St. Petersburg
47 Stachek Ave.

(territory of the Kirov factory)

Everyone knows that if you throw a flat pebble so that it slightly touches the water, the pebble will bounce. In childhood, it was called “letting the frog go,” that is, the frog. The amazing thing is: if the stone is thrown strongly and skillfully, then the number of bounces will simply amaze the imagination. Probably the man himself, if you run it well, should be able to ... So, let's figure out how to jump on the water without going to the bottom with a stone? To do this, we went to a wakeboarding center.

The concept of wakeboarding consists of two words: wake (wake - wave) and board (board - board). In the early 90's, wakeboarding made a splash in one-skiing. Like snowboarding in alpine skiing, its water counterpart turned upside down ideas about stunt opportunities on water. This sport is highly extreme - a boat pulling an athlete along a water surface develops a speed of over 70 km / h. True, at wakeboarding competitions, speed is limited to 40 km / h, but this is enough to perform unique tricks and fly to a height of more than 3 meters.

The first steps in mastering the miracle will lead the beginner to the trampoline. Although it is logical to learn how to jump on water, you first need to be able to jump in the air. Wakeboarding without jumping is like soccer with a puck, nobody is interested. The essence of the sport is the performance of tricks on the wake wave, coming from the boat, to the delight of the audience and judges to evaluate. Many tricks are borrowed from snowboarding, but there are a number of exclusive ones - wakeboards. For example, spin360 - here the rider needs to turn 360 degrees around his axis, intercepting the halyard (handle) with his hands. The bigger, the better.

Wakeboarding uses only specialized boats, they are equipped with an X-shaped frame, for which the halyard is mounted. The frame is also needed in order for the boat to be heavier, and therefore give a higher wave. The verified geometry of the bottom is responsible for its shape. Different brands of boats give marks of different shapes - from some they turn downhill (hilly), while others will give a more aggressive, rocky wave, but the risk of flying out and landing hard increases. The optimal wave height for wakeboarding is 70 cm.

 For the needs of especially extreme sizes, ballast is used - 30 liter water tanks, they additionally load the karma, which allows you to double the wave.

The most important thing in wakeboarding is the start. Holding the board perpendicular to the water, it is necessary to catch the movement energy coming from the boat. This force will push the board to the surface, after which it is necessary to transfer the body weight to the hind leg, otherwise the nose of the wake will burrow into the water - this is a false start.

Jumping on a wake from wave to wave, you can perform the devil knows what tricks, the complexity and effectiveness of which are limited only by the skill and imagination of the rider.

 True, you need to keep in mind that a towing vehicle is nevertheless desirable. Although if you take wakeboarding as a vacation, not a sport, then a jet ski and a rubber boat with a powerful rower are suitable (just kidding). Actually twisting crazy somersaults is not necessary at all. Many approach wakeboarding as fitness. This is due to the fact that almost all muscle groups work during riding. And they work so that 15 minutes of skiing can compare with the hour spent in the gym.

 
Source: www.fascinating.ru