Remember that aha! moment when you first got up and stayed up on a wakeboard or water ski? That exhilarating feeling is etched in your memory. And if you continue to train and acquire new skills, those aha! moments will keep popping up over a lifetime.
What's crucial is knowing how to get better. For most, it's a matter of going on autopilot and defaulting to trial and error. Buying a new, better board or ski can be part of the answer to improving behind the boat. But there's more to it.
Everyone, even if you are just getting started with wake sports or riding a tube, needs that plan.
The key for getting better with wake sports is to improve three separate elements: equipment, technique and boat driving.
This is a physical, symbiotic relationship, like a three-legged stool. Remove one leg and it falls over. Here's a review of each aspect.
This story is from the November 2022 edition of Boating.
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This story is from the November 2022 edition of Boating.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
AFFORDABLE SATCOM
Communications devices using satellite technology are more abundant today than any time in the past. What's more, many are portable, ultra-compact, affordable relatively and designed for boating, dispelling any perceptions that you need a big, expensive dome antenna aloft to access satellite communications.
IN THE BEGINNING
REPOWERING FOUNTAIN HULL NO.1
NAVICO GROUP FATHOM 2.0
Engine charging at 48 volts could be a game-changer.
PROPS FOR INNOVATION
Sharrow MX3 propellers live up to most of the company's performance-improvement claims.
MERCURY RACING 500R
Supercharged power for a variety of boats.
FLIPPING THE SWITCH
Much reporting focuses on reasons why one might choose electric marine power. The issues of range, speed, noise levels, winterizing and ethanol challenges, lake restrictions, environmental concerns and more all must be resolved on an individual basis. Little gets said about how a boater choosing to repower with electric actually gets that accomplished. Is it DIY? And if not, how does it get done?
TOW-VEHICLE TECH
If it's been a while since you bought new tow vehicle, you might be surprised by the many built-in advancements in trailering technology. New tow tech ranges from integrated weight scales and adaptive suspensions to systems that automatically back up your truck to hitch up your trailer. Here are a few examples to look for. -Jim Hendricks
MONUMENTAL TIPS FOR BACKING A TRAILER
Three Boating greats offer advice for a perennial reader query.
STICKING POINTS - Anchoring alternatives, and why you will always need a traditional anchor.
My brother-in-law likes to fish offshore reefs, and the process once entailed navigating to a mark, dropping a float, and idling upwind or up-current to drop the anchor in hopes the set would drop us back to the float.
FOR WANT OF A CLAMP
When 100 miles from shore, home and help, this boater’s preparedness prevented potential catastrophe.
