Wholesale Marine - Boating Supplies and Marine Accessories Superstore

Wakeboards & Watersports Equipment
Wholesale Marine is proud to offer wakeboards and watersports products from some of the biggest names in the industry like O Brien, HO, Hyperlite, CWB, Connelly, Liquid Force, Kwik Tek and Air Head.

Choosing the right wakeboards
Dimensions

• Most wakeboards are made between 120-150 centimeters in length.
• Most wakeboards will come with an indication of the proper size and weight of the rider.
• If in doubt, choose the longer board. A shorter board will not perform well if the rider is too tall or heavy for it.
• In general, the shorter the board the less stability in starts and turns, so beginners should also choose a slightly longer board to make learning easier.
• A wakeboards width generally ranges from 39 to 43 centimeters. The width is made in conjunction with the length of the board.

Rocker
The amount of rocker describes a wakeboards bottom profile using the angles where the board curves at either end. A wakeboards rockers has three major categories: continuous, continuous/progressive and three-stage. Wakeboards generally come with rockers between 5-6 centimeters.

Continuous rocker wakeboards offers predictable performance with a smooth curve from tip to tail. It accelerates smoothly and generates a comfortable pop off the wake.

Continuous/progressive rocker wakeboards are they have a continuous rocker through the belly and then become gradually more angled around the area under the feet.

Three-stage rocker wakeboards are also designed for enhanced acceleration and an aggressive lift off the wake. They typically have a significant flat spot in the middle of the board and then kink or curve abruptly under the feet and flatten out off the tip and tail.

Fins

• Fins keep the wakeboards traveling in the direction in which you point it and prevent it from freely rotating on the water. It does this using vertical depth and the shape of the foil, or profile, of the fin from front to back.
• Wider foils move more water and create drag and lift under your feet.
• Thinner foils push less water and let the fin guide your wakeboard without resistance.
• Extra rocker pulls the fin up out of the water and compromises hold, as will a wider fin setting.
• Rough conditions call for a larger fin that will provide hold and control while you’re bouncing around in the chop.
• For smooth, clear conditions, the maneuverability of a smaller, thinner fin is preferred by most boarders.

Wakeboard Summary
Choosing wakeboards, watersports equipment or any of our other boat accessories should be a fun decision, so do not get too technical when picking your first board. Our recommendation is to go with a package board. The manufacturers today are doing a great job of putting together board and bindings for 400.00 or less that rivals pro wakeboards from just a few years ago. You do not have to have a different board for every size and weight in the family, compromise in the middle, and 1 or 2 boards can work for the whole family. Be careful, wakeboarding is addicting. Once you start, you will never stop!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 12:15 pm and is filed under How To Guide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.