You're wrong!

Ok, I've read so much about adding more ballast to be able to surf. Bigger wakes are not necessary, as evidenced by this picture. This is an unweighted Tige 23V. Notice my son on the left side of the picture surfing in the wash.



It does NOT require huge wakes, if you aren't able to surf, your board isn't suitable for your skill level, or your position on the board is wrong. Please, read the next post...let's get more folks surfing and enjoying the wakesurfing experience.

Wakesurfing is great fun and really quite easy to master. I find that many people that come from a wakeboarding or skiing background place too much weight on their rear foot. This is like applying the brake when wakesurfing.

If you are having trouble dropping the rope and think that you need more ballast, please review this post first:

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87668/237507.html?1120658447

As a quick guide. Try these things:

Compare your position in the "wave" to the riders above. If you are TOO far back, you can't catch the wave. Pull yourself forward towards the boat, into the pocket or power zone.

If you feel you are positioned in the pocket, next check your speed. This photo was taken with a Perfect Pass speed setting of 9 mph. Fully weighted we set PP at 9.5 mph. It's HARD to surf faster than this, requiring pumping the board OR significant ballast. If your speed is faster than 9.5 or so, try slowing the boat down. If you slow down too much your wake will turn to wash. While it's possible to surf in the wash, it's hard also. Go just fast enough to clean up the wake.

If the two previous conditions are met, next try moving your position on the board forward. That is, move BOTH FEET forward towards the nose of the board. Keep "inching" forward until you feel the board shoot forward - you're surfing at that point. IF you bury the nose (pearling) while doing this, you need to lose some weight or alternatively, get a board with more bounancy. Once your skill level increases, you'll be able to ride that trick style board without a problem.

In my experience, the most common problem is positioning on the board or a too small board for a beginning rider. The second most common problem is a too fast boat speed.

Please folks, forgive my subject line on this thread, I just wanted to grab attention. Let's get these folks up and riding!

Thanks for the info Jeff. I have found that surfing takes a whole lot more "fine-tuning" than wakeboarding as far as weight, speed, line length, etc. Always an experiment in progress.

Thanks for the tips. I have to try some if this. I have found the board makes a big difference. I was surfing the other day with Jessica Oswald, and noticed her board (Shoreline) was a lot different than my CWB Ride. Much more floatation, and handled more like a surfboard. I do want to try some other boards in the future.

Thanks again for the info. Cool to see more riders giving surfing a shot.

Ha,Ha bigger is always better!!! A small wake and all you can do is longboring on it. Get real I learned from alot from trying different things with different boards.

Hey Steve, I beg to differ when folks are struggling with dropping the rope, as identified in the second post. That's ALL this pertains to. Certainly after you are surfing, you'll want to try different boards, more ballast. I hoping we don't get off topic. This is JUST for folks that are unable to drop the rope. That is what the link above discusses also.

How much do both of them weigh, Im still pretty new to wakesurfing, but im 205 and ride the new landlock(6'1'') and i gaurantee i cant ride a stock wake w/o the rope.
How much do both of them weigh?
~Tyler~

So sorry. I think from the pic they look bored already. Kick it up dad! Are you afraid of them moving to the beach?

I have noticed that most people trying to wakesurf forget to weight the front and forget to slow down. Often times adding no weight is better then putting a ton in the back. The problem caused by putting too much in the back is that the wake gets too washed out at slow speeds, but it can be solved by putting more in the front. Front weight will increase volume which is what really pushes you. Slower is better.

Hey Tyler,

The boys on the right goes about 160 and the boy on the left riding backside, my son James, is about 130. To be fair, James' rips. He's the 2004 Boys Amateur World Wakesurfing Champ, plus he won the men's amateur at Wake Surf Jam and a host of smaller contests in other states.

Not to be deceived by their weight. I go 175 and ride a 4'2" custom board. I can ride that unweighted wake, frontside and backside. In the picture above, both boards are custom made and are 4'6" in length.

Here is a link to some pics and original discussion of the design of those boards.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/87668/197429.html?1113845288

That landlock is a pretty heavy board, not a great deal of floatation in my opinion. If you can drop the rope, then you're past this discussion, but if you're still having trouble,
check those pointers above and give a yell if it's still problematic.

Ian, you're right weight placement.