Boarding from behind a rib ...

[wakeWizard]

Hi Guys ...

Im hopeing to wakeboard from behind my dads Rib, we were wondering where you would attach the tow rope. and what stops in getting in to the engine?

anybody here partake in the sport ?

thanks a lot ..

wizard.

[Alan]

Two options:

1) Use the ski eyes/tow eyes that most RIBs have on the transom either side of the engine. You will need a rope bridle to attach the ski line too. (e.g. an equal length bit of rope from each eye to a central point behind the engine you tie the ski line too. I think you can buy these made up but its dead easy to do with one line.

2) If your A frame will stand it then you can attach to the A frame. However strongly suggest you check with your RIB manufacturer that the A frame is strong enough to take this before you try it!

What sort of RIB?

[wakeWizard]

Thanks for the reply Alan,

are there any benifits / problems from using the ski eyes ?
i have notice that a lot of the jet wakeboarding boats seem to tow from the top of a custom frame, however i imagine this is mostly for the higer jumps and kickers ..

[ribraff]

Hi

I mostly use my rib for boardriding and have recently fitted a wakeboard frame which has helped immensely, before this i used a bridal from the towing eyes on the transom and while this was ok it was frustrating after a while as this set up tends to pull you back down in the water when you jump off the wake.

[Brian]

If you use a bridle attached to the two transom eyes, you might consider a running pulley. Effectively you now have one rope looping across between the towing eyes with a pulley wheel attached to the actual tow line. This arrangement also permits a small float to be attached to this end of the line thus keeping it clear of the prop.
This arrangement has the benefit of not causing stress on the boat when going outside the wake.
Normally ski lines are floating polypropoline aren't they?
Some boats have Samson posts at the rear for this purpose.

[wakeWizard]

Thanks guys,

im sure that the eyes will be fine for me at the moment ... im not quite to jumping standard yet .

All i need to do now is find somewhere to get a second hand board / cheap board to get started on !

[ribraff]

I would try ebay for a cheap board, you can usually get a good package, one of the biggest traders on there for wakeboards is Scooby watersports, i bought my board from them recently and they're really helpful