beginner surf board

Not counting the ironing board, what does everyone think would be the best board to learn to wakesurf on?

How about a little more information. What is the weight of your lightest and heaviest rider? What boat(s) will you be surfing behind and how much ballast will you have available? What are your expectations, what you want to do. Do you just want to get your feet wet or do you think that you will want to progress?

I am looking for an ironing board if anyone see one let me know. I want to put a fin on one.

Pick from the following companies:

Inland Surfer
The Walker Project
Xtreme Board Co
Shred Stixx
Area 53

Is XBC still in biz?

I don't know, but I always try to give ALL past donors some kudo's when people are looking for great boards

i dont think so , not pleased on quality and ride of the product, but im no expert and dont have many hours on my fish. i got the #2 preproduction board they made and went with that design as i was told.

I don't know that listing the manufactures helps that much. Suppose SStixx is the best board for Gred but he wants a board that fits in a wakeboard rack. I think that there have been plenty of good post on this subject. A little research should prove helpful. Without knowing what he wants’ to do and other particulars I don't any of this as helpful.

Any word on the ironing board?

I like my Fish very much.

I even loaned it to the Orlando Moomba dealer. He lets people demo it when they want to try out the surf wake behind a Supra, Moomba (or a Centurion).

Ed, shouldn't you be doing a little research on that ironing board?

Well, I went ropeless last year, so I take what I say with a grain of salt (still a beginner myself)

I started on the broadcast (only used it 2 weeks and now have no use for it ); went to the Phase 5 Oogle and then found ocean-style surfing was more my thing with my Shred Stixx Thresher Shredder...I have also been riding The Walker Project F-18 and most recently the Bullet. All have been great boards for me...and I have been able to progress alot by the boards and crew I ride with.

For beginner boards though you do want something that all your crew (of varying weight, height etc) can learn on. But keep in mind that is why they are beginner boards...you will start to progress beyond the boards capabilities (I think???) I loved my broadcast but just out grew it...

Good luck and the guys above will take care of helping u research a good new board!!!

i think in the begining it doesnt matter what you ride as long as its not holdin you back.(not being able to keep up with the boat)an old beater surf board or fish board for around 150 bucks should do it.ride it,figure out likes and dislikes,then mabe move up to something more wakesurf specific.at that point i think you should scope out my sunflowerseed,beginer specific,stepped deck lowers cg,heel impressions so beginer always knows where to put feet on the get up.foot print stickers on deck so beginer knows where the neutral zone is once up.adjustable single fin by ten inches so as the rider progresses he or she can simply move the fin forward to accomadate the new skills.you can see this board at ascboards.com peace..oh yeah,last i checked xbc hasnt been around in a while.i have a neon green xbc nick pacandrani 4'6'' skate im sellin if your serious

i have two xbc's,but im gunna keep one call it art in my shop.dude was ahead of his time.his twin tip skate tripped me out back in the day.props to nick

We road a twin tip that the folks from Calibrated had Nick shape for them...at least 3 years before XBC offered it and I don't think Nick had it in his head before Calibrated gave him the concept. I think the credit for that design belongs with Calibrated...although, Jerry at SS had a twin tip before Calibrated.

Man...I'm becoming the historian of all this nonsense! Is someone taking notes?!

hyperlight broadcast

inland surfer blue
great for everyone on the boat

history rules..we need to archive the past and present so we never loose track of who was the first,second,best,worst,forget about the worst,bad energy..all that jazz.i just wanna know who has made more than 226 custom wakesurf specific boards by hand in the usa.my past favorite was the inland surfer twin tip,it was snow board esc...who was first jerry or inland?

Jerry tells me that his dad was wakesurfing way back in the 50's. It was a bit different i'm sure. So to answer "Who was first" I think it would be Jerry Price over Jeff Page.
Jeff Walker on the other hand has probably been around longer than ALL of us. (JK)

Greg I swear there are days I wake up and feel that way!!!!!

I remember the old Orange Phlem...honestly can't remember when that was marketed and phased out. The Inland folks have a TON invested in R&D.

intresting....for some reason i owned a red chubby first,then a sixtreeme.

hello Gerd
Your first must tell every one your set up then we can all help you out !

I'm not Gerd, but I'm a beginner with a 2004 SV211 TE with factory ballast (700 lbs, I think?). Looking for a good board that will handle riders of various weight.

Looking for a little advice.
Inland Surfer Blue Lake seems like a really good choice for my set up (see above).
What about the Yellow Loogey? Do I need more wake? Can it handle riders up to 210 lbs or so? How is this board for beginners?
Thanks.

I like both the Blue and Yellow. I weigh 220 but have a medium to medium-big wake. The Blue will be good for riders of many sizes and levels of ability.

I've ridden the '06 a lot and the '07 Yellow several times. Now there's an '08 Yellow. Its green? The Yellow will be more maneuverable than the blue but possibly more difficult for beginners to ride than the Blue. As you wakesurf more you'll find that you can ride a smaller board. It's best to start with a somewhat bigger board.

The '06 Yellow is really fast down the line; faster than the '07. However the '07 is faster rail to rail. However, I found that I was pearling (sinking the nose) of the '07 Yellow, I might be too heavy. My preference is for the '07 Yellow but I think you need a bigger wake for the Yellow. The '08 Yellow is supposed to be a cross between the '06 and '07, best of both worlds.

I pulled the trigger on the Yellow Loogey. The boardersbestbuy.com price of $239 ($279 after shipping) was just too enticing. I don't think I will see a Blue Lake at close to that price, and I figure I can put the "savings" into a ballast bag & pump to get a little more wake. Boardersbestbuy doesn't list the year for the Yellow Loogey this time, but I'm fairly certain this is a 2006 based on the photos on the website.

I guess I'm thinking that the increased maneuverability will be a benefit over the longer term, even though it may be a bit more difficult to ride.

Edward, thanks for your input.

Sorry guys, I've been incapasitated for the past few weeks(family loss)
As far as height and weight. I"m 5"-10" and 180lbs. The boat we have is an 07 mastercraft x-15 hopefully the wake will be big enough with the factory ballast.
Thanks for all the info up till now.

Gerd - sorry about your loss.

There are some great recommendations in this thread for sure. There are probably 20+ boards that will fit the bill for you just fine.

Get an IS Blue and before July you'll be back here recommending the board to others. I am a firm believer that the blue is tame for beginners yet difficult to outgrow.

Sorry for the hijack.....

Loc, I've read good things here on the Blue. My kids are 9 and 10. Could they learn on the blue as well or should I get something smaller?

Terry H. I would recommend something smaller, although they can learn for sure, it's going to be very buoyant for the little people and maybe difficult to get up on. I am sure the little ones can stand up, although when I pictured 9/10, I pictured them laying on the blue and then standing up slowly.

I'd look for something that is a little more dense which I think will help with the fundamentals of getting started and give them a little bit more of a sense of control, which in turn will give them confidence and ultimately the help them become little wakesurfers.

When it comes to the little people there aren't as many choices.

I think the smallest is the 2008 Phase 5 Scamp, which is rated for up to 90lbs, and is 45". It's tiny!!! The only other Phase5 skim I'd recommend is the Icon which is for up to 155lbs and is at 51".

Calibrated has an excellent offering in high performance boards as well. The Telum @ 50" and rated up to 140 I believe. The Piscus 46" at up to 150lbs and the new Bri Chmel pro model @ 46".

The other throw in is the Walzer x-small which is 50" and rated up to 130lbs.

All the boards above would be much better choices for your kids than the blue. However, the Blue rocks so you should do what you can to get a session on one yourself to see what you are missing.

Another thought is to try to locate a used HL broadcast in 4'6". This is a tested proven wakesurf board for getting people going. You can always find a cheap used one since they are priced nice new, and everyone outgrows them. This will give you an opportunity to see if they like wakesurfing and help them get comfortable back there. The broadcast is a versatile board as you can swap fins and remove the center and outer fins to change it up. It's an excellent teacher. Hope that helps.

Terry, When my daughter was 13 she tried to surf on an IS Red. She didn't weigh enough to flip the board up to start. I'd say that some of the less buoyant skim boards might be better for smaller folk.

If you have an X45 I don't think I'd weight it for a jumbo wake the first few times out. The size of my wake and the close proximity to the boat kind of freaked my daughter out.

Ed's right, I think flipping that big board might be a chore.

There is one I totally forgot. I remembered Jeff the other day forgetting Trickboardz and that's what reminded me.

You should research the Trickboardz Surf Skate. They are priced fantastic and they come in 39" and 42".

LOL! Old timer's disease. Dennis what was tha young man's name that we got up on the trick boardz? Little boy, maybe 8'ish and he struggled with more bouyant boards and the more neautral bouyancy of the wooden trick boardz easily allowed him to control the board under his feet. Ed S, I tink we did the same thing in Ohio, was it Noelle's daughter that we used tha with? Anyway...Loc is right I have always found the neutral boyancy of the wooden trick boardz a great teaching device for youngsters.

I've had really good luck teaching smaller people to ride on Trick Boardz. There have been maybe three had were having trouble with bigger boards but the smaller Trick Boardz Velocity worked very well and is actually quite stable.

Steve

Thanks for all the input.