Newbie Questions

[mattbyrne]

Tried getting up for first time last weekend. My boat is a Classic 1962 wooden runabout. Plenty of power, may be to much. I tried getting up 6-7 times, almost made it once.

The problem I'm haveing is getting the board not to plow water. Is is possible for the driver to accelerate to quickly. The handle was being pulled out of my hands. Is the because I'm to weak to hang on, to much acceleration, plowing to much water?

My board came with 2 small fins, should a beginner have these installed? It seems to me the fins would make it harder to get up. Any comments/advice would be appreciate.

[tooextremeforyou]

fins wont be a massive differnce. From what i know the driver shoudl acellerate to 17mph then gradually get up to 23mph or so!

[wake_ripper_chic]

from the sound of it, it does sound like you are being pulled out too fast... try experimenting with other speeds, and if you can get up... great! i find that the fins don't matter when your being pulled up, but they help a lot when you are up, if you don't have them its a little bit harder to control your board. good luck

[katie83]

When I first started I had the exact same problem. Some people say gun it and some say no. When the driver gun it, the handle flew outta my hands and when the driver went slow, it was miserible to get up! I finally got up on the water (but cant stand up yet) and its all the positioning in the water and I have the driver gun it (when the line gets tight).

Try laying on land on your back, bend your knees (like your sitting in a chair), Put your elbows and arms tight against your thighs (elbow making a 90 degree), palms facing the boat (or person when practicing). Have a person try pulling you up by the line while your holding the handle. If they cant get you up easy that means your in the wrong position. Once you pass this, you can try it in the water with the boat pulling you up.. (thats how I learned).

Hopefully you understand that.. I'm not a good person to describe things.

[fastsk8r]

One quick suggestion. Let the board run. I teach those I work with on first starts on a wakeboard to tilt the board in their favored direction slightly and let it run. For example, I am a goofy footer. When I yell "TIGHTEN UP" to the driver, I tilt the board up on the right side. Then when I yell "HIT IT", the board comes up to the right easily and I let it run until it is on a plane. The biggest mistake I have seen beginners make is that they tend to try and get up with the board held fully sideways, pushing against the boat. All that gets you is a blown out kneecap. Just in case you don't know, you won't win a tug of war with a 300 plus hp boat. Let the boat do the work. It's not your job to do it yourself.