Looking for Suggestions for the Best Board for Getting the Wife to Go Ropeless ...

[North Woody]

I’m looking to tap into the collective wisdom of those who are keeping their wives happy and connected during long wakesurfing sessions... Having become a proficient wakesurf driver for me and my 3 sons on or 2014 LSV, my wife is now jumping into surfing herself. She’s a proficient slalom skier and a good athlete, but at 120 lbs she’s struggling to go ropeless on our 2014 Ronix Parks Carbon Thruster even though me and my boys (all between 180-200 lbs) love this board.

So I’m looking for any good suggestions from you guys for a good board to get her comfortable on the wave. We could probably use an additional entry-level board anyway, so I’m hoping you guys can share your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help!

[parrothd]

I’m looking to tap into the collective wisdom of those who are keeping their wives happy and connected during long wakesurfing sessions... Having become a proficient wakesurf driver for me and my 3 sons on or 2014 LSV, my wife is now jumping into surfing herself. She’s a proficient slalom skier and a good athlete, but at 120 lbs she’s struggling to go ropeless on our 2014 Ronix Parks Carbon Thruster even though me and my boys (all between 180-200 lbs) love this board.

So I’m looking for any good suggestions from you guys for a good board to get her comfortable on the wave. We could probably use an additional entry-level board anyway, so I’m hoping you guys can share your thoughts and suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help!

She needs to ride more, with her wieght should have no issues riding ropless on a big board. The only issue she'll have is it'll be slow. Take some video and have her watch it. My guess she's riding it like a slamom ski, leaning back. Surfing you should be pushing down on your front foot. If her back leg is getting tired means she's to far foward on the board and needs to move back and press down on front foot.

If she can't ride that board it won't be any better on others. Her issue should be with a bigger board its hard to not crash into the boat and surfs by itself or slow, not falling off the wave.

[flienlow]

is she riding with too much rear weight? I bet that could be her issue.

[larry_arizona]

A trick for getting from riding too far rearward (rear leg bias) is reach both hands forward.


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[trayson]

having the right sized board makes all the difference. my wife started on a 4'9 hyperlite broadcast and then transitioned to a 4'8 Ronix caption. she then got a 4'4 doomswell spark plug and now is riding a 4'6 doomswell Neo. She's only 5'2 and boards that are too big for her really make her stuggle. We went out while on Vacation in TX a couple years ago and she tried to ride a 5' doomswell and it was a big struggle.

Yes, I agree that there are 3 factors: Rider skill, board, and wave. 2 of the 3 can compensate for a lacking in the 3rd. I don't have any real recommendations for beginner boat boards though. We kept the ronix caption, which isn't made anymore. it's not the absolute easiest to ride, but it fits that beginner/intermediate need and it's thin enough that it fits in the front locker and in the wakeboard racks easily. so it's a keeper for us.

[North Woody]

Thanks Gents, this is all really helpful. Our wave is great, but her issue seem to be that she struggles to be able to flip the board down with her heels to start, so she uses her right hand to pull it down - but then she is unable to get toes far enough to the toe edge of the board to be able to stay in the wave. I keep trying to get her to point the board at the back of the boat, but with her feet too far away from the toe edge she isn’t able to stay in the pocket to get the push she needs.

She’s only 5’ 3” 120lbs so I’m thinking she needs a smaller board (and maybe even a kid’s board) to be able to get her up more easily with her feet in the right position ...

[dakota4ce]

She’s small enough for a Scamp almost. Easy board for the issues you describe.

She will also have to learn how to keep her feet toward her toes once she gets up. Very common.


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[trayson]

There are lots of boards out there that are easier to flip. But it's a necessary skill to have. Thinner boards do tend to be more neutrally buoyant and have less volume and are in turn easier to flip. No question there.

As far as her foot positioning, she's simply going to have to learn how to adjust her feet AFTER she gets up. My wife is a great rider and still really has to work at 'crawling' her toes to creep her feet into the correct position to get her weight more to the toe edge of the board. Learning to crawl your feet is easier when holding the rope. Foot positioning is huge.

Timing between driver and rider is also really important. Even now if her and I aren't in sync, she'll have a harder time flipping the board and pulling it under her ass.

[trayson]

I also have a couple of female riders where their method of getting up is to have me put the boat in gear and they'll position their feet on the board with the board mostly underwater and I'm dragging them in gear and then when they feel good about their foot position, they say hit it and I give them throttle. It's not the traditional "flip" technique, but it's how they both prefer to start and they've gotten to the point where they're both freeriding and that's just how they start. So who am I to argue and make them do something they're less comfortable with?

[North Woody]

Thanks guys ... after reading through everyone’s thoughts and getting some additional input from others I pulled the trigger on a women’s Ronix Koal Technora Fish. It’s only 4’ 5” and 14.2 liters, so it should be small and thin enough to easily get up on while being a board that she can grow into and learn on over time as she progresses. Plus, it comes in pink and I gotta bling my gal



We’re back up at the lake on Thursday for a weekend with friends and it gets delivered on Tuesday so I’ll report back on how she gets on with it. Thanks for all the great feedback and suggestions, and I will definitely shoot some video for her to see how she is progressing.


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