October 10, 2007

Helium Still Cooling Up Life Jackets Like It's Their Job

Last year we posted about Helium's ability to cool up life jackets like nobody's business. Well, a year has passed and we're sticking to our guns on that one. Why? Well to be quite honest there are about 10 different items we like from the 2008 Helium Product Catalog, but it is "The Daisy" that stole our heart this year. Last year it was "The Tuxedo", but we've changed. We've moved on. We're going with something more casual - and we're shopping for a Women's jacket this year because my wife will soon be retuning to the sport after taking this summer off to recoup after giving birth to our baby girl.

Whoever concepted and designed that jacket deserves a raise. There are real business reasons why making aesthetically pleasing personal flotation devices is a good thing - not the least of which is that it can serve to motivate your customers to actually wear one. Survivalist wakeboarders who like, and wear, life jackets can live to buy more of them.

Helium's new Web site is not available yet, but you can download the Helium 2008 product catalog today.

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April 03, 2007

Extended Pylon Maker to Tower Industry: "Oh Yeah? Take This!"

It is always a sunny day in The Wakeboard Report offices when the Bart's, Overton's or Northern Tool & Equipment catalog arrives. Canvas enclosure canopies, **gasp** slalom skis (The Wakeboard Report crew plans on seriously stepping up its slalom game this summer), fenders and various boat trailer accessories are all on my mental wish list and the Overton's catalog is always fun to flip through.

So today as we were flipping through the Overton's Spring Master catalog, we noticed the Pro X Series Tower Extension from Fly High - something we didn't even know existed. Apologies all around for our late arrival to this particular party. I have to admit I did laugh out loud when I saw the photo. But only for a moment. After a quick search on my favorite online wakeboard shop, I learned that Boardstop sells this product too.

Step 4 in our Beginners Guide to Getting Equipped for Wakeboarding asserts that getting a tower or extended pylon is a crucial and pivotal step for equipping yourself for this sport. The improvement that The Wakeboard Report crew saw when we first equipped our boat with an extended pylon was remarkable. So before we laugh at this tower extension product, think back at what those original extended pylons did for your riding. If you are lucky or young enough to have not known pre-tower and pre-extended pylon riding - then this concept may not hit home for you quite as strongly.

It is plausible that this 5 foot extension could be a very beneficial training aid for learning tricks that require a lot of hang time, such as raleys, glide variants and rotational tricks. So, is it a funny looking contraption? Yes. Does it have potential? Certainly. Would I be willing to try one? Most definitely.

Boardstop sells the Pro X Series Tower Extension, and that's where we recommend you buy yours. Report back here with your results in the comments section.

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November 29, 2006

The Beginners Guide to Getting Equipped for Wakeboarding

As our sport grows, is televised, shown on cereal commercials and has managed to find a place among other respected action sports, many are interested in the requirements for getting started. The sport is still somewhat of a fringe one, but we're certainly making strides and people want in! Many people are interested in what is really required to get the most out of a wakeboarding experience. The answer is not to run out and spend $60,000 on a 2006 MasterCraft X2, and a $600 honeycomb stick although some companies may disagree with that assertion.

The items I will mention in this post apply to the most modest of situations. Not to say that a nicely equipped Super Air Nautique Team Edition or Malibu Wakesetter 247 wouldn't make your wakeboarding experience more enjoyable, but the items below apply to runabouts, IO's and even early tournament inboards; and more importantly the riders that enjoy them. Essentially these recommendations apply to just about everyone equipping themselves and their boat as wakeboarding phenoms.

So on with it.

An Equipment Build-up Plan for Beginners, in Order of Importance:
1. Get a non stretch, wakeboarding specific line (rope). Don't jury-rig your rope or use a slalom line, ever. The only exception is if you are riding somewhere far from civilization as a guest. The poor connection you'll feel to the boat, increased fatigue, and loss of control over your body while you're in the air are almost unavoidable with a standard polypropylene sectioned slalom line. Head over to Boardstop and get into a nice non-stretch line.

2. Get bindings that fit, tightly and perfectly. In our opinion it is more important than rushing into a high end board. Keep your bindings out of the sun and do not let them get shoddy & ripped - and still expect to start landing inverts in them. Bindings provide the connection to the board and are probably the most important piece of equipment in your arsenal. There is a significant risk of injury if one binding releases and the other stays in place. Remember that you have every right to guard your bindings, even if it means buying your own set that only you use and you don't let Biff & Brutus slide their size 17's into them. In my opinion it is 100% ok to be snobby and selfish about bindings. I say that as someone who has broken his leg because of poorly fitting ones.

3. Be a wise consumer when it comes time to buy a board. Look, most of the big name wakeboard manufacturers' boards made within the last 6 years or so years will do fine for most people. The shape that was released as the 'Hyperlite Fluid' from about 1998-on (otherwise characterized by the then-new Murray with the Sunburst graphic or the VW Bug graphic, depending if you opted for foam core or honeycomb) was a giant leap forward in design and is so successful that Shawn Murray himself still competes on a variant of it to this day. Also the Liquid Force Squirt/Trip lineages represent an evolutionary watershed moment, after which not a whole hell of a lot has REALLY blown me away, and one that many other manufacturers have rightly copied. Not that I don't get a new board every few years, but the Hyperlite Fluid and Trip/Squirt family lines were revolutionary, not evolutionary leaps in board design and elements of each became the norm from that point on. There have been some gimmicky attempts to push design, but I think it was at that point when boards sort of hit a plateau. Anecdotally, I learned more on my Squirt and Super Squirt Necrassen than anything else - ever.

4. Now without getting into an unwinnable brand or method argument, get a tower or extended pylon. It helps to get that rope up high, but it is not more important than the your connection to the board vis-a-vis the bindings, or the connection to the boat. That's why it is fourth on the list. Putting the pulling/attach point above the riders' shoulders allows them to learn proper body position and edging. Towers and extended pylons are not trends - they will be on our wake boats from now on - period. And though I prefer huge wakes, I have personally witnessed Scott Byerly effortlessly nailing switch mobes behind a Flightcraft Outboard with a laughable wake. All he cared about was getting that extended pylon fastened, and he took it from there. With specific regard to order of importance, it is more important to get the rope attach point up high, than to slam the boat with ballast. Get used to the high attach point and use it to the best of your ability - THEN slam the boat.

5. Now you can look into ballast and wake enhancement devices. Most boats respond well to a 40/40/20 weight ratio from stern to bow. This translates to careful weight placement in the rear, but do not forget about weight placement in the center of the boat. This is particularly applicable to boats that were designed as tournament slalom boats (and unfortunately most of our boats do fall into that category).

Get those things added as your budget permits, in that order, you will be incrementally happier with each item acquired and equipped. Get a good connection to the boat, get a good connection to your board, and your chances of success begin to grow. Complete the list and we'll see you competing in Pro-Am events in no time.

Posted by erik at 03:36 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

October 19, 2006

Dear Helium: Will Wear Your Vests for 1 "Prom Night"

Not to draw your attention away from the very important text on page 60 (see October 21 post, please), did you see the Helium vest that Colin Wright was sporting on page 61?

Normally The Wakeboard Report crew rides with JetPilot neovests (some USCG, some not so much) but I would be willing to swtich brands for a vest crafted in the likeness of a sleeveless tuxedo. I have to tip my hat to the manufacturers of wakeboarding vests who have actually managed to 'cool up' life jackets. And I have to raise my glass extra high to Helium for taking at step even cooler. I had imagined that life jacket design review meetings were extra boring, with phrases like "Johnson are we going with 3 stripes this year or 4?", or "I think we should go with black again, Anne." I guess these meetings are not as boring at Helium, in light of their new offerings of cardigan, paisley, checkerboard and TUXEDO!

We don't use this blog as a begging platform (except for some boats), but if Helium wanted to ship me one of these, I promise to lose 10 lbs and make it look at least marginally sexier than this.

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May 30, 2006

I Could See Myself with One of These

From the forums at Wakeboarder.com, comes this nifty little custom mirror. For some reason, innovations for basic items on wake boats are few and far between. So when something like this comes up, that makes a lot of sense but was built by a small custom shop, I like to highlight them and hope that the big tow boat companies are paying attention. Tower mounted, articulating mirror arms are very cool in their own right - but then again it is the same convex safety mirror we've had on our boats for about 15 years now, just with a different attach point. They work just fine, but the 'technology' of a small windshield or aluminum arm mounted mirror is getting a little bit dated. And the sort of innovation found in this mirror design is considerably more important in states that allow water skiiers and wakeboarders to go without a spotter.

The only "problem" if you could even call it that, is the mirror looks pretty long, as it was meant, and built for, a single frame windshield and wouldn't be compatible with the folding windshields used on most wake boats. That is ok. It would be perfect for an older Ski Nautique 2001 or any of the current crop of closed bow tournament ski boats. And this may seem surprising, but the members of wakeboardreport.com who are also avid water skiers, barefooters and take passes in the slalom course once in awhile too, pay attention to water skiing products with interest. Something like this would be very appropriate for tournament-level slalom boats, who tow skiers that at the apex of their turn, tend to be outside the view of even the steepest convex mirrors.

More photos:
Carbon back
Next to an Integrity wakeskate to show size
Alternate front view

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February 12, 2006

A Sensible Aftermarket Product for your Wake Boat

There are a few aftermarket products that have been a Godsend. Actually, in my mind, exactly 2 so far that have fit perfectly into the sensible category. Aftermarket towers add space inside the boat, let you put boards and other large items up and out of your way, and add an "I'm not screwing around" look to just about any boat. Not to mention they provide a stiffer and more even pull for the rider. And aftermarket ballast systems (automatic or manual pump) let us weight our boat without stupid concrete barrels and other nonsensical items. But the aftermarket remains flooded with other items that we don't really need.

Primal Marine Produx now makes seat covers for your Super Air Nautique, Wakesetter, and X-Star. Plus other models soon I hope. Ok so how come nobody has ever thought of this before? Why didn't I think of it, as a worrisome, overly careful boat owner? And these are not the cheezeball Tweety or Taz seat covers found at Wal-Mart that you'd install in a Geo Metro. These appear to be made of tight-fitting, comfortable material and make all sorts of sense, and they protect the boat from errant wakeboard fins, boot-wearing guests ($%#%#@!) and other potentially harmful items. I hope to see more of this kind of thing in general, and less neon-lights, 4000 watt tower speakers, rope wind-reels and other things that make tiny amounts of sense. If you have bad boat covering habits, or if you've ever had to deal with a cracked piece of upholstery, sun-damaged seats, or a combination of the above, these will make a lot of sense to you. If you need not worry about such things because you have a 2-story covered boathouse, then please disregard. And invite me over.

These are currently made for the following models:
-Super Air Nautique, years 2002-2006
-Malibu Wakesetter VLX, years 2005-2006

They are working on patterns for:
-Correct Craft 211
-Malibu Wakesetter 23 LSV
-Master Craft XSTAR, X2

Unfortunately they are not giving them away, but having recently replaced an ailing drivers seat on a Ski Nautique 2001, I believe that these seat covers are still a good investment. Now make the pattern for the 2001 Super Air Nautique please.

More information found at Primal Marine Produx's Web site.

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