Wakeboarding! Help! Portsmouth Harbour

[JABS]

I have to take my son in law wakeboarding this weekend. What speed should I aim for? He is a raw beginner, but usually does well with stuff like that!

I assume I just get him up as quickly as possible??

Also, where is the ski area in Portsmouth, please?

Thanks.

[K&S]

hi, the slower the better for beginers - too fast and its like a tray on ice
Smooth acceleration until he 'pops' onto the surface then bring boat speed down till he is just planing - (water breaking just in front of leading foot) to give the board a little more friction and stability.

Pre agree a set of hand signals then he can control the speed bepending on how he feels - thumbs up - a little faster
thumbs down - a little slower

(driver) - circles hand in air - were turning (make sure he is between the wakes or he will either sink if on the inside of the turn -or - will go out on the 'whip' if on the outside of the turn (amusing for spectators but can feel like warp speed for the rider )

Hope all goes well

[JABS]

Thanks, good advice.

Got the hand signals thing from towing skiers, just didn't know how to judge it on a wakeboard!

Here goes.

999 material in the making!

[Pete7]

Tony not sure there is a water ski or wake board area in Portsmouth harbour as the speed limit is 10 knots and you need a bit more. Langstone harbour has one but it's not cheap

http://www.langstoneharbour.org.uk/boating/boating.htm

If it is dead calm you could try Stokes Bay or possibly the top end of Southampton water near Eling.

Pete

[Bigmuz7]

Depends on the weight of the boarder.......


but if its me at 16 Stone ..........


22.5 mph

Hey I'm 6'5" you cheeky monkeys (and good looking) .. Am I taller than JK ? must be better looking

[Bigfoot]

from watching Tim tow one of our friends around it seems to be that you take the tension up and then accelerate quickly enough to make sure you can keep up at a constant speed, otherwise the wakeboarder will catch up with you.

I'd say Chichester would be good, I went swimming there the other day and it was pleasantly warm!. about 6 knots of tide though!

[Tim M]

As Adam says take up the slack, then give it a steady burst of power to get the person out of the water, then throttle back down again to a nice slow speed. Stokes bay is normally pretty good. We were at Priory Bay last night and there were several people doing it there.

[jon_95]

16-24, depends on the boat, how much trim you can achieve and at what point the froth cleans off the edge of your wake and actually creates a smooth edge

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

Am I taller than JK ?

No

must be better looking

Almost certainly!

John

[Johnwin]

When they're ready I give it plenty of gas until they're up when they're up you should aim for about 13-15 Knots. Try youtube for hints.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3EhoodFTfA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH0sp...elated&search=

[LURCHER]

'I'd say Chichester would be good, I went swimming there the other day and it was pleasantly warm!. about 6 knots of tide though'

Could be an expensive day out ! Last man to be fined for exceeding the speed limit 8 kn was just over £1000!

Also speed limit is 10kn with 500 metres on seafront along Hayling Bay

[Bigfoot]

Originally Posted by LURCHER

Could be an expensive day out ! Last man to be fined for exceeding the speed limit 8 kn was just over £1000!

Also speed limit is 10kn with 500 metres on seafront along Hayling Bay

Oh yeah , forgot about that. when he gets better the entrance to Chichester could be fun though XD - If you're doing it at stokes bay have consideration for the sailors amongst us!!!

[K&S]

Originally Posted by jon_95

16-24, depends on the boat, how much trim you can achieve and at what point the froth cleans off the edge of your wake and actually creates a smooth edge

i would say especially for a beginer you should judge speed by the performance of the boarder rather than trying to pic a definate speed for many reasons - shape / style of board and weight of boarder whether going into chop or running with it.

Often the sucses of a skier / boarder has a lot to do with the driver in the early stages

Having taught skiing and boarding for many years i would say dont try for one definate speed when begining but try and just keep the board on the plane an no more.
As you get better as a boat driver you will find that you can steer the skier and keep them where you want to be. which is usefull if they do accidentally go outside the wake

Try and keep them within the wakes to begin with and virage betwwen them as waterstarts are probably the most tyring and will shorten any day if you have to do to many of them.

A top tip for skiers and boarders is allways look where you want to go - more often than not your body will go that way - this piece of advice seems to be of more use than most other long winded explinations.

And once there hooked tell them to get a nice Master Craft
Not as versatile as a rib but very nice boats imo

[ribraff]

I would like to build on all the good advice given, i am by no means an excellent boarder but enjoy it with a passion, one method of teaching i have found very useful if your student is struggling is to sit them in the doughnut/inflatable ring with the wakeboard on and tow them up to speed, they will find it easy to then stand up and leave the doughnut behind which can be picked up after the tow.

Also, try this:

http://test.waketrix.com/view_clip.php?id=70

[K&S]

When i retire i want this guy's job ....lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0nHR...eature=related

[JABS]

Thanks for all this super advice, particularly about my new career!!!

Don't look for us Sunday! It won't be as pretty as the clips!

[Rooster21]

Originally Posted by K&S

When i retire i want this guy's job ....lol

I wonder where Jimmy Savil had got to.