These are great days.

What constitues a sport "blowing up"?

IMO a 100% increase in participation every year for 3-5 years fits that description.

Here in Southern California I'd estimate a 200% increase last year over the year before and if the # of emails I've been getting lately is any indication of things to come well then...

(Message edited by CAskimmer on March 06, 2007)

I think a "blow-up" would be at the point where wakesurfing is almost as popular as wakeboarding. Similar to how snow boarding has almost caught up with snow skiing in popularity. That took many years. I think it is possible, because wakesurfing is something most people can do.

Wow Jeff! This thread is blowin' up all around ya'!

LOL - too much blowing up! You guys will give me a coronary!

If we assume that Jim's definition is suitable, and if we can further assume that the folks that post on the various forums on WW are "fairly" representative of participation in the sport, the way that I figure it there will need to be something like a 1000% increase in participation before we had a blow up. So if there are 10 boats on your lake now wakesurfing there would need to be - 110 to achieve blowup status

The posts since 1/1/07 thru today in the wakeboarding forum totaled 12,777 active posts, in the wakesurfing forum 1,276.

That's a long way to go. I understand it's not scientific in any sense, but it's probably more accurate than "blow up" and "everyone" as my esteemed colleagues prefer.

Realistically the posts in this forum since day one don't amount to the total posts since Dave archived that forum lasts.

Doubling every 3 to 5 years I don't know...if there is 1 boat on your lake and that turns to 2 boats in 3 years - seems rather lackluster for a blowup, IMO.

The same thing was said about wakeboarding when we were riding behind jet boats on skurfers.

All I know is what I see on my lake and it's getting to where it's rare to see a boat without some type of surfboard/ skimboard on board.

Also I hinted about it earlier but I've been getting 10-20 emails a day asking about boards for the last 2 1/2 weeks opposed to 20 or so all last season.

No offence to Jim, but that is not what I would call a "blow up". A "blow up" to me would be an exponential growth in a very short time, basically what Sean described in his last post. It is also pretty damn accurate to what I've seen in my area so far as exponential growth, or "blow up" to the layman.

Ah yes, another link to NASCAR, "It done blowed up!"

Oh, OK. I guess I meant Seans next to last post.

(Message edited by nickypoo on March 06, 2007)

Sean do you think it can be regional to some extent? You folks are in sort of a hotbed with Stripes, Walzer and Walker. The delta up here is sort of the same way, with XBC, Shred Stixx and Calibrated - lots of folks wakesurfing there too. My home lake, MAYBE we'll see one to two other boats wakesurfing the entire season and we go out twice a week. When we were at Lake Pleasant in AZ last year, aside from the contest participants, I didn't see any other boats wakesurfing and there must have been 300 boats just in the small area we were in. We flew up to Oregon last year for a contest and WE were the only wakesurf entrants I won the men's No wait, there was that one gentleman he was the pilot - he was working hard on TRYING to wakesurf.

At the Pleasanton boat show...only saw 6 wakesurfboards - all HL or LF or CWB, no other representation.

I just think it's REALLY hard to draw broad generalizations from limited criteria.

You just know where to go to get the good water Jeff.

Just about every boat on my home lake has a wakesurf board on it anymore. I see at least three other boats out surfing every time we go out, regardless of which lake we are on. I'm sure there are a lot of areas that just haven't quite caught on yet, but it seems to me that wherever it does catch on, it catches on fire. Right after it blows up. We do have a fairly large boating community here considering the size of the town, but wakesurfing was more or less nonexistent around here 3 years ago. Now there's someone doin' it at every lake you go to on any given weekend. One boat turned to two, two to four, four to eight, eight to sixteen, BOOM! Done blowed up.

Each time I surfed at Lake Nacimiento, other boaters pulled up to us and ask all about what we were doing and how to do it, etc. But we didn't see anyone else wakesurfing. There seems to be so much interest in it, I think its going to blow, but not just yet.

(Message edited by jimgalloway on March 06, 2007)

(Message edited by jimgalloway on March 06, 2007)

(Message edited by jimgalloway on March 06, 2007)

This doesn't really prove anything but the stats on this site show a marked growth over the first part of this year compared to previous years.
first 65 days of 2005 15 pages
first 65 days of 2006 20 pages
first 65 days of 2007 126 pages
The growth is BOOMING.

Ha! If I stop posting I can cut that number by 80%

Jeff,
You only started 15 of those 126 pages. Just less than 12%. I really think that this does show a growth in the desire for information regarding wakesurfing.

another factor to consider is forum members ( I'm putting myself into that group) tend to be a little more fanatical then average and I don't think our sport will have the percentage of hardcore participants as say wakeboarding.

Of all the people I know who wakesurf. I'm the only one who posts in any kind of forum. Of course, I'm responsible for getting 90% of those same people into wakesurfing so...

Slightly off topic, but can I call my home lake my home break? I mean, one way or anther, that is where I go get the waves that break for me.

Dennis, I think that Sean is right. You'd have to consider the number of new folks posting to determine if there is any growth, it could simply be a greater willingness to post by the same dedicated few. If I went from starting 1% to starting 12% there is no growth at all. Plus it doesn't really take into consideration all the folks that merely lurk.

I agree that there is growth, I'm just not convinced that it's as "huge" as some would make it out to be.

I've heard some industry unit-sales figures and their growth is pretty substantial year-over-year, but when compared to unit-sales for wakeboarding or wakeskating it pales.

Really the only thing we are doing is creating conjecture, we have nothing solid to base any sort of projections on AND if you look at the arguments above it's mostly subjective and limited observances used to justify a particular position.

Wow, I started this thread to share one of those great moments you feel every once in a while about something you love to do. Now look at it, arguments, conjectures, subjective limited observations. Sheesh!

Hi. My name is Nick and I like to surf.

Yeah, so be more careful in the future Nick.

It's a crazy world out there.

Anybody interested in doing some SURF DRAGS?

Here's what I want to do. Two identical boats, side by side, riders must let go of the rope at the start gates and the boats increase speed at predetermined distances for 1/16 mile. That's 660ft. Run the first 165ft. @ 10mph, next 165ft. @ 11mph, next 165ft. @ 12mph, final 165ft. @ 13mph. Head to head eliminations with each round starting at 1 mph faster and each distance increases accordingly. Should make for 30-40sec runs. No restriction on boards, run what ya brung.

Don't think too hard about it, this is just for fun.

I'm in.

Hey Jeff, your post makes this thread the first thread in the wakesurf category to break 100 posts.

(Message edited by nickypoo on March 07, 2007)

I think I deserve that (dubious? ) honor. You may refer to me as Mr. 100.

I like a little speed surfing, my top end was a about 14.7. About your time table, as I increases speed on my boat loaded with 2,000 pounds of ballast on one side, well the boat isn't that responsive. One reason why my top end is 14.7 is the boat was at WOT.

Yeah I was thinking about that. Might just have to run a full 1/8th mile behind a Tige. J/K

But seriously, WOT? Is that 2000lbs. + people? Like 10 of 'em? What kind of wheel do you run? Your wake is obviously one of the nicest around, just wondering how you have it propped for such a beautiful "break" but zero top end.

Ed, 14.7 is fast. What length & style of board do you use to stay in the wave at that speed?

That's 2,000 not counting people, don't recall crew size.

I sent one prop back to ACME to re-pitch from 12 to 10.5, I'm getting worried about what I'm doing to my transmission.

I rode a Trick Boardz Mojo XL at 14.7 mph and an IS Red at 14.5 mph, both cases topped out at WOT. The Red needs bigger fins for speed.

I've ridden an I Yellow as fast as I think 13 mph, a Blue too. My Broadcast doesn't do well at higher speeds.

The wake looks OK at 10 to 11 mph, the hull extension make the face a little dirty, but at 12.5 and up it looks pretty clean.

(Message edited by Bigshow on March 08, 2007)

What kind of RPM are you turning at that WOT?

I wasn't watching the tack from 20 feet back behind the boat, though I think the engine was "lugging"

On our "home break" in Orlando, FL (10 mins from UCF campus)...

2006 saw 2 boats total wakesurfing on the lake with about 5 consistent riders. This year there are about 6 of the 15-20 ski boats wakesurfing and around 15-20 consistent riders: a 200% increase in # of boat owners participating and a 200-300% increase in consistent riders.

Add to that the ever-present crowd we invite out each weekend of newbies (who we use as moveable fat-sacs) who spread the word to all their friends and relatives when they catch the stoke... and the number of potential riders/buyers of wakesurfing products nearly triples on just 1 lake in Florida where no board manufacturers or major sponsors of the sport exist (so there goes the theory of location).

The core benefit we keep hearing from every new rider and every new group is that it's so easy to learn/start, plus it's mostly injury-proof and it appeals to all age groups. There's a pro wakeboarder on this lake who trains for about 30mins-1hr/day and then wakesurfs about 4-5hrs/day (5x more time on the water "TOW" than wakeboarding b/c it's not as strenuous).

If you were a boat manfacturer: who would you rather sell your boat to?? A wakeboarder (or family of) with about 5-7 hrs of use/week max or a wakesurfer (or family of) with 5-7 hrs of use/day?? When the hours of usage per year increase for boats, boards, ropes, fat sacs, etc... the lifespan of the product decreases in direct proportion. So, FINANCIALLY, where would you get the most benefit selling your products?? When major manufacturers figure this out and find a way to market directly to wakesurfers then let the booming begin!! Heck, I just convinced myself to start selling something for wakesurfing, lol, it just makes sense... now it's just a matter of timing and exposure.

But, as Jeff pointed out earlier, all we're doing on here is trying to convince each other. Everybody on this forum already rides and is involved in the sport somehow, so this isn't really accomplishing much. We all should just keep having fun at our local spot and getting new people stoked on it whenever we ride... then the boom will take care of itself IMO.

I am new to wakesurfing. My Brother in law told me about it a few years ago. My wife and I decied to buy a boat this year and mostly for relaxing and wakesurfing even though we had never done it. That was going to be its main use. In the 2 months I have had the boat I have been out at least 25 times. And including my self had hooked 6 people to the sport. I even bought a wakeboard and have never used it.

I figure by the end of summer I will have at least 10 riders in my crew.

I think the sport will grow. But it will take all of us to get the people riding.

Wow, return of the the most prolific WW Wakesurf thread ever. I haven't seen it since my season actually started this year (late one for me), but once again, more wakesurfers out this year than last year. I'm seeing better riders, better wakes and better boards. Keep on rockin' it.

I have yet to ride anything other than my Walzer. Not my ski, not my board and not my skate. My stoke is through the roof this year.