Blogs

Wakeboard starts for beginners, with Les. Choosing a board with enough surface area, the short V handle and low-stretch rope, symmetrical boot setup, the bank drill that sets your arms a...

The theory behind kneeboard starts, with Les. How a tow hook and a purpose-built hook handle work, what the board is doing as it climbs and flattens, whether to hold the handle or the bo...

Crossing the boat wakes on two skis for the first time, with Les. Setting your rope length so the wake is smoother, why commitment and direction beat speed, picking a point in the distan...

Directional control on a pair of combo water skis, with Les. The posture that makes turning possible, how to turn left and right by unweighting a ski and turning your knee, hips and eyes...

Les walks through the equipment, the bank drill that builds the right body position, and the step-by-step deep-water start.

Les Walters mounts a front boot and rear toe plate on a trick ski — finding the centre line, setting the boot from your ankle bone, and getting the rear toe plate position right.

Grassy patch, clean valve threads, 2 PSI in the main chamber first — then the step nearly everyone skips: soak it, let it cool, and top it up.

Front boot from the tail measurement, rear toe plate as close as it goes, and mounting a fixed or competition fin — plus setting the wing angle.

Wet foot, stand over the boot, push forward instead of jamming the heel — the method for combo, slalom, wakeboard and old rubber bindings.

Every common tow point — bollards, ski hooks, jet ski cleats, D-rings, bridles and tinny handles — and exactly how the rope goes on each one.

Fins pointy-end inward and symmetrical, boots on matching inserts at 9-12 degrees out, and the two maintenance checks that stop bolts backing out mid-session.

Which loop goes over the pylon, and why the wrong one can break your rope — knotted, slide loop, Spectra and Dyneema.

Coarse sandpaper, both surfaces scuffed back to matte, glue inside a marked circle, then 20 kg on top for a full 24 hours before you inflate it.

If you’re new to waterskiing or just upgrading your gear, you might find yourself wondering how to swap out your waterski handle. Whether you’ve bought a new handle or rope, the process ...

Loose strands near the end of a rope or at a joint are the splice, not damage. Reuben shows the difference between a splice and a real fray, what causes fraying, and when to replace the ...

Take the bladder out, reset the Boston valve, and find the leak with a cup of water — or soapy water for the ones you can't hear.

New gloves should be hard to get on. Here's how to measure your hand, what a correct fit feels like on the handle, and why precurved gloves feel too tight at first.

Board, rope and boat setup, where your feet go, and the heels-down knees-to-chest start that gets you up on a wakesurf board first time.

A life vest should be snug when dry — neoprene stretches 5–10% in the water. Here's the check that tells you it fits, and why kids need their own.

Fin configurations explained — thruster, single and quad — plus the four systems that hold fins in, and which fins are left-and-right specific.