Weighting your boat
It is very important that one weights their boat correctly if they expect to wakesurf and actually stay on the wake after throwing the rope. Here are four things to keep in mind:
Remember, your boat needs around 1,800 pounds of extra weight on top of the stock ballast you already have in place to produce a beefy wake.
Three quarters of the extra weight should be on the right or left side of the back to middle back of the boat, and one quarter of it should be in the front of the boat. (Fly High Fat Sacs are great for this, especially four of the 450-pound sacs.)
If you’re really into the sport, having weight built into your boat after-market by installing fat sacs underneath the seats and having them connected to the ballast system is a good option.
If your boat is leaning mostly to one side, don’t fret – that’s what you want. Just remember to turn around correctly for everyone’s safety. For example, as soon as the rider falls, put the boat in neutral and steer the wheel all the way to the side opposite of the wake. This is because you don’t want to drive over the waves you just created – it will flood the boat with water, which can be dangerous.
Staying on the wake
Once your boat is weighted properly, you can get to surfing. Here are four more tips:
When learning how to stay on swell, it is important to know there is a sweet spot where you can ride without the rope. It is near the trough of the wake on the bottom part of the slant about 5 feet back from the boat.
While riding, it is important to know your front foot is your gas and your back foot is your brakes. Make sure your back foot is flush up against the kick tail to begin with and your front foot is spread out to the middle of the front pad on the board.
Once you have your stance down and you get on the sweet spot, you can stay toward the boat by putting your weight more above your front foot, and then fall back from the boat by putting your weight more above your back foot.
It is important to counteract your weight before you need it. For example, the second you start to fall away from the boat, you need to put some weight on the front foot in order to not fall out of the wake.
