In Transit will be in stores shortly.  Until then take a look at the teaser they have provided for us.

The proper size of your wakeboard is very important. Too big a board, and you’ll struggle to get on edge, or have trouble spinning.  Too small a board, and it’ll be a fight against the boat to even get up. One of the most important and very first questions one should ask themselves before buying a wakeboard is what is the right Wakeboard size for me?

Once again, we here at Marine Products are here to help you out.  We’d like to thank everyone from Liquid Force for putting this size chart together.  The proper board size for someone is based SOLELY on weight.

This is probably the best size chart that i’ve personally ever seen. Riding a board that’s the right size for you is going to improve both your comfort and riding as soon as you make the change.

People often aske about the width of wakeboards, and the effects that the differents widths will have on their riding.

The wider a wakeboard is, the more surface area is going to hit the wake.  A wide wakeboard is going to produce a greater pop off of the wake, where as a narrower wakeboard will help get on edge a lot faster.

Today, we’re gonna talk about edges. The edge of your board is very important. The with the help of the Rocker pattern, the Edge of the board helps decide the speed of board. The kind of edge is also going to decide whether the board will catch itself easily or not.

There are are two different kinds of edges. A Sharp Edge, and a Beveled Edge.

Beveled Edge- When a wake board has a beveled edge, this means that the edge of the board is rounded off. If a board has a beveled edge, the bevel, or rounded edge, is going to be in the middle part of the 3-Stage Rocker.  This rounded edge does a couple of different things for the board. If you remember when we talked about 3-Stage rockers, they tend to be slower then continuous rockers because the middle of the board is dragging in the water. When you bevel the edge of the board though, the rounded edge creates lift on the board. This lift reduces drag on the board and makes it faster then a 3-staged board with a full sharp edge.  A beveled edge also makes the board less likely to catch an edge while landing or sliding. The beveled edge does make the board a little slower to edge into the wake compared to a sharp edge. Some boards with a beveled edge are the Ronix Viva, the Ronix One, the Liquid Force Witness, and the Hyperlite Tribute.

Sharp Edge- The tip and the tail of all boards is going to be a Sharp edge. A Sharp edge is going to hold tightly going into the wake. The Sharp edge is always going to be found on Continuous Rockers, and is what gives the board it’s speed. If the board does have a Sharp Edge though, it will be more prone to catching it’s self and could cause the rider to fall. Some examples of boards with Sharp Edges are the Hyperlite Sub 6, the Hyperlite Marek, The Hyperlite Murray, the Liquid Force Groove, and the Byerly Assault.

Last time we talked, we introduced the term “Rocker” to you.  Today, we’re gonna go a little bit deeper into this subject by defining the different kinds of rocker shapes.

There are two main shapes of rockers on wake boards.  One is called a CONTINUOUS Rocker, and the other is called a 3 Stage Rocker.

CONTINUOUS ROCKER- A Continuous Rocker is when the bend of the board runs in a Continuously curved line. A continuous shaped board will sit higher up in the water when being ridden. This makes the board carry more speed into the wake. The pop that comes from a Continuous rocker is very smooth, and usually makes for a softer landing as well. However, the pop is not as abrupt, and often does not travel as high vertically as a 3 Stage rocker shape. Some examples of Continuous rocker boards are the 09 Hyperlight Murray, 09 Hyperlight Marek, Hyperlight 09 Sub 6, and the 09 Liquid Force Groove.

3 Stage Rocker- A 3 Stage Rocker is when the middle of the wake board is flat, and the tip and the tail for the board angle out.  This shape will make the wake board sit lower in the water, which makes the board a little slower going in to the wake.  The pop that comes from a 3 Stage shaped board is much more abrupt and is usually vertically higher then the pop that comes from a Continuous rocker.  3 Stage rockers tend to land a little bit harder on the water then a Continuous rocker lands. Some examples of 3 Stage rockers are the 09 Ronix One, Ronix 09 Viva, 09 Ronix Ibex, Liquid Force Lyman, Liquid Force Shane, and the Liquid Force S4.

Here’s a picture to help explain the difference between the 2 rocker types:

Image from Wake Origin

Rocker (A.K.A. Rocker Pattern, Rocker Shape)-

The Rocker is the way that the WakeBoard is curved. It is the difference in height from the tips of the board to the center of the board. For example, if a wakeboard has a 1.5 rocker, that means that the tips are 1.5 inches above the middle of the board. The easiest way to see this is by looking at the side of the wakeboard.  The steepness of the rocker effects how the board reacts when it hits the wake. A lot goes into that, but we’ll get to that in the future,

So Make Sure You Keep Checking Back

Ever wanted to get a new wakeboard, but when you got to your shop, the salesman started throwing out a bunch of crazy terms that you’ve never heard before, so you ended up getting a board that you really didn’t belong on, but hey the graphics were cool, so you got it anyways.  Then you go to take it out only to find that the board doesn’t ride the way you wanted it to, and now you’re out $500 bucks.

Well, we here at Marine Products are gonna make sure that never happens to you again!  Introducing, WakeBoarding Defined!

In this series, we’re gonna introduce you to all the terms that you’ll need to know to make sure that you get the most out of your next wakeboard. On top of that, we’re gonna help give you some ideas on what boards are the best for you and your riding ability.

So keep checking back here at the Marine Products blog for the next part of the series, and we’ll have you ridin the best wakeboard gear in no time!