Wakeboarding
Wakeboarding was developed from a combination of water skiing, snowboarding, and surfing techniques. It involves riding a wakeboard on lakes or sea. The wakeboard is usually towed behind a motorboat, just like in water skiing. And like in snowboarding, the practitioner stands on the board in a sideways position.
Boats
The boat used in wakeboarding is very similar to the water skiing boat. The main difference is the rope attachment: in wakeboarding, the rope is attached to a pole or pylon, the top of which is about 2 meters above the water surface. Usually there is also some extra weight on the boat to create a bigger wake. Wakeboarding can be done also with a normal boat appropriate for water skiing, although bigger jumps can't be done without these changes.
The speed of the wakeboarding boat (29-37 km/h) is usually slower than in water skiing. Beginners can start the hobby with speeds of 30 km/h using shorter ropes (18-20 m), while more experienced wakeboarders can ski in higher speeds of 40 km/h using ropes up to 24 m.
Wakeboard
Wakeboard is usually made of floating material, and it is typically 120-150 cm long, the width being up to 45 cm (shorter and wider than average snowboard). The bindings of wakeboard are more sturdy than those of water skis, and they don't get loose as easily.
Waterboarding tricks, a common feature of this sport, are done by turning the board outside the wake, then speeding up, and finally jumping using the wake.
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Blog posts by our staff about wakeboarding:
Blog posts about wakeboarding
Wake me up!
After a long time, I challenge myself to be the one who is taught by hand, pushed and motivated to get up again and again to learn a new skill from the ground up.