How to ride the big IS Red Tide board?

I've been wakesurfing two or three times and was able to easily go ropeless on both IS yellow and IS blue boards my first time on them. I had a good time so I decided to get a board for my boat that everyone could ride, which I was told was the Inland Surfer Red Tide.

The board looks sweet, but I'm having a heck of a time riding the board compared to the smaller boards that I was told were more advanced. I've even had very experienced wakesurfers try it out and they find it difficult to ride. The nose of the board wants to porpoise and dive under the water a lot, making it really tricky to stay up.

I'm 6'1"/160lbs and I've had guys that were way bigger and way smaller on it and they all experienced the same effect. I'm wondering if it needs to be ridden completely differently. Anyone have any tips for riding this board? Or did I just screw up and get a harder to ride board than I should have?

JPK, is it truly the nose that is pearling or is it the outside rail up at the nose that is grabbing? My guess is that it's the rail.

The red is a big board, it's IS's beginner board and as such it is unresponsive compared to say the yellow, also...it's wide. That extra width requires that you shift your stance inward towards the wake.

If you are TRULY perling where the nose is burying - everyone will fall directly forward, over the board. If, however, folks are falling away from the wake, the outside rail is grabbing and it can be rectified by shifting your stance towards the wake. This is true for all larger wider boards, not just the Red.

Let us know what you find, ok?

IMO the Red doesn't ride well with a steep wake. The board tends to slice in to the wake and we have similar nose problems.

Try dialing back your wake. I rode the red last week with only my stock 180 ballast and a crew of two or three in the boat. The red rode very nicely.

I've seen video of Jeff Page pulling a three on the Red and some hard carving. Jeff has wake more boat than I do and is probably building a bigger but less steep wake.

Thanks for the tips. Yes, my wake is very large and steep, I guess I'll have to dump some weight and see what happens. Also, I was riding centered on the board and will try cheating towards the toeside edge as Jeff suggested.

Jeff P has mad skills - he can ride anything anywhere I can understand how a smaller wake would allow the red to ride easier, but I don't think it's as much a matter of the wake size as it is riding style.

This is Judy on that 8'6" - she is completely on the inside of the stringer. This is our standard wake. This board doesn't carve well It's surfed more in a straight line.

We just picked up a Red Tide a couple of weeks ago. We had some of the same issues as you and I agree with Jeff, you need to edge this board more since it is so wide. I suggest cruise it first get used to it then start getting more aggressive. I found for me what worked best was my front foot toes to be near the edge of the eva traction and my rear foot more towards the center of the board. Pushing away from the wake with my back foot to edge more towards the wake to speed up with my weight over my front knee and pushing towards the wake with my back foot to slow down while leaning over more towards my back knee. I was VERY surprised by this board, it has very little rocker with a turned up nose which makes it a lot faster than I thought it would have been. All around everyone that I have seen ride this board had a huge grin on their face...great board!

i have this board and im riding it with my back foot on the tip of the foam and my front on the logo. works fine for me, and also make the wake long, it hates steep wakes.

I tried the tips called out here and had a little bit better success. I definitely noticed that the outside edge of the nose is what would catch first, as Jeff speculated. By keeping my feet towards the toeside edge, I reduced this but didn't entirely get away from digging the nose under water. I pretty much have to stand with 98% of my weight on the tail of the board to keep it from diving down, which really gets tiring on my back leg.

When I switched to the Yellow and Blue boards, I did't have any issues with catching the nose or an edge and the only thing I had to worry about was staying in the pocket. I guess I still have to practice some more to get used to the Red Tide.

I had the same issues last year when I tried the Red Tide and so did my friend....would consistently sink the front. I hopped on the blue and the yellow and had no problems. I am 6ft 210. I believe now, after reading here, that my wake may have been too steep for the red.
I own the Yellow and would like to have the blue as well. I love them both.

yikes, now i'm wishing i got the blue. I rode the blue one on my very first surfing attempt and thought it was great. This was at a buddy's place in KY. but at home i have the Red... hopefully i like it!

Yeah, I pretty much have buyers remorse right now. I went based on the sales pitch that the Red was a board everyone could ride and was easy to ride. Turns out that it is actually pretty finicky about wake shape and rider style and skill. The blue seems like it's really the more universal board.