Buyers Guide: Wakesurfers

Reuben and Ryan back in store after testing a wall of wakesurfers on the water. The shapes and the verdicts below come from that session; sizes and stock are checked against the current range.

Wakesurfers split into three shapes, and the shape decides almost everything about how the board rides. Work out which of the three you want and the list gets short fast.

The three shapes

• Surf style — a fuller, larger surf rail, usually running a quad or thruster fin setup. Smooth, carvy turns and plenty of drive.
• Skim style — a flatter rocker so it is faster, a hard skim rail, and a pin tail with a single fin. Loose and built for tricks — 360s and shuvits.
• Hybrid — a surf-style outline with a skim rail. Drive off the back of the wave with the playfulness of a skimmer.

Surf style

The fuller rail and the quad or thruster fin setup are what give these boards their speed, control and big sweeping carving turns.

Ronix Koal Classic Fish — the first board

If you are looking for your first surfer, you cannot go past it. Stable, and really easy to throw around to make those big surf-style carving turns.

Three sizes on the mens board — 4’6″, 5’0″ and 5’6″ — and that 5’6″ is the one for smaller boat wakes and bigger riders. There is a womens board as well in 4’5″ and 4’10″.

Koal Classic Fish · Womens Koal Classic Fish

Ronix Wave King — volume and push

A massive EPS-constructed board with heaps of volume and plenty of push. A good all-round board. See the Wave King.

Hyperlite Time Machine — faster and more aggressive

Ryan rode this one and was surprised by it: for a quad setup it was really quick, but you could still break the fins and put some nice turns in.

Durable construction, and it does not break the bank. See the Time Machine.

KD Catapult — the budget pick

Our number one pick for a budget wakesurf board. The EPS foam core is a high-end material and gives it plenty of volume.

Ryan’s verdict: it felt really surfy, with a nice turn off the back foot, and nothing too aggressive about it. A good all-round board. See the Catapult.

Ronix Flyweight Atlantik — the advanced surf shape

The advanced end of the surf range. The Atlantik is real surfy style with nice flowy turns. See the Atlantik.

Skim style

Flatter rocker, so a little bit faster. A hard skim rail, and a pin tail with a single fin. All of that is there to make the board nice and loose, which is what you need for 360s and shuvits.

Hyperlite Hi-Fi and Ronix Standard Core Skimmer — the first skimmer

Both come in a three-fin setup, which is what makes them a good first skim board. Durable construction, and they sit on the cheaper side for a wakesurfer.

Hyperlite Hi-Fi · Ronix Standard Core Skimmer

Ronix Wave King Skimmer — the oversized skimmer

If you are surfing smaller boat wakes, or you are a bigger rider, this is the board. The best oversized skim board you can get.

The slightly wider thumb tail is the reason — it gives you so much drive through the back of the wave and makes the board incredibly fast. You still get the skim feel, so it stays playful, and you can run three fins in it, which makes it stable enough for bigger riders, beginners and small wakes alike. See the Wave King Skimmer.

Ronix Osmo — the top skim pick

A very high-end skim board, and a genuinely aggressive one. We put Ryan on it and let him tame it.

The feature that matters is the symmetrical diamond tip and tail. Because the nose and tail are the same shape, it is the ideal board for learning your 360s and shuvits, and it makes a real difference when you are riding switch or working on heelside tricks — the board behaves the same whichever way round you end up.

48″, 51″ and 55″. See the Osmo Skimmer.

Hybrid

Hybrids blend a traditional surf-style board with a skim board. If you are not sure which way you want to ride, or you want one board that does both, start here.

Ronix Brightside and Hyperlite Shim — beginner to intermediate

The surf-style outline gives you heaps of drive from the back of the wave, and the skim rail makes it playful with a lot of top water speed. That combination is the whole point of a hybrid.

The Shim is the one for smaller boat wakes and bigger riders, because it comes in a 5’3″ as well as a 4’7″. The Brightside runs 4’9″ and 5’2″.

Ronix Brightside · Hyperlite Shim

Hyperlite Buzzmatic and Liquid Force Primo — skim shape, surf rail

These two go the other way round: more of a skim shape with a surf rail. Still quite aggressive, but a bit more floaty than a typical skimmer.

Hyperlite Buzzmatic · Liquid Force Primo

Ronix Sea Captain — the one we ride most

Reuben’s personal favourite of everything we sell. It does everything you want it to do.

A really fast board with a hard rail on a surf shape, in a three-fin setup, which is why it works for any skill level. It is perfect to learn your first 360s on — and it is capable enough that Reuben has ridden it finless.

Durable construction, reasonably priced, and it covers everyone from teens up. The mens board runs 4’4″, 4’7″ and 4’10″, and there is a womens board in 4’4″ and 4’7″.

Ronix Sea Captain · Womens Sea Captain

Ronix M50 — the top of the range

If you are chasing the sharp end of hybrid wakesurfing, the M50 is the board.

The surf outline gives it so much drive that it feels like you are never going to fall off the wave. Pair that with a really sharp, hard skim rail and it is absolutely rapid, aggressive and still playful.

It goes both ways depending on how you set it up: throw the back fins out and you can do big carving cutbacks like a surf-style board, or leave it as is and it is good enough to initiate threes and every other trick you can think of.

4’5″ and 4’10″. See the M50.

Which one is for you

• New to wakesurfing? A surf-style board or a beginner-friendly hybrid. The Koal Classic Fish or the Brightside.
• Want to learn tricks? Skim or hybrid, and pay attention to the fin setup — the boards that let you pull fins out are the ones that grow with you.
• Bigger rider, or a smaller wake? Go for volume. The Wave King, the Wave King Skimmer, the Shim in the 5’3″, or the 5’6″ Koal Classic Fish.
• Already riding well? The Atlantik for flowy surf lines, the Osmo for tricks, the M50 if you want one board that does both hard.

What has changed since we filmed

Two boards from the video are not in the range at the moment — the Ronix Element Core Longboard (the mini-mal shape, a lot of fun on a small wake) and the Liquid Force Flyer. If either is what you came for, give us a call before you settle for something else.

Two others have changed underneath the name. The Osmo and the M50 were both H.O.M.E. carbon builds when we filmed; the current versions are built differently. The shapes and the way they ride are what the video is describing — check the product page for the current construction.

Common questions

Can you wakesurf behind any boat?

No. Wakesurfing is only ever done behind an inboard-powered boat, never behind an outboard or a stern-drive. You drop the rope and ride in close to the back of the boat, and those boats have an exposed propeller right where you are riding.

What is the difference between a surf style and a skim style wakesurfer?

A surf style board has a fuller, larger surf rail and usually a quad or thruster fin setup, which gives smooth carvy turns and plenty of drive. A skim style board has a flatter rocker so it is faster, a hard skim rail, and a pin tail with a single fin, which makes it loose and suited to 360s and shuvits.

What is a hybrid wakesurfer?

A surf-style outline with a skim rail. You get drive off the back of the wave from the outline and playfulness and top water speed from the rail. It is the category to start in if you are not sure which way you want to ride.

What is the best wakesurfer for a beginner?

The Ronix Koal Classic Fish is the one we point first-timers at - stable and easy to throw around. If you would rather start on a hybrid, the Ronix Brightside or Hyperlite Shim do the same job with a bit more playfulness.

Which wakesurfer suits a bigger rider or a smaller wake?

Look for volume. The Ronix Wave King and Wave King Skimmer, the Hyperlite Shim in the 5'3, and the 5'6 size of the Koal Classic Fish are all built for exactly that.

Can a beginner board still work once I improve?

Yes, if it lets you change the fins. The Hyperlite Hi-Fi and Ronix Standard Core Skimmer come as three-fin setups for learning, but you can run a single centre fin at the back or go finless entirely, and both get a lot more aggressive. The Hyperlite Buzzmatic and Liquid Force Primo work the same way - all three fins for beginners, centre fin out for an aggressive surfy ride.

What is the best wakesurfer for learning 360s?

A skim or hybrid with a symmetrical shape. The Ronix Osmo has a symmetrical diamond tip and tail, which is why it is the pick for 360s, shuvits, switch riding and heelside tricks. The Ronix Sea Captain is the easier place to learn your first ones.

Do I need a different board to ride switch?

Not necessarily, but a symmetrical board makes it much easier, because the nose and tail behave the same way. That is the argument for the Osmo.

Where to go from here

Browse by shape — surf style, skim style or hybrid — or see the full wakesurfer range.

If you want more on how the shapes and constructions work before you choose, the wakesurfer breakdown goes deeper. Once your board arrives, the setup guide covers fins and straps, and the getting up guide covers the start.

Still not sure? There are a lot of boards out there, so come into the shop at Moorooka in Brisbane, give us a call, or email us — we would rather talk it through than have you guess.

Waterskiers World — Australia's dedicated towed water sports retailer, family-run for over 20 years from our Brisbane store at 1106 Ipswich Road, Moorooka, and online.