Board for small wake

[bbolze]

So I'm looking to buy a whole new setup and I need some advice. First of all I ride behind a 22 foot center console (fishing boat) with an outboard (223cc Everglades) and it kicks out an alright wake but obviously nothing shaped like a wakeboard boat. Also, I ride on the ocean so I'm not always riding on the calmest water. I was looking at the Ronix Bill and Frank package because it sounds like the Franks got a right amount of flex and the Bill has the right blend between the continuous and 3-stage rocker. I liked it also because it seems like it would have a looser feel on the water and be a little more playful.
This past week I saw the slingshot response in the alliance wake board test and saw the great review it got. Do you think the flex and snowboard feel might help me get more air off a small wake because I could create to pop on my own as opposed to just hitting the wake and making that do all the work? Or do I have the flex idea all wrong?

[ediotism]

i've recently gotten a ronix bill board, despite what all the marketing blurb says it's actually a pretty aggressive 3stage board, you feel nothing approaching the wake then BAM it punches you upwards, to the point i'm often losing balance slightly. 4 weekends in, i still can't edge/pop/grab/poke as hard as i can with a more 'predictable' board like an S4/witness/watson

haven't tried any slingshot but i hear a lot of good things online. if you always ride in choppy water, consider going slightly bigger with your board.

[bbolze]

Could I ask what type of boat your riding on? Cuz I feel like having that type of pop on my boats small wake would help. I can definitely see it being a little too aggressive ( unpredictable ) tho cuz I saw the specs on it and the bill is a late rocker that's almost as steep as the Mana. But I agree with what you said about getting a more predictable board to help with being more comfortable to poke out grabs and stuff. I was actually looking at the s4 and Ive heard a lot of good things about liquid force boards lately, I just wanna make sure I'm getting enough pop. And I also agree about board length; I think getting a much longer board will help me with both pop and stability and I'm not pulling any crazy spins (at least yet ) so I'm not worried about the length stopping me too much

Still though, if anyone has any experience with slingshots, how do u think they would perform behind a boat with small wake ?

[hrwake]

all these noobs and their board questions...







just messing, whats up brian?
Yea i would really like to hear from someone who's ridden a slingshot in this situation.. i am still under the impression that stiff 3-stages will give more pop than a slingshot, but if you consistently have difficultly controlling your jumps... well that doesn't really help. I would also guess that abrupt 3-stages would be easier to manage on a smaller wake, but thats just of a guess. So anyone with experience with either of those things feel free to correct/verify

[ediotism]

bbolze, i ride behind a moomba and an x star on a lake and sometimes a small 175 outboard in the sea. obviously the x star has an incredible wake, the moomba is alright, and the 175 didn't really cut it until we made a few mods - first installing a new tower that's closer to the bow (which helps with this boat) and a 4 blade propeller at a lower pitch. basically the boat has better acceleration and less affected by rider's rope tension, at the cost of top speed which we didn't need.


while it helps to have a really good wake, having a smaller wake actually helps you learn to edge in properly, since it is the tension in the rope you create when you edge that 'slings' you across the wake (instead of edging in at speed and thinking the wake just launches you across). the harder you can edge into the wake, the more tension/energy you build; the better you can stand tall and hold the edge AT the wake, the more of that energy you harness and convert into rope tension in the air. the harder the tension, the higher the handle 'sling' you towards the opposite wake. (sure my explanation can do with some fine tuning but this is the brief idea).


when i started i only rode the 175, then when i got to ride bigger wakes i realized that i just didn't have the technique to actually take advantage of the wake. i was trying to jump across by edging in really fast, then flatten off to launch off the wake. i never know at what point while i'm in the air would the rope tension come back (since there's almost none when i launch off the wake), so i either lean too far backwards and fall when there's no tension appearing, or i get yanked forward mid-air which brought quite a few faceplants, often at the top of the opposite wake where it hurts most.


i have no further input about boards in this post, but i'd just like to let you know that a smaller wake isn't a bad thing, especially if you learn to jump it with good technique.

personally, i would STILL stay with a continuous/hybrid board instead buying a 3 stage. best thing to do tho, as you already know, is to try out different ones until you find a board SHAPE that you prefer, then look for similar boards across different brands. good luck finding one you enjoy riding

[skye120]

I ride on a very busy lake that has its butter but for the most part is NUTS. I use to ride a B-Side i liked the board but it would just wear me down and beat me to death. I then rode a buddys Slingshot Response. I LOVED it it was so much easier on me in the rough and the pop was great. I then rushed and bought a Slingshot I found a sick deal on a used Recoil and graabbed it. I like the Recoil even more. The Recoil has the most pop out of any of the SS boards. (thats not just my thoughts thats what SS says to) Well my board recently broke, and I didnt hesitate to buy another Recoil. SlingShot is the way to go, the softness with the incredible pop is untouchable. Not sure how it is were your from but the shops here will let you demo one for like 25 bucks. might want to try that.

[Will]

Hey mate, I ride an 18ft. fishing boat with 100hp on the back most of the time and I find that I can ride any board on both big and "little" wakes. If you aren't sure and you get a chance to test some boards behind a boat with a big wake, get them to drop the ballast and see what you think. Let us know what you end up going with!

[FlatH20]

the slingshot response is a great board - very forgiving and a great board to learn the basics - it won't boot you as high as the 3 stage but you can get the same type of performance by using your edges. I ride behind a Malibu V-drive and have ridden behind just about anything that will pull me out of the water - obviously the larger the wake the better but even the I/O that we use during the winter is a fun time - getting in an out of the boat is a PITA but - we're still on the water. like some of the others have said - go Demo some of the boards - I have a response and right now I'm using the Humanoid Oracle - which is another flex board which I'm extremely pleased with as well. if you're interested PM me and I can probably hook you up cheap for a humanoid or we can discuss my SS response.