and we had another dozen boards on top of that. There were no dupes, all unique boards. Several of the riders just stood there looking at the boards and smiling, thinking about what they wanted to ride. Surfers were trying skim boards and vice versa. Everyone had different favorites. One rider kept coming up to me and saying, "Dude, this is like Christmas!". Lots of pictures and video to come but let me give you a sneak peek of the various boats we had, all world class wake surf boats.

We had a Centurion Enzo 211, Supreme V226, and the Wake9/Wakemakers.com Tige 24Ve. Sanger and MB were not able to make it due to a shortage of boats, good problem to have, but hope to make it next time. A brand new Tige RZ4 didn't make it in time but we have it now and will be showing it off soon.

So lets start with the Centurion 211. Best feedback will come from the riders later but it seemed to throw a familiar Enzo wake, maybe just a bit shorter. It also seemed fairly easy to weight.


IMG_1167 by wake9, on Flickr


IMG_3374 by wake9, on Flickr


IMG_3497 by wake9, on Flickr

And the Supreme 226. Grant from CMS was hungry. ;-) His boat was dialed and he was working hard to make sure he gave riders a great ride. The Supreme 226 was throwing a great wake, and on both sides. I was riding in the chase pontoon on Saturday so I really got a good look at both sides of all boats.


IMG_1293 by wake9, on Flickr


IMG_3826 by wake9, on Flickr


IMG_3875 by wake9, on Flickr

Then our faithful Tige 24Ve. The pros at wakemakers.com have helped get the most out of what this big 24 foot hull can do. We did blow a sac on Saturday and had a bit of trouble with consistency. We filled the bilge with water, d'oh! But still had a great time and gave good rides.




IMG_3027 by wake9, on Flickr


IMG_3915 by wake9, on Flickr


IMG_3927 by wake9, on Flickr

I have to add one more, Jesse was so excited about showing everyone how she could surf, and how far back she recovered from.


IMG_1488 by wake9, on Flickr

Stay tuned for more details and media, thanks to all for a great event.

* All still cameras had similar lenses, but each image may have had a different focal length. In boat stills are not the best for comparing wakes. The side shots are comparable, and the video that will be out are all using same cameras and mount points.

[Duncan]

So lets start with the Centurion 211.

From this pic, the Centurion swim platform looks higher on the stern than a Tige. It also looks to be barely, if at all, digging into the wave. Is this the case in person?


Looks like a fantastic event. Might have to get some plane tix out there for next year

[Timmy!]

Looks like it was a great event! Wish I could have made it out there - just too much going on at work.

[ragboy]

@duncan, I don't think so, I think its more of the way the rear on the centurion is designed. The rub rail in the back drops and I think it gives it that appearance. Could be wrong though, haven't measured.

[jbort]

Really like the preview above and wondering about Lakewakes boards. Looking forward to seeing more info. thx

[thtrog]

Really like the preview above and wondering about Lakewakes boards. Looking forward to seeing more info. thx

X2, I saw the Wake9 board on their site.

[ragboy]

I promised Mark from Lakewakes I would wait til after this event to give my assessment, but the boards I have seen from LW lately are not the same as that 5.2 we rode and enjoyed a while back. That board was fast, fun, and responsive. The newer boards are slow and sluggish.

For whatever reason, he decided to go with a completely new bottom for the boards. That is his decision, but the 5.2 worked. The board we have now, just like yours as I saw from the pictures, has sort of like a V-Drive bottom. A flat spot in the center and down the length of the board, then tapers off to rails. The boards we have seen work well are not shaped like this. Not a problem if the new shape works as good or better.

Just like a flat bottom boat, versus a v-drive, the flat boat will turn almost instantly, where a v-bottom without special chines will have to lean over first, then start turning. That is how RJ described that board, and others. So there is a delay from rail to rail, making it sluggish.

It also seems to have a lot of tail rocker, which sucks the board into the wake, making it slower, and it doesn't get good down the line speed. If you ever ride a nose rider surf board, you will understand this. They are designed to suck into the wave as you put weight on the nose, not propel forward.

The LW boards with the new "hull" seem to suffer from these issues. Not a shaper, but after doing so many of these demos and seeing with my own eyes which work and which don't, you start to get a good feel for it.

RJ & Dennis both really liked the 5.2 from before, great, fun board. So did several others. When you put the new board up against these other boards, it fails.

I really hope Mark gets the 5.2 or 5.1 working well again, I wanted one for our boat, it was a fun board.

You may be having fun on it, and please, keep doing that. But I think you would notice the difference if you jumped on a TWP Bazooka, or even inland blue lake or red woody.