Broadcast good for everyone?

Sorry for the same question, but I'm looking for a fairly inexpensive board that everyone can use. Weight ranges between small kids, but mostly 130-200 lbs. Most will be first-timers. I've been a few times, but I mostly like just cruisin and simple carves into the wake. Been lookin at the 09 Broadcast, but I've heard its "sluggish". What exactly does that mean? I want something that everyone can get up on, and ride farily simple in the sweet spot. And maybe, like I said, some simple carves. Any other recommendations. Can only afford one board for now.

I've got a Broadcast 5.6. I think it's an excellent starter board. Depending on how big your wake is it might be a little big for your 130 pound rider. If you have a smaller boat line a CC 2001 it won’t be big enough for your 200 pound rider.

As far as sluggish goes, there are some really fast boards out there and there are some slow boards. The Broadcast is middle of the road speed wise.

03 supra Launch SSV for reference.

Sorry for ignorance, but can you explain "fast" for me for surfing? Does that mean when you catch the wake you will cruise fast toward the boat, where as a sluggish or slow board means you will kinda just always keep back in the pocket? You can still turn and carve the broadcast right?

Its a good cheep board. I bought mine in 03 the first year they were made and it still gets use. I agree its a bit large for some one 130 pounds, but manageable just harder for them to control.

It's sluggish board because it is unresponsive. I started off on the broadcast, and I was ready to get a new board soon after. I wouldn't suggest getting it. Sure you're gonna have a great time getting into the sport, but you're going to hit the limits of the board fairly quickly.

It's good if you're going to have a lot of beginners cycling through it, let that board be the one that gets banged up.

After getting into a new and responsive board, I wish I had done it earlier. But i'm not going to say I didn't have fun on the broadcast. I've loved wakesurfing every single day I've done it.

Is that the 21.5 foot Supra, I love the wakeboard wake on that boat, but don’t have much surf experince?

There are two kinds of "Fast", down the line and rail to rail.

Fast down the line means to me that when you lean forward you can gain speed and catch up to the boat. One way to measure fast down the line speed is to slowly bump your boat speed up and see if your rider can keep up. On my old boat I was surfing at something like 13.8 mph on a Trick Boardz Mojo. Last year I had a 160ish pound rider going over 16 mph behind my Enzo.

Rail to rail speed relates to how responsive a board is, how quickly it wants to turn. By design a military fighter aircraft is inherently unstable. If left uncontrolled and with the slightest twitch it will turn, and turn hard. The Broadcast is stable and good for a woblely first timer. Because the board is very stable it is not fast rail to rail, it’s a Boeing 747. A Shred Stixx board or a Walker Project board are more like a fighter aircraft, WP even has a model named F18. These boards don’t want to cruise in a straight line, they want to carve. That’s the kind of board I like to ride.

There are two ways to catch up to the boat if you fall back in the pocket. The first is to shift your weight forward, put your foot on the gas. To slow down put weight on the back foot. The other way to speed up is to “pump” the board. You can pump by simply pumping up and down a bit on the board. Carving the board up and then back down the wake is more effective method of pumping.

There are more experienced surfers that can probably add to the speed discussion.

The first time I ever tried surfing was on a Broadcast behind and Avalanche. I could ride with a slack line but I thought the board felt 'dead'. By that I mean it was slow to react and required a fair bit of effort to move around on the wake.
The second board I tried surfing on was a Phase 5 Prop. It was too small for me but it felt very alive. I could turn it easily, move around on the wake, and it would react to every movement I had. It was, however, not hard to ride for a pure beginner.
The Broadcast was cheap, but it did not endear me to the sport. The Prop wasn't the right board for me but it was easy to see I was going to like wakesurfing.

Its sluggish because it weights 50 pounds and drives like the titanic.

Slugish I have to disagree. If you want the Broadcast to have a loose feel remove side fins.

Jeremy, I think for what you are after it's a good choice. It'll be fairly easy for most to ride and learn too ride on. It's not a good board to progress on but for what you're after it's just fine. As a matter of fact i'd bet half of the guys in here learned on a Broadcast.

On a side note I didn't realize who you are until Dustin was over last night and was talking about you getting into the sport.

Wow, Wagner...whatsup? Had no idea that was you. I think I've read some of your posts, but never checked profile. That's too funny. Dustin was telling me that you're all setup for surf too huh? You wakeboard too? We'll have to hook up this summer.

Yeah for sure it would be cool to get together maybe roll up to Whatcom its tough though cuz I'm 5 minutes to launch here. Yeah we're pretty big into surfing these days and it's almost all we do but I'll throw the board on too here and there. I still like wakeboarding but the crashes are a lot harder. Dustin mentioned you picked up a second boat and 04 Mobius. Which one LSV or XLV?

Jeremy, for what you describe the Broadcast is the perfect board but keep in mind it will not be the last board you buy. I think anybody that is looking at trying to teach a wide range of beginning riders to surf, it is an ideal board to have. I've taught riders up to 230 pounds on this board and my 60 lbs daughter won a National Championship competing against women on this board.

Hate, I had the 04 mobius LSV but I just sold it. I'll be ridin behind the 03 Launch this year. I totally agree about the crashes. That's why I love surfin now even though I just started. We used to get beat up pretty good and try to get 3-4 sets in when we'd wakeboard. Now, I'm pretty content with a set or two and then a nice relaxing cruise on the wakesurf. I'm gettin old I guess.

RG, that's cool man. Thanks for the advice. I've heard people say you'll outgrow this board pretty quick, but really I'm just lookin for something that will accommodate beginners and mostly cruisin. So maybe this will be a good starter.

I'm not set on this board, just seemed to be priced right so if nothing else comes up it'll probably be what we get.

Board stands on its own IMHO

Hey Jeremy it's a good board but it isn't the best for riders over 200lbs. Also look at the Phase5 Oogle, trickboards.com, Shred Stixx (sometimes a used one pops up at wakeoutlaws.com), and Inland Surfer Blue or Red.