If anyone knows what makes the ultimate surf wake, it’s five-time world wakesurfing champion Drew Danielo. On the eve of the 2011 Centurion World Wake Surfing Championship, we asked Danielo to help you create perfect surf.
Drop deep
The best wakesurf boats have deep-V hulls that run the entire length of the boat. The greater the V, the deeper your wakeboard boat will sit in the water and the better it will list over to one side.
Watch it
Ideally, you want a thigh-high wave with a clean face and no white water on the lip. It also needs some length — about 10 to 15 feet of clean wave is ideal — and a nice shape like a quarter-pipe, neither super-steep nor flat.
Weight well
Fundamentally, you need to get the rear of the boat in the water and get the boat to list to whatever side you’re riding. If you’re a regular-foot rider, add weight to the port side. If you’re goofy-footed, add weight to the starboard side.
Don’t overdo it
There is such a thing as too much weight, which will make the wake roll over and put the swim platform and rub rail so low in the water that they mess up the face of the wake.
Mind the bow
You want most of the weight in the rear, but if you only weight the back of the boat, you’ll end up with a very short riding area. Adding weight to the bow will make the wave a little shorter heightwise, but it will increase its length, giving you more room to ride.
Select the right speed
A lot of factors affect your riding speed, so it’s best first to weight the boat, then do a test run to dial in your speed before dropping the rope.
