How To Drive A Wakeboard Boat
When you decide to take the plunge and purchase your own wakeboard boat for towing watersports enthusiasts, whether they be skiers, wakeboarders or surfers, it’s important that you take some time to learn how to use your new boat effectively. Wakeboarding requires that the driver remain focused on maintaining consistent speeds while being mindful of obstacles. You should also have the necessary gear on board to facilitate towing watersports participants. Doing your research and prep work in advance will help you a great deal when you’re on the water, and fitting in some practice time piloting your boat wouldn’t hurt, either.
Riva Marine & Motorsports of the Keys is your local dealer when it comes to tow boats and jet boats for sale. We have locations in Key Largo and Miami, Florida, and we’re well-versed in the art of driving wakeboard boats. That’s why we’ve created this handy guide with tips for how to get the most out of your wakeboard boat to keep your skiers and boarders happy.
Have The Right Gear
Aside from the usual safety equipment like first-aid kits, fire extinguishers, signals, a marine radio and lifejackets, you’ll want to invest in some gear suited to watersports. You want non-stretch ropes for wakeboarding in particular, as any give in the rope will throw you off balance as you ride wakes, stretching and snapping back just as you get air. Non-stretch tow ropes that are sufficiently long for wakeboarding are available in bright colors for visibility, with wide handles that are cushioned with EVA foam for grip and comfort. For a beginner, you’ll want a rope of 65’ in length, with the length increasing for more experienced riders up to 85’.
Weight Your Boat Appropriately
In order to create good wakes, wakeboard boats require ballast, or extra weight applied towards the stern to make wakes taller. Not all boats are created the same, though, and some might necessitate that you put more weight up front. One easy way to distribute weight evenly in your boat is to start with it empty, then add passengers and have everyone shift around from left to right and front to back until your boat generates a large, clean wake for boarding or surfing. Now that you know the weight you need, you can fill up water-filled sacks called fat sacks as ballast to replace the passengers. You’ll want to talk to your wakeboarders to see how they feel about the wakes after they ride them and adjust the weight accordingly to make the wake bigger or smaller as necessary.
Maintain Consistent Speeds
One of the worst things you can do as a watersports boat driver is to speed up and slow down inconsistently, jerking your towed rider around and preventing them from catching the wakes at a constant speed. If you become distracted, you can let the speed slip by a mile or two, which will certainly be noticed and not appreciated by your rider, who has to adjust their form and balance constantly to make up for the speed reduction. You can use cruise control once you get up to speed, which will vary depending on the experience level of your rider and what they’re comfortable with, as well as the type of boat you’re on. For wakeboarding, speeds can range from 18-25 mph, while wakesurfers might go at speeds of 8-13 mph. Again, talk to your rider to see what they’re comfortable with and experiment on different turns. Just try to keep the speed constant once you get up to it.
Stay Vigilant
As the driver, it’s best that you don’t get distracted by eating, changing the radio station, chatting with passengers, watching your rider or doing anything but focusing on finding open water ahead, keeping your speed constant and watching out for obstacles so you can avoid them well in advance without throwing your rider into the water by turning suddenly. Your rider needs you to keep them in as straight a line as possible for optimal wakeboarding conditions, so no swerving. If you know the body of water you’re riding in, you should be able to figure out places in it that are optimal for wakeboarding at great distance without deviating from straight lines.
Don’t Power Turn
One final tip is to avoid power turning, or turning without slowing down your speed to catch a fallen wakeboarder. The best thing to do when you have to turn while driving your boat is to stop your boat, let it slow down for a few seconds, then turn slowly to idle back to your rider. Otherwise, you’ll make the lake choppy and ruin the water for other users by creating a lot of waves no one wants.
Now that you’re more informed on how to operate boats for watersports users, you probably want to check out some great ski and wakeboard boats for sale. Come down to our dealership if you’re in Miami or Key Largo to see our selection of boats for sale, including new and used tow boats. Riva Marine & Motorsports of the Keys serves the city of Key Largo, Florida.
