Wake.net

Wake 101

Wakeboarding is an extreme watersport that combines techniques from surfing, waterskiing and snowboarding. A wakeboard is typically towed behind a boat or personal watercraft, features slender bottom fins, fixed boot-style bindings, and is ridden sideways like a snowboard or skateboard.

Wakeboards are designed to skim over the surface of the water, jump wakes, and reverse so that the rider can ride it backwards (called “a fakie”). Experienced riders can also “get air” or leave the water by shooting over the wake to flip the board tail-over-tip, or roll it toes-over-heels.

Wakeboarding evolved out of several sports but fundamentally grew from skurfing (waterskiing + surfing), a sport made popular in the 1980s wherein a boat pulls a rider on a surfboard. In 1984 Tony Finn of San Diego and partner John Hamilton started designing smaller boards for this sport and mass produced them through their company Skurfer, Incorporated.

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