Wakeboarding! Help! Portsmouth Harbour

JABS · 10 June 2008, 17:54

I have to take my son in law wakeboarding this weekend. What speed should I aim for? He is a raw beginner, but usually does well with stuff like that!

I assume I just get him up as quickly as possible??

Also, where is the ski area in Portsmouth, please?

Thanks.

K&S · 10 June 2008, 18:04

hi, the slower the better for beginers - too fast and its like a tray on ice
Smooth acceleration until he 'pops' onto the surface then bring boat speed down till he is just planing - (water breaking just in front of leading foot) to give the board a little more friction and stability.

Pre agree a set of hand signals then he can control the speed bepending on how he feels - thumbs up - a little faster
thumbs down - a little slower

(driver) - circles hand in air - were turning (make sure he is between the wakes or he will either sink if on the inside of the turn -or - will go out on the 'whip' if on the outside of the turn (amusing for spectators but can feel like warp speed for the rider )

Hope all goes well

JABS · 10 June 2008, 18:18

Thanks, good advice.

Got the hand signals thing from towing skiers, just didn't know how to judge it on a wakeboard!

Here goes.

999 material in the making!

Pete7 · 10 June 2008, 19:25

Tony not sure there is a water ski or wake board area in Portsmouth harbour as the speed limit is 10 knots and you need a bit more. Langstone harbour has one but it's not cheap

http://www.langstoneharbour.org.uk/boating/boating.htm

If it is dead calm you could try Stokes Bay or possibly the top end of Southampton water near Eling.

Pete

Bigmuz7 · 10 June 2008, 22:13

Depends on the weight of the boarder.......

but if its me at 16 Stone ..........

22.5 mph

Hey I'm 6'5" you cheeky monkeys

(and good looking)

.. Am I taller than JK ?

must be better looking

Bigfoot · 10 June 2008, 23:52

from watching Tim tow one of our friends around it seems to be that you take the tension up and then accelerate quickly enough to make sure you can keep up at a constant speed, otherwise the wakeboarder will catch up with you.

I'd say Chichester would be good, I went swimming there the other day and it was pleasantly warm!. about 6 knots of tide though!

Tim M · 11 June 2008, 06:22

As Adam says take up the slack, then give it a steady burst of power to get the person out of the water, then throttle back down again to a nice slow speed. Stokes bay is normally pretty good. We were at Priory Bay last night and there were several people doing it there.

jon_95 · 11 June 2008, 07:31

16-24, depends on the boat, how much trim you can achieve and at what point the froth cleans off the edge of your wake and actually creates a smooth edge