Surfing Advice

Wish I would have taken up the opportunity with NautiqueHunter now at GL to have a go at Wakesurfing. I twisted my knee about a month ago and I have since aggravated it a couple of times. According to my Physiotherapist I still need to give it a couple of weeks rest and then not over do it after that. Looks like I have tweaked the medial ligament and meniscus.

So my plans for barefooting have been put on hold. So far this season I have been the designated driver.
I figure my only chance of a run the next few weeks will be with a wake surfer.

One of our crew is a old surfer and had always wanted to give it a try behind the boat. I had always told him if he wants to surf go to the beach not the river.

Anyway he purchased a O'brien Alias TT 5.0ft surfer last week and we loaded the boat to suit and got a wave. My daughter is about 5'8" and 60Kg was able to free surf but Ken who purchased the board was not able to let go of the rope. Ken is about 200lbs this board is constructed more like a wakeboard than a surfboard. I found some info on Wakeworld about the board and it is a skim style board that should be good for up to 240lbs.
O'Brien Alias TT 5.0

I don't think it is a very good beginner board as it lacks buoyancy compared to a surf board type construction. We may not have been getting the best out of the wake. Had a lot of ballast in the rear of the boat and water up to the gunnel on one side and the speed was 10mph GPS.

Have been on the Inland Surfer site picking up a few hints. We are thinking about taking out a normal surfboard next time as it may be easier to learn on. Is this worth while or do we just need to buy a more of a beginner board and then progress to the Alias TT.

Looking for some info on identifying when the wake is right. And any help on weighting the boat etc.

I know Chris has surfed his 89 any tips?

Wakeslayer or Nautiquehunter any help will be appreciated.

Hi Lewy - The surfing at GL was not optimum so don't wouldn't feel bad about missing it - I just about got hypothermia! Maybe next year the weather will be more cooperative.

Mike (WakeSlayer) will surely have some tips for you soon.

In the meantime, I am in the same boat (sorry bad pun) as you - I have some spinal issues at 57 years old & found that surfing is much easier on the body. I myself have not been able to free surf yet, although I have been close. My son can free surf, maybe because he is lighter or maybe because he has a teenager's lightning fast reflexes, who knows.

We have found that the boat surfs the best on the starbord side, either due to driver weight or prop wash, don't know. The weight distribution is critical, most should be in the back but some upfront too, seems to be the best.

My family got me a IS Blue Island for my BD, supposed to be the easiest board to surf, can't wait until May to carve!

Good luck & take some picture, will ya?

Trouble is we are not sure if the wake / speed is right and are just learning to surf also. Would be nice to get someone with experience to show us. Wakeslayer if you get tired of that cold winter......

Chris we did get a couple of pictures and videos will post them up as we go. Santa is bringing me a new waterproof video for Christmas. Was hoping to post my barefooting attempts with it but they are on hold.(hopefully only temporarily)

You might definitely want to try the other side of the wake with a Nautique. This is me behind an MC PS 205v (unless the MC V's spin RH, I donno). Toeside in is easiest. I had to learn to ride LFF to do toe-in on this side. I rode this wake forever- hopefully it gives you some idea of how it should look. Notice I have a bit more weight on my front foot than the picture above.

bkhallpass wrote: Lewy, Based on the picture above, your rider needs to get his toes closer the edge of the board. Toes an an inch or inch and a half from the edge of the board.    Be careful surfing with that thin line. If you get it wrapped around a finger, you will rip your finger off.BKH

Exactly!! You need to cheat way to the toe edge of the board. You need to flex your shins and have your weight on your toes, and like 1% of your weight on your heels. Also, the rider needs to get his weight over his front knee to get acceleration. Only get on your back foot to brake briefly. It takes far longer to develop speed than it does to slow down. Think of the front foot as the gas pedal and the back foot as the brake.

Notice below Emily has a static balance point between front and rear. Your buddy in the cool helmet is standing on the brakes and a bit on his heels.



Just a big assed wake pic below.




Definitely be careful of that rope. Couple guys on PN have posted pics of the aftermath of getting a finger caught. YUK.



Lewy, my wife and I were supposed to come down under for a wedding on Valentines Day. Pretty unlikely at this point as my company has changed the policy on spouses accompanying on business trips. So rather than just pop for Barbara's airfare, I would have to pay both, plus all hotel and meals. Still trying to work it out, but....   I would be up in Brisbane if I am able to make it. You are halfway between there and Sydney, right? My friends have a twin to my PythonBoat, so it would be a bitching experience to drive my boat down there.

the progression, tubing, double ski's, slalom, barefooting, wakeboarding, wakesurfing and finally....cooler manager. the old saying start out in diapers and end up in diapers

Thanks guys for all your help. We were really careful with the rope making sure not to coil it around hands etc. My daughter was the most pedantic about this whenever someone did coil the rope she stopped the boat.

When Jaimee was teenager she witnessed a person in a boat rolling up a ski rope around their shoulder and hand. The rope was still trailing out the back of the boat in a very busy section of the river with about twenty social ski boats. The person was inexperienced as they were coming back in the wrong way and were in a very bad spot. Another boat that did not see the rope in the water fouled the rope and the result was that tragically the person lost the thumb off their hand.

Wakesurfing equipment in Australia is scarce have been unable to find a surf rope locally but it is on the must have list. Will have to come up with something safer until we can purchase one.

Trip looks like your are surfing the port side wake is your SN2001 still a RH prop rotation? Your wake looks much cleaner than ours the sweet spot seems a bit longer. How did you have the boat weighted?

Wakeslayer if you get to Australia make sure you let us know would like to repay some the hospitality shown by all my CCfan freinds in the US.

We do have a video of Jaimee free surfing for a short time without really working the board. And she does have her weight much further forward than Ken did and is closer to the toe side of the board also. So it was not just her lighter weight that helped. Had trouble uploading it to Youtube just kept hanging. Will get that sorted.

Eric I refuse to get old. I want to know what our Government is doing about it. If they are not careful one day I may give up and stop paying tax.

Hi Lewy, yeah boat is original, so RH. Try different speeds to finetune the sweet spot.
There's some good info over at the2001.com:
surfing 1
surfing 2
surfing 3

Success with the normal surfboard. We managed to get a bigger pocket on the wake as well. Slowly getting the speed and weighting sorted.

It might have been asked before,but why the helmet?

lewy - looks great, I can't wait for summer!

Nice job! Definitely got the hang of it now, good to see :)