Too many boards to choose from

I give up...There are entirely too many wake boards to choose from. Every review seems identical to the next. I currently have a Ronix Mana and I want to try something different this year. I tried my buddy's Liquid Force PS3 last year and really liked it. It landed much easier and I could roll edges and hook up easier while carrying more speed into the wake.

My Ronix is a 3 stage rocker and the PS3 was a continuos rocker. I'm leaning more towards a continuos rocker and that leaves me with about 30-40 boards to choose from. I found a blemish Hyperlite Marek Nova for a steal, but I know nothing about them and only using their suggested $700 retail price as a guide thinking it's a high end board. I only ride open water and want a board that transitions smooth and holds a good edge into the wake and doesn't hit too hard on landing.

Got any favorites or boards to stay away from?

Boards are definately a personal preference. Knowing what aspects of a board you like will help narrow your choice. Some like boards that spin (or break free) easily, hold an edge great, pop more with surface area. Once you know what you like from a board, determine what features on the board make those things happen. i.e. Hard rails will make a board edge better, 3 stage rocker vs continous rocker change the transition of edging and affect the pop, board wideth will change pop and landing, and the tail shape will affect stability and landing.

To that end, boards only have a few variances in shape. I have ridden many boards and there aren't that many difference in riding characteristics. I like narrow, hard rails and 3 stage rocker. I also like short than normal. You may like none of these characteristics. I like fins in the centerline and not on the edges, so I know that I'm weird.

Understanding what you like will help you find a board. Once you know what you like and can describe it as features on a board, contact reps for board companies and let them tell you the board that they make that fits your description. Then test ride it.

Very nice primer on board selection above. Good job, Paul (nice to see you submitting something really helpful instead of the usual acerbic comment!).

Not much more to add from what was said above. Basically boils down to personal preference, demo as many of them as you can and start to narrow it down. My son's preference is complete opposite as Maxpower. He currently rides Hyperlite Franchise 134 which is continuous rocker, variable edge (sharper at tip and tail and rounder somewhat between feet, a little more forgiving on catching front or back edges), no center fin, he likes the board to be bigger and ride higher on the water, he puts bindings on the widest stance possible and likes the board to have a wide spine and be very wide between his feet too soften landings yet narrow tip and tail to help with spinning.

The PS3 is an excellent shape and it wouldn't surprise me to see his new CTRL board have some of the same characteristics.

The Marek is a great shape too but its not for everyone. It's like a sportscar in regards to speed and its either on edge on not, not much in between. And the kink in the rocker towards the tip and tail will boot you.

If you haven't already bought a new board, make sure you try out a Slingshot!

I ended up going with a Ronix Parks 139cm and I couldn't be happier! It transitions edges so much better than my previous Ronix Mana and accelerates and holds speed into the wake. My old board was a 144cm and I knew it was too big for me and I would land so hard the handle always seemed to pop out of hand. The new board lands so much smoother and the handle hasn't popped out of my hand yet. With the new board and boat I've gotten some crazy ups that I couldn't come close to with my old DD boat.

I was having problems with my old bindings loosening up on me shortly after I got out of the water and I relaced them with new locks and they are good as new with a $15 lace kit. Wakeboard Wednesday is almost here and can't wait to hit the water again with some buddies and then begins the 10 day vacation at the lake over the 4th.