2001 Wakeboard Config Suggestions

Pat I too am a large guy . I am 6 ft 4in and 300lbs. When my wife went to buy my wakeboard from the dealer she said " what's the biggest board you sell. He told her and she said "ok then double that". LOL!!! I wakeboard and I'm 39 and very tall I use a fly high ski pylon on my 1987 SN 2001 and the normal ski rope. Learn how to get up normal before you start to learn "goofy" or" reverse from your normal ride style". I cant jump or flip but I do enjoy riding my board around the lake. One thing I can say is adjust your bindings on land, before you start. Just stand behind your board normal and take notice of the way your feet stand "NATURALLY" The fly high has many adjustment points to better suit your boat and make it easier to take the work away from your floor pylon. There is a pretty cool turnbuckle you have to snap before you start and it has many adjustments as well!! Have fun!!!!

Dave I had my first ride on a wakeboard on new years day in over 18 months. I would only be at intermediate level at best. As I can go wake to wake with an odd 180. I was rusty and took a few hits.

In the last few years I decided that I would try to improve my sloppy slalom skiing. On the board I was sticking mainly to surface tricks and riding goofy. That is one thing we did wrong when learning. I think you should be proficient natural and goofy before you go forward to clearing both wakes make sure you can jump one wake both toe and heelside.

I tweaked my knees occasionally and did not want to risk another reconstruction so have backed away from boarding except for the odd social dual run with my daughters and friends.

Deep water starts are much easier on a wake board than single ski. It is all about surface area. Boards are a slippery until you get a bit of edge control and the falls seem to be always faceplants Keep the speed as low as possible around 18mph to minimise the numbness of facial tissue. Leave the fins (skegs) on the board until you have got good edge control

Eventually you will get to a stage where jumping is involved this is where you need to be careful with 50 year old knees. Keep the bindings somewhat loose so you exit the board when falling. The worse thing is having one foot still in the binding and the other out. It puts a lot of twisting stress on the knee.

At first I envisioned Chris using his bow strap through only the lifting ring but now think he uses just right but instead of removing it from the bow eye each time just leaves it "teathered" to the bow lifting ring until the next outing.

I still have all three of these board and binding sets for sale. The smallest one or the middle one might be a good fit for the wife and smaller riders. I also have a good non-stretch rope and handle (Liquid Force if I remember correctly)

Boards Thread

Morfoot wrote: PLEASE do not hack it up to be able to use the extended pylon on it.

Pat,
I'll second Tim's suggestion. We've seen it too many times when the boat owner becomes frustrated and impatient with removing the ring and finger and goes at it with the hack saw! They can be removed but can be stubborn. There are even threads on removal techniques.

Okie Boarder wrote: Sounds like a good start. If you need any more gear, let me know. We still have a few board/binding sets and rope.

Okie,

What have you got? I am looking for a board for my wife/small riders. Anything that would fit somebody in the 120 to 160 LBS range.

Sounds like a good start. If you need any more gear, let me know. We still have a few board/binding sets and rope.

Does anyone have any comments (good or bad) regarding this pylon extension, or any others? I prefer to get one that slides over the existing factory pylon.

That was what I had on the Supra I used to have, when I first bought it. It did a great job and was definitely better than just the tow hook. I agree with some of the earlier comments about an extended pylon versus the tower. I didn't see a noticeable difference when I went to a tower, except board storage and the ability to put speakers up there.

Also, I noticed that in almost all of the wakeboard training videos that I've viewed, the front skeg has been removed from the wakeboard. Is this the preferred configuration, or just the recommended configuration for beginners?

We started with the fins (skegs) in, but quickly went to no skegs at the recommendation of others. The fins do help for the board to track where you want, but taking them out forces you to use your edges more, which can benefit you later.

Additionally, what length tow rope would you recommended for the 2001 for beginners? I've currently got a generic ski tow rope, but I have no idea how long it is.. I'm sure that at least some of these questioned have been answered in the past, so I apologize if I'm repeating them.

I would start with a long length so you have plenty of room to maneuver and get used to riding. As soon as you are comfortable, shorten up to wherever your wake is nice and clean. The shorter you go with the rope, the more you'll get into the clean lippy area of the wake, that is also more narrow. Even if you don't want to do any jump tricks, this allows you some fun edging and carving areas and the ability to do some lip slides on a nice clean peak. Once you get the hang of it, look into getting a wakeboard specific rope that has minimal to no stretch to it.

SNobsessed wrote: Geez guys, The nylon strap that goes around the bow, not the cable that goes to the pylon. If I had said 'cable', then you would have had legitimate ammunition.

Chris, it's been proven time and again that even a 1/4" bungee with 4 lbs. of pressure from the side on the lifting ring can cause a Nautique to destruct into tiny pieces.

Geez guys, The nylon strap that goes around the bow, not the cable that goes to the pylon.

If I had said 'cable', then you would have had legitimate ammunition.

Chris,
I'm in shock!!

SNobsessed wrote: I have the bow strap tied to the lift ring so that I can leave the strap on when trailering. Saves a few minutes threading the strap thru the bow eye each time.

Private Conrad.. what is your major malfunction!!!

LOL, so the OP knows, tying to the lift ring is not really recommended

Oh boy, here we go.

I would recommend leaving the skegs/fins on and learn to ride regular and goofy from the start. We learned at full length which is good at first because it give you plenty if room to manuever before you cross the wake. I recommend not going faster than 16-18 when you are just learning to get up as falls are much softer at that speed. We Adjust the rope length to get the best part of the wake for the speed the rider is comfortable at.