Outboard

This type of boat has an outboard motor, meaning that the entire motor and drive unit (propeller) is external to the boat and is attached to the back.   You’ll find this most often used on fishing-type boats, but it’ll also appear on older water-ski boats.  In addition, I see a lot of speed boats using this configuration.  The benefits to an outboard boat are mainly in cost, and they’re a little simpler to maintain and operate than the others listed here.  You can use this type of boat for wakeboarding and other towable sports, but if you really get into it, you’ll probably want to graduate into one of the other types. Do NOT wakesurf behind this boat, though, due to danger of getting too close to the propeller.

Sterndrive, or I/O (Inboard/Outboard)

This is identical to an outboard boat in terms of the drive unit, it is external to the boat and contains the propeller and pivots with the steering wheel to turn the boat.  However, the engine is much larger and is inside the boat, at the stern, and is connected to the drive unit through the transom.  These make great waterskiing and wakeboarding boats.  You cannot wakesurf behind them, though, due to danger of getting too close to the propeller.  These are going to cost you more than the outboard boats, but will generally be less expensive than the inboard boats listed below.

Inboard Direct Drive

Inboard boats have a fixed propeller, meaning it is on a shaft that does not allow the propeller to pivot.  It simply spins and pushes the water straight back.  There is a rudder affixed to the boat a few inches behind the propeller and the steering wheel pivots this rudder left and right to direct the flow of water and thus steer the boat.  Inboard boats generally have a platform of some sort on the back of the boat.  A direct drive inboard boat has the engine located almost directly in the center of the boat.  These types of boats are for the die-hard water skier.  The location of the engine in the center means that the boat will sit very flat on the water, and create little to no wake behind it, leaving it nice and smooth for the skier.  In recent years, wake towers have been pretty common on these boats and they’re used more and more for wake boarding and wake surfing as well.  It is a little bit harder to create a nice wake for boarding and surfing behind these boats, but possible with additional weight placed in the right spot and the assistance of such devices as the wedge on a Malibu boat.  As soon as you cross over into the inboard boats, the cost goes up.  Direct drives are less expensive than a V-drive boat, though, and can usually be used for all of the same things, you just have to be a little more creative if you want a large wake.

Inboard V-Drive

The V-drive is identical to the direct drive, except that it has the engine placed at the back of the boat, to add more weight there and help create a larger wake.  This type of boat is designed for wakesurfing and wakeboarding.  A water skier can also be happy behind this type of boat, but you’ll never be able to match the flatness of a wake created by a direct drive boat.  V-drives are more expensive than direct drives.

Jet Boats

I don’t have an illustration of one, but I thought it would be good to include a description anyway.  A jet boat is generally a fisherman’s boat.  It is propelled by pulling water into the boat and forcing it out in a concentrated stream from the back of the boat via a ‘jet’.  The boat is steered by pivoting this jet to direct the stream in different directions.  The big advantage of this boat is that due to the absence of a propeller, it can be taken into very shallow water.  This leads to it being used on a lot of rivers to get to places that no other boat would be able to.  I don’t know how these rate in terms of cost to the other boats mentioned.

Me? I’m pretty good at a 180 (only one direction as of yet), and would be happy as a clam at high water if I could ever graduate to pulling a complete 360.

NOTE!: Only go wakesurfing behind an inboard boat. Never use a wake surfboard behind an outboard, stern drive, or inboard/outboard boat. If you can see the boat’s propeller, do not surf behind that boat. Wakesurfing behind these types of boats is very dangerous.

When you start, you’ll be in the water with a surfboard, and you’ll be holding onto a rope that is attached to the boat. Your rope should be long enough to put you between 8 and 9 feet behind the boat, with a small handle or simply a knot – to prevent you from easily getting tangled in it if you fall. When wakesurfing, the goal is to let go of the rope and ‘free ride’, surfing with nothing more than the power of the wave pushing you. However, when learning for the first time or learning new tricks, you’ll want to hold on to the rope and ‘line ride’ until you get the hang of it. When line riding, your rope will be slack the majority of the time unless you stall (lose the wave), in which case you can use the rope to recover and get back into the sweet spot.

Step 1: heels resting on board

So, to begin, you want to lie on your back in the water, with the surfboard in front of you and perpendicular to the boat. Place your feet on the board, with the heels resting on the board and your toes pointing up into the air. Position the rope between your feet so that as you get pulled up it will be as though someone is pulling you up and forward from a sitting position to your feet.

Illustration 1:

Step 1a: Positioning of your feet:

It is important to position your heels so that they are below the center line of the board. The idea is that you want your feet to be centered on the board once you are standing, so place your heels where they’ll be for that to happen naturally as you’re pulled up.

Illustration 2:

Step 2: Boat begins to pull

Once the boat begins to pull you, the water will begin to exert pressure on the underside of the board and, if you’ve positioned your heels correctly, they will act as a fulcrum and cause the board to flip up against your feet and remain held there as you begin to stand. This will be very familiar at this point to anyone who has wakeboarding experience.

Illustration 3:

Step 3: Stand and turn

Now you will come up into a standing position and immediately begin pointing your lead foot towards the boat, so that the board will be parallel to the boat, rather than perpendicular as it was when you began. This standing and twisting action almost happens simultaneously as you stand up.

Illustration 4 & 5:

Step 4: Move into the wave

Now, using the rope to help keep your balance, you want to move over into place on the wave. The faster you can do this the better. If you wait too long to move from the center of the wake over to the wave, then by the time you get there you’re going to have a long drop from the top of the wave into the sweet spot. As a beginner, this almost always results in you diving the nose of your board and going down. Working with your driver to try to position the boat so that you’re already on the wave side of the wake before getting pulled up can help a lot until you’re used to it.

It is always easier to learn how to surf on the same side of the wake as your dominant foot. A regular foot would surf to the port side, and a goofy foot would surf to the starboard side. This makes you face the wave as you’re surfing, making it easier to get a feel for what happens as you ride up and down it.

Illustration 5 & 6:

Step 5: Surf or Swim

Now you’re in the wave and it’s time to have some fun. Shift your weight forward to accelerate towards the boat, and shift it back to slow down. Experiment with cutting away and back in to the wave. Once you finally get into the spot where you’re being pushed by the wave and nothing else – you’ll be hooked and will understand why all those surfers at the ocean give up so much free time to find the perfect wave.

Some great videos on how it looks once you’re surfing

Here’s an excellent How-To video that summarizes everything I’ve covered in the article and more.

This is a great video that shows several different skill levels of wakesurfing. Also shown here is another way to get up on a board without starting in the water (once you’re good enough!)

The following image was posted at http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/1/284589.html?1141278923 as part of a thread on wake kiting.

Boarding with your left foot forward is called “Regular”, while boarding with your right foot forward is called “Goofy”. “Regular” is the way that the majority of people do it. I happen to board goofy.

In my opinion, the best test to see which foot goes first is accomplished via the kitchen slide test. Put on a slippery pair of socks and find a kitchen with a hard floor. Back up several steps from the floor, and then run towards the hard surface and then slide across it like you might across an icy pond. Once you’ve finished your trip back to childhood memories, glance down and note which foot you naturally placed forward when you slid. That is your dominant foot, and should be the one you lead with when boarding.