| kgrove |
12-30-2012 09:49 PM |
The first time I heard of wakesurfing was back in the early 80s, though the version I knew of was more like waterskiing. I knew guys that were shapers back when they were first experimenting with three fin designs. They found they could test diffent fin configurations more quickly by pulling surfers behind a boat at high speed than by waiting for big waves. It was a less realistic test, but allowed them to test at speed and easily test multiple shapes and layouts quickly. I guess it was more a hybrid between surfing.
I first did true wakesurfing in about 1983 behind a 54' sport fishing boat in Mexico. It was a blast for somebody who had never seen it, but it felt awfuly lonely after a crash as it would take the boat about 5 minutes to come back to pick me up. It doesn't sound like long until you're bobbing by yourself 30 miles off shore and hoping the boat can still see you. Boats that big don't circle around so fast as wakeboard boats do (but they put out a really nice wave).
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