Check out our new board

[NICKYPOO]

Fully rad! Thanks for posting those pics. They're really getting me pumped to go ride. Is that boy in any videos?

[Tequilasun]

I give up, James is way better than me...


Rock on!

[NICKYPOO]

Don't give up, he's probably better then everybody right now. I haven't seen anybody tearing **** up like that kid is.

[Tequilasun]

Well, I can not get that kind of air!

I would love to see a video of him, and his he available to give lessons?

[Surfdad]

Yeah, the only BIG AIR I get requires rolling down the windows in the car afterwards. I did post two quick unedit vid's over at wakepic.com...I'll try and get a link to one. Sean Ward who does photo's for skim online is trying to schedule a run to get some clips for his new vid...but nothing yet.

http://www.wakepics.com/img/19272

http://www.wakepics.com/img/19269

I had to laugh about James giving lessons. He's 14 so when you asking him, how do you do "such-and-such" his usual response is well...you go back and pump in and then do it. Gee thanks that was SOOOOO helpful

[Surfdad]

I had to share two final pictures. I TRULY believe that we will start seeing inverts while wakesurfing. In these two pictures James was afraid of whacking himself in the head so he wasn't pushing it and he didn't tuck. I think by the end of summer he'll complete the rotation.

[Surfdad]

He actually cleared his head on this attempt and landed prone, so figure 3/4's of the rotation.

[delongheavyhaul]

ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW!

[Tequilasun]

Ah, Falling, now those are tricks I can do.

14, man All I thought about at 14 was...well...Rocky road ice cream.

[b/w05]

Surfdad, Nickypoo or whoever,

I've got a Jobe Circa 70 board. My son who is 24, 5'11, 195lbs can find the sweet spot & surf without the rope instantly just about everytime. He now even starts off the swim deck without the rope. I'm 5'11, 235lbs and have a hard time getting in the spot in order to let go. I can manage it once in awhile and can crossover the wake as long as I have the rope. Do you think it mostly has to do with the length of the board or the 40 additional lbs? or both? BTW, it's behind our 2005 22i with no ballast, 10.5mph, taps at 8.

Mark

[NICKYPOO]

Mark, buddy, get some sacks. I can stay on my wave with no ballast but, it aint easy. I'm basically the same exact size as your son (6'0", 195). Your extra 40 pounds will make a huge difference. My new surf rope is probably an extra 10 lbs. when wet and as soon as I throw it back into the boat, my board takes off like a rocket. Another 1000lbs will make criusing along with no rope a reality for you. I think you can put a couple of 250's in the rear lockers (modern day 22i'ers correct me if I'm wrong) and a 400-500 pounder in the bow and the wave will push you right into the boat. It's a wonderfull thing to be able to set your feet back on the board and know that you can haul *** when you need to or just cruise along without a care in the world. Whatever you do, don't give up. Get some ballast. It will make all the difference in the world. You will then start having the kind of fun we are having. You will thank us.......you willll (in my best Yoda voice).

[Surfdad]

I'm not a big fan of more ballast, although that will usually help. The truth is that if you're on an undersized board, it won't handle worth a darn on a bigger wake. On hard top or bottom turns it'll want to sink.

Here is a quick way to tell if you have the right size board. Take a quick look at this picture. This guy is on some form of broadcast and it's undersized. You'll notice by the spray coming off the rails that he's sinking the board. Now, MOST of the big three manufacturers have pretty marginal boards for wakesurfing, but if you get a HUGE spray on the inside rail (rail in the wake) or a rooster rail that shoots out the outside rail like in this picture, you need more surface area. Not that you can't RIDE with a board like this, is just not optimal and stepping up in size will improve your riding.

[Surfdad]

Now compare that with this picture of James...granted this is a much better board than the broadcast and the rails release water almost perfectly, but you can see the HUGE difference in the spray from the board. This board is perfectly suited for James and his weight, so the board just planes across the surface of the water. Also, James can ride this board in crappy wakes, as well as, nice crisp wakes.

[Surfdad]

My suggestion is to have someone either take a picture of you riding or just look down at the face of the wake. If you have a spray coming up and hitting your knees caused by the inside rail being buried, you'll be happier and you'll progress faster with more surface area.

The last thing I'd like to comment on. The reason I'm not fond of more ballast is that it tends to reshape the wake such that you get a very steep face. I would rather have a 25 foot long pocket to a 5 foot high face, especially if that face is vertical. I think that you can do more with a longer pocket than with a short but steep pocket. Just my 2 cents.

[TDRCSR]

Surfdad great and instructive comments. I have the same experience with my son (not even close to James skill) being able to surf much easier and much more of the wake than me. Also, I notice the spray out the side of the board (landlock) like your photo showing too short of a board

With am 06 22i, 10 MPH, TAPS on 6.5, about 500 lbs of passengers (minimal driver and everyone else sitting on driver's side); I can barely surf a very small sweet spot.

what boat, passenger weight, speed and TAPS setting do you use? are you saying no ballast?