WAKESURF BOARDS AND THEIR SHAPES WITH INLAND SURFER’S LANCE CONNER
As wakesurfing continues to grow in popularity, so do the questions surrounding the sport. We visited with Lance Conner on the shores of Lake Sammamish at the Inland Surfer HQ, so he could enlighten us on all things wakesurfing. Read along as Lance takes us to the bottom of wakesurf boards, their shapes, their fins, and answers all the questions you have been pondering.
Can a wakesurfer function as a regular surfboard that I could take out on the ocean?
It can work, just not that good depending on the type of the wave you’re riding- most ocean surf boards have much more tail rocker than a wakesurf board. Boat wakes are small and weak compared to an ocean wave so you have to design a wake surfer to be fast on a small, weak wake.
Are wakesurfers “shaped” like regular surfboards or are they built differently?
I can’t speak to all wakesurf boards out there but the higher end/custom wake surfers are built the same as traditional ocean boards, but are shaped differently to accommodate for the nature of a boat wake vs. an ocean wave. Some boards are hand built like our new Inland Surfer Keenan Surf Pro Model. Other types of boards, usually entry level boards, are built from a compression mold like a wakeboard- our Tako is an example of that process.
Keenan Flegel show us how it’s done on his surf pro model.
Can you get into wakesurfing without a dedicated wake boat?
Yes, with the right board and as long as it’s an inboard or jet boat- it’s not ideal, but you can get it to work. NEVER surf behind an outboard or an inboard/outboard boat (because of the exposed prop). Having a wake sport boat will be easier to set up for surfing and the deeper “V” shape of the hull makes it a higher performing surf boat. Examples of surfing behind a non-wake boat would be a ski boat or a yacht.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen on a wake surfer?
Any of Keenan Flegel’s new tricks- the dude walks on water.
What board shape is optimal for sliding your first surface spins or poppin’ your first shuv-it?
First I want to be sure to establish that there are two different disciplines in wake surfing: skim style and surf style. In most cases a skim style board is shorter, has a thinner profile, and uses one small fin. A Surf style board is longer, thicker, and uses a larger multi-fin set up.
In my opinion, learning how to spin should be done on a surf style board In fact, learning how to wakesurf should be done on a surf style board vs. a skim style board, period. Once you’ve figured out how to “pump” the board down the line to generate speed on a surf style board then you can switch to a skim style board. You have to learn how to walk before you can run.
Sean Cummings throwing a shuv-it o his pro model skim
The trade-off is that the skim style board will spin easier, but it is more difficult to stop your rotation and catch back up with the boat again- most folks over rotate and lose the wake. If you learn to spin on a surf style board it is a bit tougher to initiate your spin, but it is much easier to control your rotation and stop at the correct position on the wake and keep up with the boat.
Once you’ve mastered spinning a surf style board, spinning a skim board is easy; it’s the stopping part that’s difficult. For shuv-its, a skim style board like our 4Skim line are the optimal shapes. Only the top pros can do shuv-its on a surf style board.
What profile offers the most pop for catching air off the lip, and which board do you prefer for this?
This really comes down to personal preference. In my experience, I’ve found that boards that have a more aggressive tail rocker like our new Keenan Surf and our James Pro Models perform the best for airing out.
Taylor Dorey with an explosive backside air
How do different fin configurations alter the feel and performance of a board? Which do you prefer?
You could write pages on the subject of fins and fin configuration. There’s a lot of science behind it and I don’t pretend to know much about that science. Simplified, the rule of thumb on fins is; bigger fins or more fins will tighten the tail of the board and add drive and acceleration when you “pump” the board to generate speed. Smaller fins or fewer fins will loosen the tail of the board and allows the tail to break free easier.
The other factor with fins is placement on the board and the angles of the fins or fin boxes. Our 2015 surf style line now offers our new TRItech fin boxes which are a 3-position fin box that allows the rider to move the fins forward (toward the nose) or backward (toward the tail).
If you move the fins forward, it loosens the feel of the board and if you move the fins backward, it tightens the feel of the board. The other advantage Inland Surfer has over our competition is our fin boxes. We place the fin boxes parallel to the center line of the board. This allows us to utilize straight fins (parallel to the center line of the board and at 90 degrees to the surface) or fins with geometry (toe-in and cant angles).
Toe-in means the leading edge of the fin is angled toward the center line or nose of the board and cant angle means the profile of the fins are angled toward the rails of the board.
To get a visual on fin placement watch this “Fin 101″ video.
Folks that ride our boards get to choose from many sizes, shapes, and most importantly- angles of fins to find what works perfectly for them. Right now, I’m riding the new Keenan Surf with a pair of Monster fins (size XL, 11.5cm, geometry) in the outside locations and a pair of Little Buddy fins (size SML, 5cm, geometry) in the inside locations.
How do rail profiles differ on wake surfers, and to what affect?
Like with fins and fin configuration, there is a lot of science behind rail geometry. Simplified and generally speaking, a sharp (or hard) rail can increase the down the line speed and a dull (or soft) rail will be a bit slower, but will allow the board to roll from rail to rail smoother. A sharp rail around the entire board will help with control, speed and the hold into the wake which is good for a skim board that doesn’t use a lot of fin.
Sharp rails allow you to carry more speed down the line.
Hard-to-Soft rails are usually found on surf style boards that utilize larger fins to do the bulk of the control and tracking. The art in shaping a rail is where you take a rail from hard to soft in order to find the correct balance between speed and smoothness.
What direction is Wakesurf technology heading? In which direction is wakesurfing progressing?
Like most equipment based sports the tech is in lighter and stronger materials, but that comes with an increase in expense. Using the lightest, strongest and most exotic materials gives you a technological advantage, but it also makes your products more expensive- you get what you pay for in this industry. Not only do you have to use the best materials- you also need to have your shapes dialed in.
The combination of materials, hull and deck shapes, fin configuration, rocker profiles, and rail geometry all have to be in balance in order to build that magic board. The progression I see in wakesurfing is in the rider’s abilities improving dramatically. You now need to possess a 360 shuv-it in your arsenal of tricks to compete at the amateur level in skim style. The trick list for each division used to be more divided just a few years ago- skim guys did all the skateboard oriented tricks and the surf guys did more old school ocean power surfing maneuvers.
Carbon fiber is featured on several boards in the Inland Surfer line.
Now the surf style guys are able to do skim style tricks on their surfboards and the skim guys can rip the top off the lip. This is pushing the top designers to build boards to accommodate this progression. The other progression is in the boats themselves.
Boats are being built with better and easier to use ballast systems and wake shaping devices so the weekend warrior can get a decent wake by pushing a few buttons. However, there are still a few tricks you need to do to get your boat wake to pro level performance no matter what manufacturer’s marketing/sales guy tells you.
What’s the most versatile style or size of wake surfer to take out when you have multiple riders of varying weights and ability levels?
I get asked this question often and unfortunately there is no silver bullet that will work ideally for each person unless they are of similar weight and ability level. For example, most folks have mom, dad and the kids in their boat so dad at 200 pounds will need a different board than mom at 120 and the kids at 80 pounds.
Also, an advanced rider will want a different board than a beginner rider. That’s why we have so many different shapes in our line. Inland Surfer has a board for every rider’s ability level, weight and wake size. To have the most success and fun you want to be able to ride the correct board. That being said, if your riders are of similar weight and ability level I recommend a surf style board between 4’6” – 5’4” with larger (9cm) fins. This set-up is the most versatile for beginner to advanced riders.
Caro Villeneuve prefers her single fin pro model skim.
How important is the size of the wake?
It’s critical. The size, shape, and strength of the wake is the absolute most important factor in wakesurfing- the second most important factor is the board. I’ve been behind boats with big wakes that looked good, but have no “push” to them so they were weak, and I had to stay close to the back of the boat. I’ve also been behind boats with relatively small wakes but had plenty of push and I could go further back away from the boat.
The idea is to get as far away from the boat as possible- this allows you the maximum space to set up and do tricks. The rule of thumb on boats wakes is: the smaller the wake the bigger the board you need and the opposite is true, the bigger the wake you have the smaller the board you can get away with riding.
In my experience, V-drive wake sport specific boats, with deep V-hulls perform the best for wake surfing. When these boats are weighted correctly they will displace the maximum amount of water from the hull and create a larger, more powerful wake behind them.
Once the water is displaced from the hull correctly you can then use the boats fine tuning tools (trim tab, CATS, NSS, Gates, etc.) to contour the wake to your specific liking.
We hope this information was helpful to you and will help you find the right board for your boat and rider alike. If you are still curious about wakesurf board choice then head into our Portland or Seattle stores.
For more info on how to set up and weight your boat for wakesurfing head here.
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