Bigger board help

Hi, I'm newer to this board, and I was wondering if someone could help steer me in the right direction. I'm a begginer-intermediate ridder, ridding a 139 cm Jobe. Recently my family and I went out boating with a good friend of ours in our 21' Sky Supreme. We encouraged our friend to get out and try and wakeboard. He's a big guys, around 6'6" and a heavier build, probably around 250 lbs or so. He wasn't able to get up behind our boat using our wakeboard. My question is this: Is the board to small, him too big, or the boat not powerful enough. I doubt its the latter, we have a 4 blade prop, 330 hp engine, and a 4:1 gear reduction. My guess is the board is too small, and if so, is there a board big enough for him? Thanks, any help would be awesome.

Hey andrew ,


go withe biggest board you can, last I knew of was a 144cm, may make ones bigger now, and get some 2" fins on there to catch and pull him up, I made that mistake last weekend trying to get up my roomate with 1" fins, he just slipped out couldn't hold on, besides that you should be able to get him up

Danny

I am 6'5" and 250, and learned this year on 136...so it can be done. The trick with me was to actually go slower..and let the board plane up on top of the water. My son can muscle up when he wants....not me....tell him to think finesse rather than muscle. Us bigger guys tend to think that using strength is the key to everything...I learned that's not the case with this.

My friend is an O-lineman. 6'3 240lbs and he got up after like 10 tried. He used a demented 141, but just bought a player 143. A 139 should get him up. I got up with a 110lb girl on my back, so that would equal about 290lbs. It's all technique.

Leo you had a girl on your back??????????? Explain how you pulled that off....sounds kind of funny!

Sounds like you've got a heck of a boat, and plenty of power. Wake boards have tons of surface area compared to a slalom ski. I'd be surprised if your boat couldn’t pull a big slalom skier out of the water, a boarder should be much easier to pull up. I’m 6’2” and 220 lbs. I get up behind a 21’6”, Centurion Lightning, with 315 HP on a slalom ski without any trouble.

Here are two suggestions:

1) If you were pulling with full factory ballast, or more you might want to consider dumping some of the ballast when you pull your friend.

2) You also might need to watch you weight distribution; too much weight in the back of the boat can make for a slow start. I grew-up skiing behind a 16’, 55hp boat. That boat was great when I was 12 and about 100 lbs, but when I grew added a few pounds getting up on a slalom ski was difficult. One thing we did to help get skiers out of the water was to lean forward and anything else that we could do to get weight into the front of the boat when starting pull a skier up out of the water, after the skier is up everyone returns to normal seating. So if you try to pull your friend again on a 139, put a few passengers in the bow.

Good Luck

Alright, thanks. Looks like its a matter of skill, but a bigger board wouldn't hurt either. We should be going out on the boat with him and his family within the next week or so.

I have had big ones on some of my smaller boards, and it can be done. I am not sure how many times he tried to get up, but I think it has much more to do with the rider, and technique, than with the board size, etc. I have had probably 40 first-timers behind my boat, Some get up first pull, some have taken a couple tanks of gas. Maybe try a larger board and see if it helps, but I would focus more on his technique, etc. Eventually it will happen.

Best of luck.

Technique is the key but I think a bigger board helps too. I am 6'3" and use a ERA 147. Got my brother up last weekend on a 142 and then he tried my board and thought it was easier. Again, his technique still sucks but the increased surface area helps. He is 6' 200#