Wakeboarding is a new type of extreme sport. It arose in parallel with snowboarding, but, unlike the latter, instead of riding on a snowy slope, the athlete uses a boat and water surface. In addition to wakeboarding, which is a professional sport, wakesurfing is also distinguished - on the surface of the water without a rope. Wakesurfing is more of an entertainment than a sport, however, despite its apparent simplicity, it will require some preparation from the athlete.

Professional wakeboarding

Professional wakeboarding is a type of extreme water sport in which the athlete moves along the water surface behind a boat, while holding on to a halyard (rope). During such a movement, the athlete performs various elements of slalom, as well as jumps and flips. Since the athlete is moving in the wake, for some tricks he may deviate from the course in order to get into the wave created by the craft while moving.

Wakeboarding is a very spectacular sport; competitions in it are usually held at the best water resorts in the world. When championships are held, wakeboarding is divided into two types: wakeboard-boat and wakeboard-electric.

Wakeboarding with a boat looks more impressive, but it is a more difficult sport, since it is very difficult to regulate a constant speed with an ideal trajectory. It requires a larger area of ​​water surface, which makes it difficult to monitor the progress of the competition. While moving, the boat is equipped with additional ballast to create waves. When entering such a wave, an athlete can perform a variety of tricks, jumps, and flips in the air. At the same time, you cannot let go of the halyard, because this could end the race. Many tricks are similar to those performed by professional snowboarders, but rotation around your own axis during a jump will not be possible, since the halyard will not allow this.

Electric wakeboarding

Electric wakeboarding can be carried out on smaller areas of the water surface, since an electric winch and halyard are used instead of a boat. across the water surface, the electric motor pulls the halyard at a constant speed, while there are no waves on the surface of the water from the floating vehicle, which makes it possible to more accurately assess the cleanliness of the tricks. When driving using a tow rope and electric traction, competitions are held in two disciplines - circuit racing and reversible. During circuit racing, an athlete must show not only the quality of his tricks, but also the speed of completing the slalom section. With reverse movement, more jumps and elements of acrobatics are performed.

Professional wakeboarding is impossible without specially equipped water areas. The trajectory of movement must be marked with special flags and buoys, and to perform elements of acrobatics, various ramps and springboards must be installed. Wakeboarding is a very dangerous sport, as while moving on the surface of the water, speeds can reach 40 kilometers per hour. To prevent falls, you should carefully select wakeboard mounts, as well as other equipment.

It should be noted that rope wakeboarding has become widespread because it is more environmentally friendly and cheaper. There are many such wake parks on the territory of the Russian Federation, equipped with cable traction and special tracks for water slalom. They are equipped with both floating and stationary jumps, as well as ramps and other water obstacles. More than 100 such wake parks have been built in European countries.

Education

Learning this sport should begin in wake parks with professional instructors who will help you choose wakeboard bindings from the very beginning. Training begins with learning to move on a board on the surface of the water, after which the elements of slalom are studied. Jumps and tricks are performed only by those athletes who have already learned to feel the board as part of their body; it is better not to start jumping before acquiring this skill, in order to avoid unnecessary injury. At the initial stages of training, great attention is paid to safety - beginners should be equipped with life jackets, and there should always be an instructor nearby, since sudden falls and the athlete going under water are simply inevitable at first.

Board with motor

Wakeboarding is a growing sport, so many manufacturers and enthusiasts are constantly introducing something new. One such innovation is an electric board from the Swedish company Radinn. This board has its own independent power plant and drive, which allow it to move along the surface of the water without the use of a boat or rope traction. This board is made of lightweight and durable carbon fiber. Lithium batteries are used to power the power plant, and the drive itself is powered by electric water jets.

Having a relatively light weight (about 30 kilograms), this sports unit can accelerate to 46 kilometers per hour, which makes it quite suitable for wakeboarding competitions, given that the lithium battery supply will last for half an hour. Using such a board will allow you to perform more complex, spectacular tricks, since you no longer need a boat or halyard.

It should be noted that boats for professional wakeboarding also differ from ordinary sports ones - they have special ballast compartments, which, under different loads, can create waves with different characteristics. These boats have more complex drive systems that allow more precise speed control.

Among the tricks performed by athletes in competitions are the following:

• somersault;
• somersault with rotation;
• jumping;
• movement with raised parts of the platform.

Wakesurf

In addition to professional wakeboarding, there is also wakesurfing - this is an amateur sport that is more suitable for recreation and entertainment. Wakesurfing does not require professional equipment - for such riding you can make a wakeboard with your own hands, for which you will need to buy a snowboard and choose the right special bindings for the wakeboard.

Wakesurfing can be done without a halyard, for which the boat is loaded with ballast on one side, the athlete starts holding the halyard, and then releases it, moving onto the wave from the boat. This creates the impression of riding a wave without the aid of a watercraft. This wakesurf will only require a regular surfboard; no wakeboard mounts will be required.

Wakesurfing does not require special tracks; it can be practiced on any body of water, for which you only need a boat and a board. However, like skateboarding, which began as a street sport, wakesurfing has its own standard elements and tricks, such as skating to the left and right of the boat (regular and goofy), skating with your face and back to the wave (toe-side and heel-side). , as well as lineride (skating with a rope) and freeride - regular surfing without the use of rope and other devices.

Wakesurfing is becoming an increasingly popular sport among young people leading an active lifestyle. The initial elements are quite simple, and wakesurfing is inexpensive - many young people can afford it, since the boat can be rented right on the beach.

Write to us if the article was useful.

• Video about wakeboarding from the project “On the Edge”: Actually, I’ll put it more simply. No manuals on the Internet will make you a miracle wakesurfer if you don’t practice. Theory without practice is dead. Take it, come to where they ride and learn from your own experience under the supervision of knowledgeable people. I think that in any wakepark there are instructors who will teach wakeboarding and tell (and show) how to do it.

What is a wakeboard

So what is a wakeboard? This is a board with fastenings on which a person stands and rides on the water. If a person holds on to the halyard, which is connected to the winch mechanism, and is pulled by an engine located on the shore, then this is. Often, people riding a wakeboard practice various tricks by jumping from kickers or figures (the so-called special slides located on the surface of the water). The discipline itself is somewhere at the junction between snowboarding, surfing and skateboarding.

Difference between wakeboard and wakesurfing

A wakeboard differs from wakesurfing in that it is a device that drags you along the surface of the water. It may be said clumsily, but I can’t explain it any simpler) The difference is that a cable wakeboard uses electric traction (you are pulled by a cable towing device). In wakesurfing, you take off behind the boat while holding onto the halyard. Having accelerated, you release the rope and continue riding along the wave that follows the boat. In this article I already wrote about mine.

If you want to try cable wakeboarding, come either to or to the place where such a cable installation is assembled and ride to your heart’s content. Cable wakesurfing, according to statistics, is more common than boat wakesurfing.

How to get on a wakeboard and learn to ride

Based on the experience of our past rides, I will say that everyone managed to get up. There are no difficulties here, the main thing is to understand how the winch in a cable wakeboard drags, and how the body behaves.

Technically, it looks like this - you lie on your back in the water, with your legs strapped into the board and pulled towards you. At some point, the installation operator turns on the winch and drags you. Your task at this moment, keeping your arms straight, move from a lying position to a sitting position. And your arms are straight. That's all. The mistake here would be to start transferring your weight to the front edge, then you will fall forward and your entire rope wakeboarding will end before it even begins.

Video about wakeboarding from the project “On the Edge”:

Actually, I'll put it more simply. No manuals on the Internet will make you a miracle wakesurfer if you don’t practice. Theory without practice is dead. Take it, come to where they ride and learn from your own experience under the supervision of knowledgeable people. I think that in any wakepark there are instructors who will teach wakeboarding and tell (and show) how to do it.

Practice is the secret of success. Everything else is nonsense. However, as in other areas of life.

Wakeboard for beginners - first time on the board

Here's an example of our event. It took place in one of the wake clubs in Kaliningrad, called Wake Up. We rode for two days, dividing all the participants into two groups. Each person skated two sets of 10 minutes. I will say that for the first time this is enough. One set (10 minutes) is spent understanding how to behave on a board, how to stand on a wakeboard, and how to ride in a straight line. The second set (10 minutes) is enough to start trying to cut in (move away from the winch you are riding under) and learn to turn around.

Some of our participants skated only one set because they said they were tired. I skated twice, and at the end of the second my arms hurt quite normally. By the way, free advice - ask for gloves if you wakeboard behind a winch. Fal rubs his hands. Without gloves - bo-bo palms)

In general, the adrenaline rush is certainly invigorating. At first you just try to stand up while squatting. Then straighten up to your full height. Then, plucking up courage, you jump on the water and think that you are the king of the lake. And then, you hit the water and think that this is a fiasco, bro. And then you don’t have the strength left in the second set to cut normally and make a turn.

For the first time, I think I skated very standardly))

If we talk about the other participants in the “On the Edge” project event, then in general everyone skated very well for the first time. Girls, by the way, got up on the board faster, but the guys needed more time. Probably, the instructor’s phrase “take the position of a woman in labor” played a role here))) Such a team reached the female half better. And among the guys, Lesha Aksyutich and Sasha Filyaev did well. There's probably something we don't know about them)

Wakeboard tricks

There are quite a lot of tricks on a wakeboard (about 20 basic grabs alone), but for the first time it is difficult to count on miracles of jumping with rotation around a horizontal or vertical axis. Simply because first you need to stand up normally, roll steadily in a straight line, and learn to turn around. If you can do everything, then I think you need to read not this article, but a guide to jumping.

But the guys-instructors showed their class by performing several cool tricks. The instructor was trying to do a trick called KARMA. Having accelerated, he jumped onto the figure, and from there he flew away holding the halyard with one hand, simultaneously trying to turn over his back, around a horizontal axis. Damn, it’s hard to describe in words, you feel like a cripple without the necessary vocabulary.

Vest and board and helmet for wakeboarding

A few words about equipment. All participants rode in wetsuits, helmets, vests and used gloves. Despite the apparent simplicity of wakeboarding for beginners, you can hit the water very hard and injure yourself. That is why they pack you in a wetsuit, give you a vest and put a helmet on your head.

I don’t know when, but while we were riding, I managed to hit my elbow on the water and now it hurts a little. Therefore, be careful.

By the way, about the boards. U Wake Up Kaliningrad, where we skated, there are about 6 different boards that fit any foot size and riding style (beginners). You tell the instructor your shoe size, and he selects the right board with fastenings for your height and weight. The technique is similar to snowboarding, but the size and shape of the boards is different. By company, I remember exactly that there were Jobe boards))

How much does a wakeboard cost?

I looked on the Internet, boards cost from 20,000 to 40,000 rubles, on average. Well, as usual, if you want to do extreme sports, throw money at the barrel) Everything is the same as with other types of activities. Typically, an average kit for a beginner in any type of activity starts at $1000-2000. According to my observations (perhaps you have a different opinion - you can voice it in the comments).

Videos and photos from cable wakeboarding

As usual, a photographer photographed us at home events of the “On the Edge” project Max Levin. His photographs are the visual component of this review.

Also, within the framework of the concept “1 video = 1 director”, this time we worked with Ivan Dobrusin, who made a video about how our party went and how we drank from the lake.

Balance board

I would like to say a few words about such a thing as board balance. This is a simple device that is designed to hone the balance skills of novice surfers. It is a piece of pipe and a board on which you stand, catching your balance. It is advisable to stick with your neighbor at first. Or a neighbor. Here who is closer? In extreme cases, a wall will do.

Is it easy for you? Then a second level of difficulty is provided. After you stand confidently and maintain your balance for one minute, it is suggested to squat down to one and a half and stand the same way. If you pass the second difficulty level, then tricks to balance the board begin. You can at least try to turn around while standing on it, and then transfer the entire arsenal of tricks from skateboarding to the balance board.

The balance board is an excellent balance trainer. I advise you to try it, as we did during breaks between wakeboarding.

Wakeboard in Kaliningrad

Recently, in Kaliningrad, the development of water sports, including wakeboarding, has been gaining good speed, which is good news. People, places and actions appear that give beginners the opportunity to try their hand at one form of water recreation or another, and join the extreme movement.

Hello dear friends.
I hope that everyone who is interested has already understood what wakeboarding is. I wrote about boat wakeboarding earlier, today let's look at a more popular and accessible type of wakeboarding - cable wakeboarding.

Cable wakeboarding- this is an actively developing water skiing sport in which all the muscles of the body are involved, and which allows you to get a lot of emotions and extreme sensations, but at the same time, it is one of the safest sports and is suitable for people of all ages!

Cable wakeboarding is based on the same principles as traditional boat wakeboarding or water skiing. The difference lies in the manner in which the athlete can ride on the water. Unlike boat wakeboarding, when the rider rides behind the boat and performs various tricks using waves and springboards, in cable wakeboarding the athlete moves through the water using a special cable car, and obstacles are used to perform tricks. Ropeway (popularly known as a winch) -quite a complex and interesting mechanism on the water.

All “winches” are divided into three types:

Ring- as a rule, the cable is stretched between 5 supports and forms a ring along which the athlete moves

Reversible(or linear) - this installation has only 2 supports, and when skating, the athlete moves first in one direction to the end, and then back.

Mobile winches(among those who skate - winch) - in fact, THIS is the “Winch”. Consists of an engine, a variator and a drum. Riding is carried out as follows: the rider takes the handle of the halyard in his hands and walks along the shore, after he moves a sufficient distance, he puts on a wakeboard, starts the engine and gives gas, the cable is wound on the drum and pulls the athlete

Let's look at each option in detail.
Ring cable car.

The ring cable car consists of masts placed around the perimeter of the water area chosen for skiing. Special cables are stretched between these masts. The cable is driven by an electric motor. Athletes ride using a halyard that they hold onto. 5 or 6 riders ride at the same time. The start is made from the launch pad. If you fall, you just need to swim to the nearest exit, and then walk to the start along the path that goes around the entire lake. Among the advantages of such a cable car, we can highlight its large capacity, always a large crowd, and accessibility (the price on a ring winch is always lower than on a reversible winch, and even more so on a boat). But there are no downsides here either. Not all bodies of water are suitable for installing such a cable car. After the fall, when you come to the start, you have to stand in a queue, which can be very long. I think a few videos will give you more insight into ring winches than my stories. The video from vimeo.com does not want to be inserted, here is the video from the Moscow Open Championship, the St. Petersburg Open Championship, and the Yekaterenburg Championship

Reversible cable car.

Reversible installation is more common and is easier to install as it only requires 2 supports. Most often, supports are installed on opposite banks of a reservoir. The advantages of this type of cable car include the ease of installation and the cost of the winch (tens of times cheaper than a ring winch). Riders really like reverse installations because they don’t have to go to the start; after a fall, they just need to swim up to the halyard handle, which the operator stops at the closest point to the rider. Prices are usually much more affordable than on a boat, but a little more expensive than on a ring winch, but here you only pay for the actual riding time, and not just waiting in line. The average price in Russia is 40 rubles per minute. One of the disadvantages is the small capacity, because only one person can roll. Here is a video from the northern capital.

Mobile winches.

Last in order, but not least, are Vinci (from the English Winch - winch). Riders usually make such winches themselves, for a group or team of 5-6 people, but, of course, you can buy them. Winch is extremely mobile; it is equipped with wheels and a handle for moving. It allows you to ride on any body of water that riders choose, adding great variety to the ride. To make things completely clear, I recommend watching the video of the Russian team about traveling around Russia with Vincha

Obstacles.

In behind-the-boat riding, the rider uses the wake wave to perform various tricks and elements. In cable wakeboarding there is no wave, and special obstacles (or, as they are called, figures) are used to perform jumps and slides. The most famous company in the world specializing in the manufacture of figures is UNIT.

Typically, ring winches are equipped with a “standard set” of obstacles:

Combine these four sports, put an athlete on the water and you get a wakeboard.

Wakeboarding in Moscow.

Despite the fact that wakeboarding is a type of extreme water sport in which the athlete moves at high speed behind a boat, this sport is increasingly being chosen for active recreation. There are two main ways to do this:

• Wakeboarding behind a boat.
• Wakeboarding using an electric winch.

The difference is that riding on an electric drive eliminates the appearance of a wake wave, but if there is no boat, there is no wave. To some extent, this helps to more accurately assess the cleanliness of performing tricks.

There is no doubt that riding behind a boat looks more impressive. However, boating will require a larger area of ​​water, skills from the athlete and the boat captain.

Wakeboard. Question price?

If you are interested ride a wakeboard in Moscow, change your winter snowboard or skis, and just test yourself, the Moswake club invites you to experience new sensations on the best wakeboards from world-famous manufacturers.

If you are a beginner, but you are very interested in trying water skiing, our experienced athletes and instructors will tell you where to start. They will help children and adults quickly get up and get used to the apparatus, tell them about the pitfalls and instruct them on safety precautions.

If you don't know where to ride and wakeboard in Moscow, collecting dust in the corner? Or you can't find inexpensive wakeboard in Moscow equipment for rent? Come visit us at the Moswake club. We are located 5 km from the Moscow Ring Road along the Dmitrovskoye Highway, on one of the piers of the Pirogovskoye Reservoir. We will be glad to see you, as we love guests very much.