board size??

How big of a board should I be riding if I weigh 210? and I surf all the time but just started wakesurfing. The wake I ride on is pretty big too.

Here we go again.. lol I'm 6ft tall, weight 185 and I ride a Liquid Force 5fter. I love it and I ride off a smaller wake.

well I just bought a liquid force 4'6" board and I can't stay with the wake. i.e. I can't let the rope go even though the wake is peeling and almost at my waist. SO i definetely think the wake is fine but this board seems to be too small. If I ride my 6'0" fish surfboard, I can ride with no rope all day but it is a too long for 360's and tight in the pocket moves. WHat should I look at???

Jeff, I'm 220, my board is 5'6".

How's the hyperlite landlock 5'6? I may pick that one up today, probably be better for my size.

I have a HL 5.6 Broadcast. It's been pretty easy for most every one to learn on, though I'm not doing any 3s or anything.

I am finding that we use size (meaning length) as the gauge, while really, it is a matter of surface area. (ie Yellow Loogey from Inland and the new Xtreme 5'7" chubby)

Ed, would you agree that there are three preliminary considerations in determining the size (surface area) of board to purchase (ignoring cost for the moment) The first is the weight of the rider. A bigger rider requires more surface area. The second is size of the wake. A smaller wake requires more surface area. Lastly the skill of the rider. Greater skill, usually, allows a rider to step down in surface area.

i'm no pro by any means --actually just started a couple of months ago. however i find it much easier to ride a larger (longer board). I can ride forever w/o the rope and beginner tricks seem a little easier w/ the shorter board, but the longer board is was more forgiving and much slower. i ride the Yellow Loogy from Inland Surfer and love it, but is is fast and not very forgiving, this could be due to my skill level. Maybe this will help you a bit.. I am 180#'s riding a mediocre wake....

Jeff, that sounds right to me but let me add a little. I think wake size is important, but I suspect you’ll agree wake shape is important too. A long and medium-high wake would be awesome, and a tall but short wake right behind the boat would be really difficult to ride. Also I bet a small wake that isn’t foamy and has a little curl would be better than a larger wake that’s foamy and not well defined. There’s air in foam and the air doesn’t support weight. Lastly thicker boards with more bouncy might also be helpful or at least provide a different experience.

I have two boards, a Broadcast 5.6 and a Trick Boardz Mojo XL. I'd say the Mojo has less surface area. Our goofy riders ask the driver to slow down one click on PP when switching from the Broadcast to the Mojo, I ride both boards at the same speed. The goofy riders probably need to reduce speed since the board has less surface area.

The Mojo very thin and a little less buoyant than the Broadcast, and I suspect that other California surf style boards like Shred Stixx are even thicker and more buoyant. I’m really looking forward to getting a chance to ride the Shred Stixx board this summer at the Scioto Wakefest.

I think the surf shape boards with long fins will be more stable and easier for beginners to learn on. The Mojo is easy enough to get up on but it’s much loser than the Broadcast. Our first impression this season was that the Mojo takes more effort to control. The design of the Mojo is symmetric with fewer and smaller fins than a surf style board which contributed to the loose feel and therefore requires more effort to control.

However, if you want to progress you probably need to learn how to break your fins free for spins. Since the Mojo is loose it should be much easier to break free and spin. Last week I finally got my wake set up where I think I have a decent pocket to work with and so I will start playing more with the Mojo. One interesting thing that I haven’t figured out on the Mojo is that sometimes if feels like the Mojo rockets forward much faster than I’m expecting, I need to learn how to get that speed on demand and control it.

Ok, I would agree with you...the wake size and shape is a significant factor. In my experience, wave height is directly proportional to steepness and pocket length is inversely proportional to height.

We have been playing with Calibrated's pintail, of late, as well as, a few other skim style boards. Now those have virtually no "bouyancy" factor. Across the board, everyone of my crew feels those boards have greater down the line speed than an equivalently sized surfstyle board.

Also, universally, everyone felt these skim style boards were SLOWER down the line than a LARGER surfstyle board. HOWEVER, the reaction or acceleration was much greater on the skim style board. There is a difference in "terminal velocity", if you will. As you pointed out on your Mojo, the abrupt speed change (or maybe responsiveness is a better term) is there, but it's top overall speed is less.

So, is there a secondary factor in this? That boat speed in conjunction with wake shape that should be included in this? If dropping the speed 2/10 to 5/10 adversely affects wake shape, that might preclude a more skim style board for some folks.

That's interesting about the acceleration on the Calibrated board and the Mojo.

Last year my goofy wake was not well developed, goofy riders rode very slow, about 8 mph. This year I have much more ballast, a better goofy wake, as a result of the improved wake the goofy riders are riding about 9.8 mph. Also this season a rider free rode that funny orange kneeboard about 8 mph. In our experience I'd say that slowing down will let you ride an undersized board, however slowing down several mph will have a huge effect on your wake. Behind my boat and running at slow speeds the wake is almost perpendicular to the line the boat is traveling in and fairly foamy. At higher speeds where the wake is better defined the angle sweeps back further, and the pocket lengthens.

I don’t think that slowing one or two PP clicks will have a big effect on wake shape. I haven’t ridden anything like the Calibrated board so I don’t have an appreciation for what’s important for riding one. I’m looking forward to the long weekend and getting some riding time on the Mojo.

Hey Ed, I have been on boats where at least one or two folks were RIGHT on the cusp of free riding (just getting the hang of it) and dropping the speed just a hair caused the wake to disappear. If that is the environment that someone is riding in, it's typically an indication that a bigger board is required, even if only temporarily.

Last year before I bought my first wakesurf board we tried surfing all kinds of stuff, an old thruster, kneeboards, and wakeboards. The lighter guys could get the line to go slack and maybe even free ride a bit. These guys were also surfing on the dark side, so the wake wasn’t very good. We could only ride these undersized boards on really bad wakes when we really slowed down.

Jeff I’m certain that you’ve ridden behind on many more wakesurf boats than I have, but from my experience behind my boat slowing down helps riders on undersized boards. When we slow way down the wake can get pretty bad, but we’ve still been able to ride.

Someone told be that a young guitar student should play a full size guitar rather than a ¾ size one because they will grow into the instrument. If you know that have the right setup for the rider then you should stick with it. Most of our riders are goofy and the goofy wake is harder to dial in, we often send out one of our better and lighter riders as a kind of canary to make sure the wake is set up right before throwing less experienced riders out there.