Improving Your Wake

It's the dream of every wakeboard rider: a perfect, big wake to ride. It's how they get their thrills and build up their skills. Their job is to conquer the wake. It's your job as the wake boat driver to provide the ideal wake. Fortunately, there are some simple tricks for providing a solid wake. We rounded up the top strategies for improving your wake below. For everything related to boats, visit Active Water Sports. We proudly serve those in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington.

Driving the Wake Boat

How boats navigate the open waters affects the wakeboard experience. It starts with your speed. You want to go slow enough that it's still safe to tow a wakeboard. But you also want to go fast enough that you create a decent wake. The ideal speed to shoot for is between 20 and 25 miles per hour.

Once you hit that speed sweet spot, your next goal is to maintain it. A consistent speed leads to a consistent wake, which is easier to wakeboard than a constantly changing wake. Keep in mind that your wake boat may slow down when the wakeboard rider enters the wake. When this happens, open the throttle to return to the ideal speed. But make sure to accelerate slowly and smoothly when the rider is behind your boat.

Another key aspect of driving your wake boat is aiming to steer in a straight line. Each time you turn, you risk the wake decreasing or vanishing altogether. Sometimes, turns are unavoidable. In this case, you'll want to make a hard cut to switch up your direction. Just don't make this turn when the rider is entering the wake.

Adjusting the Wake

Part of driving boats involves cleaning up the wake. This involves adjusting the trim. Trimming the engine causes the bow to rise. This results in the stern going deeper into the water, which makes the wake bigger. Be careful of making the wake too steep or too close to the boat - these situations will be hard for the wakeboard rider to navigate. It may take some practice, but you'll become a pro in no time.

Another strategy is to adjust the weight inside your wake boat. Ideally, boats will have evenly distributed weight to get that consistent wake shape. Situate any passengers to sit or stand in ways that distribute the weight evenly from left to right. You can also use fat sacks to adjust the weight. These are large bladders full of water. But not all boats can handle this hike in weight, so make sure your floor is capable of the strain.

Adding Ballast

Once your wake is clean, your final step is making it bigger. This step is easy. All you need is to add more weight to your wake boat, which is known as a ballast. Many boats are built with a factory ballast. If yours doesn't, you can use people or fat sacks to increase the weight on your wake boat. Your wakeboard rider will thank you! Just be sure it's evenly distributed.

Before you can take a wakeboard rider out on the water, your boat needs to be running smoothly. If you need a service or parts replacement, bring your wake boat to Active Water Sports. Our expert staff can get boats running like new. We also offer a wide range of new and used boats for sale. We proudly serve those in Central Oregon including Portland, Eugene, Salem, and Bend, Oregon. We also serve those in Vancouver, Washington.