Speed Surfing

In the last few weeks I’ve tried to see how fast I can wakesurf. My perfect pass is a little off, and under reports speed so I haven't been sure exactly how fast I’ve been surfing. Today we had a GPS on board and used it to gauge speed.

On my first run I rode my Mojo XL. I actually had trouble riding at lower speeds, my wake was a bit steep, at about 13 mph the Mojo started to cruise really nicely and the pocket got very long. I was able to keep riding up to 15 mph, losing my ride around 15.5 mph. The feel of the board on the water was very different, I didn’t do any carving other than pumping to get back in the pocket.

Next I rode my Red Tide for speed. I was able to get up to 14.7 mph on the Big Red Tide. The Red Tide felt a little funny at high speed. Water from front the toe edge of the board and back along the toe side was washing over the board, pushing the board sideways a little and making the ride feel kid of lose.

The throttle was maxed out when I was riding the Red Tide, I’m not sure I know why the boat was running faster when I was surfing the Mojo than the Red Tide.

How fast do you ride?

Hey Ed, if you an get your hands on some larger fins for the Red Tide (Futures say - 4.5" depth) you can ride that puppy a little faster. The deeper fins will provide some additional lift in the tail.

I normally ride at 11 until I start practicing for the Worlds and then I ride at 13.5 mph so that I am accustomed to the speed.

Bigger fins might help, but I think I still need more ponies in the boat, we had the throttle maxed out.

damn, I wish I had perfect pass to tell how fast I go. That could be fun to see what the max speed would be.

We ride at 10.5. I towed a friend of mine 42 mph on my 9'-2" longboard a few years ago.

That wasn't a free ride at 42 mph.

That's why I said "towed".

To address the topic, I've surfed at 13.5 mph before, and could barely keep up, but that was before my current weight setup. Might be able to go a little faster now, but why? 42 on the longboard was more fun (to watch).

Trace, I was sure that's what you meant, just checking. We have an old Thruster that we line ride at 24 to 26 mph, for me it's a slalom like ride, a lot of fun.

I rode a knee board one at 45 mph, that's a bit fast.

Here's a freeride that's probably close to 42 mph.
http://www.fazed.org/video/?id=371

Trace, that's pretty cool stuff, really amazing to watch, but I think I'll let the pro's ride those waves.