wake hardness

does anyone know exactly what it is that makes a wake hard or soft?
and if it's soft at waterskiing speed will it therefore be soft at wakeboard speed???

(Message edited by powdrhound on May 24, 2006)

this is an odd question, perhaps you could elaborate a little more or re-word.

What most people feel as hardness is usually related to shape. The more vertical the wake face the harder it will feel. This is the phenomenon that Nautique is exploiting with the wake plate. It really does not change the size, just the shape.

When Ski Nautique came out with the 2001 back in 1982 the wake felt softer than it's lighter predecessor. It was mainly because it was less steep than the narrower boat's wake.

Speed has a lot to do with true wake hardenss, just the dynamics.

Another factor for hardness is how much air or spray is inside the wake. That is why is near impossible to get a hard wake from a jet drive boat. Air, foam, wwhitewash is very soft.

don't forget the table between the wakes. the lips should have plenty of water backing in order to be "hard". in other words, there shouldn't be a steep ramp leading up to the inside lip. in my experience, the more air i'm able to get on an inside-out jump, the "softer" the wake. as far as what you can actually "feel", shape is probably the biggest influence on perceived hardness. like mikeski basically said, a super air will always seem to be harder than a more rampy wake even if the rampy wake has more backing and, therefore, less give

Try Viagra. It will turn any soft wake hard, but be careful. Too much and you could break your board.

nautique now has a wake plate??

www.midwestwakeboarder.com

"The more vertical the wake face the harder it will feel."

Not necessarily. In a lot of boats, if you load the back to much, the wake will get tall and thin. Then you end up punching through it instead of getting bucked. Hardness in my opinion is acheived by proper weight distribution in the boat and faster speeds (24 and up).

Also some boats have a more difficult time producing a hard wake. In my opinion the SANs produce probably the hardest.

Also, the density of the water makes a difference. Some lakes ride slow (soft), others ride fast(hard). The ocean (salt) is dense, and it will make a hard wake, although it will take more weight to make it big (because the boat floats more).