Wakesurfing

An example of someone wakesurfing.

Wakesurfing (similar to but not the same sport as Wakeboarding) is a water sport in which a surfer trails behind an inboard ski boat, surfing the boat's wake without being directly attached to the boat.^[1] The wake from the boat mimics the look and feel of an actual ocean wave. After getting up on the wave by use of a tow rope, wakesurfers drop the rope and ride the steep face below the wave's peak in a fashion reminiscent of ocean surfing. Wakesurfers generally use special boards, usually five feet or shorter.

Boat setup

Inboards are the only safe choice for this sport. Other types of boats such as I/O's and outboards are dangerous because the propeller is exposed. Owners of these boats place ballast, such as extra water, lead weights, cement, or other heavy objects in different sections of the boat in order to weight the boat down and create a larger wake. A water ballast is the safest and preferred method as if the boat becomes swamped, the water ballast is neutrally buoyant allowing the boat to remain at the surface, while lead and cement weights will cause your boat to sink to the bottom.

Variations

A variation of this sport is tanker surfing. In the Gulf of Mexico, surfers follow large tanker ships and surf on the waves they create. The wakes created by these large ships can be a mile long, providing a great ride for surfers. See Tanker Surfing.

Ref

External links

http://www.wakesurf.fr - The french wakesurfing association

• http://www.midwestwakesurfing.com - Some of the best Wakesurfboards Around
• Wakesurfer Reviews
• http://www.wakesurfwatch.com - One stop shop for Wakesurf information and discussion.
• The Gear Junkie - Report on wakesurfing trip.
• Wake - Main Wikipedia article on wakes
• http://worldwakesurfingchampionships.com - 2007 results for Wake Surfing Championships

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