Nobody wants to stop riding all together, but with a temporary gas shortage brewing...you could help conserve and ride with little or no weight in the boat to burn less fuel. <BR> <BR>It will ultimately help your riding anyway by forcing you to use you edge and different techniques to getting pop.

How about I ride my scooter on the days I don't have to pull my boat with my truck?

With gas prices here in MA @ 3.25 for reg. I can barely afford to get to work never mind burning it on the lake... How are they doin' it in Atlanta?

Ronia, I saw a lot more people than usual riding their motorcycles to work this morning. <BR> <BR>Jeff, I'm in Florida and from what I've heard and read it's becoming a concern for everyone around the Country. <BR> <BR>A bunch of us have got a trip up the river scheduled for Sunday. I might feel a little guilty, but we're going.

We have already started to ride with no ballast as of last weekend. It really has helped my edging and such to produce the pop. The sad thing is I can get almost as much height with no weight as I can with 1200lbs.

I can go bigger with no weight, no gas,.....and no boat. <BR> <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/251931.jpg" alt="">

Anyone can go big with a parachute. <BR> <BR>Yea, I stopped weight my boat this year. I can still do all the same tricks and landed a few whirly's with no weight (just wedge and 4 people).

I went to a wakeboard camp this year in May. Nothing to do with the the gas prices, but they had us ride with no ballast all week. Although the weight of the riders, the wake on their boat was much smaller than what I was used to with my Mobius. <BR> <BR>However they said my edging technique needed a lot of work and finally after a few days I was able to get as much air as I used to before with my boat's bigger (weighted) wake. <BR> <BR>Then, later this summer, I changed my board. I went from a 137 O'brien Rail (Continuous rocker) to a 141 HL Era (Subtle 3-stage). There was so much difference in the height I was getting that I actually stopped weighting the boat for most of my sets since I was starting to feel that I was screwing up my knees badly with all those landings. <BR> <BR>Again, nothnig to do with gas prices, but there is some benefit in this after all. Thanks George!

I wonder how the Epic boats will sell with all their ballast. Gas prices rising might make the other manufacturers reconsider ballast and engine types. Or maybe it's just wishfull thinking.

Gas Prices are gay i dont understand they say they increase the prices because of fuel shortage but everyone still needs gas so all we do is use just as much but pay more, so the oil companies get richer and the gas is still used...

Jason G - sweet pic. One day I'm gonna try that. <BR> <BR>Leo - I didn't think we'd be hearing from you this week...?? <BR> <BR>Santa, that's killer - don't be blamin' W. LOL <BR> <BR>I don't think gas prices will necesarily hurt boat sales - they are mostly a luxury item. Truck and SUV sales on the other hand...

Would you guys rather ride for a shorter amount of time with ballast or ride for a longer amount of time without ballast (given the same amount of gas that you are willing to consume)? If I go riding this weekend, trying to decide which way to go....at over $3.00 a gallon here in Atlanta, time to be a cheap a$$. Opinions??

no ballast longer time.. <BR> <BR>duh

Shorter time with ballast. <BR> <BR>More weight equals more tricks wake to wake which is easier on the knees.

No weight? I probably wouldn't even go wakeboarding. <BR> <BR>I'd take a shorter time with ballast over long time with no ballast. <BR> <BR>If gas prices keep going up, I'd imagine a lot more cable parks would pop up. <BR> <BR>If everytime I went wakeboarding there wasn't a wake, I'd probably find something else to fulfill my need for adrenaline.

Ride a roam with no weight.....fun and helps your riding. We have been riding about 5- 15 ft shorter (around 65ft) and slower ( 20.5)with less weight and can still do all the normal wake tricks, just makes it interesting while saving gas

i say f*** it and weight the boats down even more. go big or go home. the bigger the wake, the bigger the tricks and more tops come off.

Yup, I'd put my lunch money in the tank, the lbs. stay.

it's all relevant. still riding, gas is just another expense.

INDMAR needs to develop a hybrid engine...

We spend about $20 each an outing, thats pretty cheap fun. I'd give up drinking and possibly eating before not weighting the boat.

why don't they make a diesel boat ?

diesel boat have been ard for the longest time. just that the engine will cost u a bomb. something like 4-5 times more of a petrol engine. unless u r going commercial like running a school. not worth the extra big bucks.

id rather ride with ballast for shorter time...too much time wasted relearnig timing and edging on smaller wakes which leads to more crashes..more crashing takes more gas to pick up rider and replane .if i stay with normal ballast then i get my tricks in faster ,get the rush i need and go hom,e rather then relearn everything from scratch... <BR> <BR>however i may dump some ballast after a normal set or two when working on a new trick i can slow boat down a bit or work in the turns and flats for certain pieces of trick breakdowns... <BR> <BR>plus i am now charging $8/10 bucks a set for those riding behind my boat so it will help... <BR> <BR>i may go less to pick perfect days ,riding in chop and wasting time behind the boat waiting for good water are now over ,not worth the hassle or extra scratch for gas.. <BR> <BR>

You could do like some pros here in FL have been known to do and ride doubles to save on gas. Heck, and that was before all this gas "crisis"... they might be riding triples now. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/crazy.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>I understand not being able to hit all the big tricks, but I'd rather ride a long set to stay in shape. It's not like I need the extra hangtime to land a mobe - I ain't doing 'em. <BR> <BR>I'll probably put a moderate amount of weight in the boat cuz my ride ain't got much wake without it, but with the Governer of Florida asking people to help do their part and conserve - I might feel a little guilty either way. I ride on a small lake with all the neighbors watching...Oh well...time to head out while they're at work. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/wink.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>Have a good weekend all and be safe out there.

wakeboarding w/o weight (wake) is like f*cking w/o girls

Went out today weightless...well not all together. Just the 750# of lead i carry and three of us had a blast. W2W....skate and even surfed a little. Normaly i add a couple of sacs. <BR>Boat planed quicker, throttle wasn't down as far and the wake was accepable.

I may be cutting back on some of the weight now... it doesn't matter too much to me since I'm skating this season, but my friends may not be super happy about it.

personally, i have found that riding with minimal weight (front bag full and 3 people in moomba xlv adjusted wakeplate), short rope (about 60-65ft), and slower speeds (about 19-20), have helped me progress my riding this season more than ever! for the last 2 seasons i had 3 inverts and no spins. once i shortened up the rope and did all of the above, i tripled that number in just this season alone. first of all you save atleast have the amount of fuel burned, and second the crashes arent as hard (compared to riding at 75-80ft, full ballast, 23-24mph). you can still take things into the flats if you want, or you can calm down your edge and learn stuff w2w. all of the people i know that ride with full ballast havent progressed any this season because they are affraid of getting hurt, and i ventured out on a limb to give this theory a shot since i wasnt progressing at all. i get just as much height when i was riding with more weight. just as others have said, it really teaches you how to perfect your edging technique. i have also found out that when i transition over to a boat with a bigger wake i have no problems at all with adjustment... i either let the rope out 5ft or just slow down the edging. <BR> <BR>point being, if people would just give the theory a shot, they would find they can progress more, and save alot of gas. i dont see how a double positive would make people not want to try this? its not like byerly and all those guys back in the day were riding with 2k lbs. ballast and with a tower... they could still do mobes and spins and raleys without out all this stuff... now days, they could still do it again if they had to, even if they're getting older, its all technique. it just seems like huge wakes have become such a big fad. dont get me wrong, i like riding them, but when fuel costs alot, suck it up and pay up, or ride more conservatively. <BR> <BR>Jason, quit harrassing all the boards with your kiteboarding!<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/happy.gif" border=0> when are you going teach me? <BR> <BR>sorry for the long rant, and i hope to hear some good debates over this.

Riding a big wake and a long line is more fun. A big wake didn't hinder my ability to learn new tricks this season. <BR> <BR>A lot needs to be said about wake shape. No matter how tall or short, rampy or steep, as long as there is a good lip, and the wake is thick, you can pop pretty good off of it.

THANE DOGG, <BR> <BR>and with all that being said, i still have fun with less weight because i can still afford to ride. if you can afford it, go for it. like others, i feel bad for even going out on a boat right now since bush has asked people to start buying gas only when they need it... but everything said is subjective, so...

I guess what I'm saying is that I will choose to not ride altogether rather than "try" and save gas and ride without ballast.

I would give up a lot of things that I do that take money rather than give up my fat sacs. I rode on the Sac river today without any weight(not because of the gas price issue, but because it was too choppy to make a difference) and without my 1800 lbs of ballast my wake is about ankle high. Wakeboarding is all about having fun and I just don't have as much fun if the wake isn't big enough for me to try new tricks. (well, most of the time). You have to pay to play. Literally.

There is no shortage of gasoline, there is a distribution issue. I will not use a 27 gal tank in three long days out this weekend, Toyota Epic. I have two teenage boys so we do not do much sitting around. I have been running about 1150 of water weight and 3-4 people lately. <BR> <BR>I topped off tonight when we pulled out, it took 17 gal, I've been out 3 times on that amount. It does take premium only, but that is not a big deal anymore. <BR> <BR>My Bronco is another story <IMG SRC="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/sad.gif" ALT=":-(" BORDER=0>

Riding without weight can be fun for some, but when you've been riding as long as my family has been with weight it sure is hard to explain to the kids that they have to go without. So what I have done is tell everybody that they have to get in the water be busy rather then screw around. Yea we all want to have fun but when dad pays for everything and they don't, they are going to have to work with me a little. This has actually improved all of our riding tremendously. I run 3000 lbs. in my boat plus bodies. We were spending $1000 a month in gas just for the boat and that was when it was under $2.00 a gallon.

The cost of owning a boat in general should definitely outweigh a 60 cent rise in gas. If you have a 45 gallon tank its $100 to fill up at 2.25/gallon and $135 to fill up at three. Thirty dollars spread over about 3 outings, ten bucks a day. Not expensive when you consider The massive amounts of money we spend on boards, bindings, racks, ropes, props, batteries, speakers, and visits to the hospital. I think I will continue riding full weight and maybe just not buy the $20 thirty pack of bud light!

The difference between what gas was and what gas is today can be devasting to some. I for one train my children everyday at a cost of about $50 a day in fuel. Gas is really starting to make me think differently about how much water time I can afford. I don't want to stop helping my kids but how far is this going to go. Gas also affects the amount of competitions that we attend. Yes, this is a sport that takes alot of money, especially when your kids want to take it to the highest level. But I am really beginning to get hurt from this.

I definately cut down on buying drinks with Ice this summer. I would just go with a gallon of water that I refilled everyday. As far as weighting the boat, I only fill 350lbs in the front + 4 or 5 people and the wedge. All the weight I need and im doing all the same stuff I could do with 2000lbs + wedge.

We went out this weekend and didn't use the ballast. It was a lot of fun, actually, and didn't break 3000rpm all weekend. <BR> <BR>Here is a pict of my wake with only 5 girls/2 guys in the boat. <BR> <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/252734.jpg" alt=""> <BR> <BR>Moomba Mobius XLV.

Cody, I will teach you whenever you are ready to try it. However, learning in Dallas is hard only because the water is deep. You want to learn the basics in shallow water so you get more board time in. Spend 1 hour learning the simple stuff instead of one month in deep water struggling. Come to oCorpus with us and take a quick lesson, or if you are a glutton for punishment have a go in the shallows alone. A lesson will save you many many lumps, but might cost you a hundy or two.