I just dont get it...

waterbuffalo · Newbie Joined: 16 Jun 2008 Posts: 8 City: Ogden

I've watched the instructional videos on youtube, bend the legs bend the arms, let the boat pull you out of the water. The board will turn itself when I'm out...

Boat is going at 15MPH...but my friend and I just can't seem to get the board out of the water.

Right when I think we have it, the board sinks and I become a human anchor.

There has to be something I'm missing....any advice would be very helpful.

Pconn5 · Criminal Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 85

Just make sure that you stay down and sideways until the board is on plane above the water. You want to wait a little longer than you think to stand up. Also 15mph is a little slow, give it a little more gas and it will be able to pull you up easier. Also make sure that you aren't fighting the boat but letting your knees come to your chest and let your butt slide up to the board. If you stand up to early and the board sinks then you will never get yourself up.

Also another way you could try to get up is by sitting with the board under the water already so you are standing over the board with the board sideways as usual. Idle the boat to get rid of slack in the line and slowly pull the rider forward. When you are ready tell the driver to go and lean back the board should pop up out of the water and then you can turn into your riding position. This is how I do it and it is a lot easier to do. Oh and make sure when the board is under water to keep your knees bent not straight. This is basically the position you would be pulled into doing the regular start anyway.

Hope that isn't too confusing and hope it helps out a little. I think the biggest thing is give it a little more gas. Normal riding is at 20-23 mph so you are going to want to start up faster and then you can slow the boat down to around 18 or so until you feel comfortable going faster.

waterbuffalo · Newbie Joined: 16 Jun 2008 Posts: 8 City: Ogden

I always thought the boat should be going faster, just seemed everytime I googled it people are saying 15mph is where its at. Thanks for the advice, I hope to make it out this weekend.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

15 mph may be a good speed to be pulled at when you're learning, after you get up and the boat is planed out. Likely that will be too slow and the boat will constantly be fighting trying to get on plane. One thing that may help you a lot is to have the boat driver work on his technique. Once you are ready to go, have the driver remove the slack from the line just idling, then hit it and give it a full throttle until you pull up out of the water. Not sure if you guys are gunning it like that or not, but that helps, along with the techniques that have already been mentioned.

waterbuffalo · Newbie Joined: 16 Jun 2008 Posts: 8 City: Ogden

no we are def not gunning the boat we were under the impression 15 would be enough to pull us out...from the sounds of it I've been wasting time and gas.

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

That might help. Look at what I wrote about the boat and what Pconn wrote about your technique and put the two together.

whiskeytown · Newbie Joined: 01 Sep 2008 Posts: 31 City: CLT

you definitely need more throttle to get yourself out of the water. My buddy and I were a little too soft on the throttle when we were first learning this summer.

I would say full throttle may be a little too extreme, i was always jerked completely over with the rope out of my hands when the throttle was hit like that. but yes, i think you need more of a jolt on your initial takeoff.

Also one thing i have to still keep in mind is slamming my back foot to get the front of the board to pop out and plane above the water. may not be the best technique, but it works for me. I'm still pretty n00b with this sport though.

You will get it. It took me 14 tries to get out and up on my first time ever earlier this summer. Razz

mak_avelli2003 · Newbie Joined: 24 Jul 2008 Posts: 7

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

whiskeytown, the key about going full throttle is to do it right. If you idle forward and take the slack out of the rope and get the rider moving forward just a bit, then roll it from idle to full throttle it works very well. You don't want to slam the throttle and you definitely do not want to give it that much throttle until the slack is gone and the rider is starting to compress their stance a little from the pressure.

whiskeytown · Newbie Joined: 01 Sep 2008 Posts: 31 City: CLT

^ah i gotcha Smile

JeffreyCH · Posted: Sep 03, 2008 4:19 pm Post subject:

YOu have to keep in mind with the throttle issue, it will very from boat to boat, I have a 185hp v6, I'm a big guy 230lbs, and don't have a tower, so we have to nail it. I learned towards the end of last season, I got like maybe 10 rides out of 100's of tries. This year I came out on my third try and get it every time now. He's a few other things I changed from last year, since I crossed over from skiing, I started with a ski rope, use a WB rope (non stretch), it made a difference. I was also using a 75' rope, I shortened it up to 50 ( a bit to short was riding the prop wash was really loose and kinda fun, not a good place to learn board control) so I ride at 65'.Another thing, make sure you have proper size board, too small just won't work, to big and its hard to get up.

Here's how I come out of the water, I get myself set in the water by leaning back just a bit, once the boat pulls slack, I hug my lead knee to my chest with just about an inch of the lead corner of the board poking out of the water, I keep the board at about 15 degrees down towards my back foot, have the driver bump it just past idle bout 100rpms so you kind of coast you'll start to feel a slight lift in the board, yell hit it, I come out smooth as butter, doesn't even yank on my shoulders or wrist. Once the board breaks plane, stand up and twist it. I've found that starting parallel (90 degrees) doesn't work for me to much resistance, it jerks the rope out of my hands.

Most important thing is to relax and have fun. Laughing

waterbuffalo · Newbie Joined: 16 Jun 2008 Posts: 8 City: Ogden

Right...so I'm hearing to get the fat guy out of the water we need MORE POWER! I'll post back and let you know how it went and if everyone came back.... Mr. Green

pet575 · Posted: Sep 04, 2008 1:20 pm Post subject:

It isn't so much about speed or power as it is understanding that the less speed and power you have, the longer it will take to get to a point where you will stand up. You don't have to gun it, you just have to understand that if you are going slower you have to be more patient in getting up.

The best thing to keep in mind is to "squat like a frog" until the board gets up on plane. You could stay squatted down all day without standing up, so there is no harm in standing up later than you would.

thekidd77 · Newbie Joined: 02 Sep 2008 Posts: 9

Once the slack is out,

Definitely full throttle it. If it is any kind of inboard motor I just don't see full throttle ever being able to spool up fast enough to be too much. Once the boat is up and planing and the boarder is well on his way, that's when I would slow it back a bit to stay in the 25 to 30 mph range, lots of boats will drop back off plane under that speed.

A big outboard though definitely has enough hole shot to yank you right over so that is where you'd have to figure out a partial version of stepping on it.

I don't even wakeboard yet, but that is my old waterskiing experience.

DRAGON88 · Posted: Sep 04, 2008 7:08 pm Post subject:

thekidd77, 25-30mph? If you're new you don't want to be anywhere near that fast. And yeah, some of these inboards have enough power to rip the handle out of your hands, especially if you're just learning how.

McKrakken · Newbie Joined: 25 Aug 2008 Posts: 16 City: Rogers

I have yet to get up on a wakeboard (DYING TO!!).. but have watched alot of videos.

It might be my imagination, but it sure seems like on some of the videos, that the boat is hardly doing anything at all to pull the rider up and out of the water.. once up on plane, the boat accelerates to riding speed.

It SEEMS like the boat takes up the rope slack and gently accelerates until the rider it up and out of the water.. then continues to accelerate to riding speed.

It sure doesn't seem like the boat is giving full throttle at any point.

here is an example video from waketrix:

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

I'm just a newb, trying to figure this all out so we have an idea of what to do when we hit the water here soon..

It looks like the key is to allow the boat to pull you into the board so your arms go straight and you sort of sit on your heels.. and flatten the board so that it will plane instead of plow, which will require FAR less power to pull the rider up.

On the right track?

Pconn5 · Criminal Joined: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 85

The way the guy in that video is starting is what I was talking about in my post. When you have the board under you, you are basically floating already. In this position you can basically stand up with no speed whatsoever. That is why I find this easier then getting up with the board out of the water. The bottom line is that it is not easier to get up going slow, especially when you haven't gotten up before. This is because you have to get the feel for how long you have to wait to get up and get on plane.

Also starting up slow requires an aware driver because they need to be able to hit the gas as soon as you get up. If they hit the gas before you get up then the rope will probably be jerked out of your hands or you will get pulled forward. If they don't hit the gas fast enough then you will begin to sink down again and then you are completely screwed. This is why it is easier to just put the boat in idle, pull the rider a little bit and when they are ready put on the gas. After that the rider just has to wait for the board to get out of the water and then turn it. Once the rider is up the driver can then adjust to the riding speed you like.

Once the rider knows what it feels like to get on plane and how long they need to wait to get on plane the driver can then adjust to where not as much throttle is needed to get the rider up. Also the driver can ease on the gas more instead of slamming it on. I wish I had video of me and my brother getting up on my homemade wakeskate that could barely float because it shows how long it can take to get out of the water. When we were learning it really showed what happens if you try to stand too early.

McKrakken, You are definitely on the right track. That is the position you will be in if you start with the board under the water and that is the position you want to get in if you start with the board in front of you. It will definitely require less power from the boat and less effort from the rider. I still recommend giving a decent amount of gas for the first few times getting up though because it will get the rider out of the water quicker.

ctgretzky99 · Posted: Sep 05, 2008 9:23 am Post subject:

ctgretzky99 · Posted: Sep 05, 2008 9:28 am Post subject: Re: Definitely hammer it

waterbuffalo · Newbie Joined: 16 Jun 2008 Posts: 8 City: Ogden

Thanks to all who wrote here... I was able to get out of the water with ease this weekend after we gunned it , and I actually stayed up. So now its on to Chapter two...what to do when your up Smile

lol but I'll have to do that next season seeing as the boat is now put away for the season. Thanks again. Mr. Green

ctgretzky99 · Posted: Sep 09, 2008 7:14 am Post subject:

waterbuffalo · Newbie Joined: 16 Jun 2008 Posts: 8 City: Ogden

oh believe me I figured the face plants out first hand. Its a shame that the boat is away for the winter now, right when I got it ! oh well

ctgretzky99 · Posted: Sep 10, 2008 6:32 am Post subject:

JeffreyCH · Posted: Sep 10, 2008 7:18 pm Post subject:

Okie Boarder · Ladies Man Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Posts: 10056 City: Edmond

waterbuffalo, glad you figured it out!

I'm with ya on the putting away of the boat. Looks like this weekend is gonna get rained out due to a system coming from the west and Ike, once it makes it up here around Sunday as a TD. We can usually go through September or maybe into the first weekend in October. I'm starting to feel the sadness that the season is almost done and the boat will need to be put away.