Blog: Action woman

Taking to the waves

The sport of wakeboarding had caught my eye last year when the Wake Up Northern Cyprus competition was being advertised. However, it wasn’t until friends of mine bought their own boat and board, that I actually got the opportunity to try the sport.
Four of us went out one afternoon when the sea was flat enough to make an attempt at getting up. The first obstacle was to strap yourself into the board, on board and then get into the water. We finally agreed the best method was to get one foot in before going in the water and, with the assistance of a buoyancy aid, strap the second foot in. Believe me, trying to swing the board over the boat’s edge, with both feet attached is not only extremely inelegant, but also incredibly difficult.
It was with a little apprehension that I bobbed about behind the boat, trying to remember what the video that had come with the wakeboard had explained. Watching that had made it all look so easy, but now it was time to put it into practice. Taking a deep breath, I nodded that I was ready and Mark, the driver, hit the power. On my third attempt, I popped straight up, weaved somewhat out of control for a number of seconds before losing my balance and falling in.
I seemed to be unable to master the concept of turning the board to face forward, in wakeboarding you start with the board side on. This invariably meant that once up I headed uncontrollably out across the wake and having been unable to fully get my balance ended up falling in. Generally this was done quite gently, although I did suffer one major wipeout when the board caught the water, resulting in me being catapulted forward, hitting the sea chin first, followed swiftly by my shoulders. That water can sting when hit at speed! Somehow, my left foot got twisted out of it’s boot, which left the board free to come up behind me and whack me on my right shoulder. The bruise was pretty impressive two days later!!!
That, however, did not put me off having a couple of further attempts and whilst I didn’t have another wipeout, I still didn’t master turning the board, so the amount of time upright on the board, remained pretty short.
So it was with great interest that I received a call from Dave Winship, following one of my previous Action Woman articles, offering a lesson courtesy of Big Tow.
After checking I wasn’t on any medication, going through the health and safety issues of wakeboarding, and getting me kitted out in Neoprene shorts and a buoyancy aid, Dave demonstrated, on land, the starting position, how to come out of the water and how to turn so that the board was facing the correct direction. It all looked pretty straightforward, so then it was out to the boat to try it for real.
The training pole was attached to the side of the boat, enabling instructions to be shouted to the newcomer to the sport, ie me! As a boat designed for water sports, there was a small shelf at the back to sit on and get into the boots, somewhat easier than my previous experience. I was told to move to the end of the pole, reach up with both hands and hold on. Angela, the other half of Big Tow then hit the power, whilst Dave provided instruction and suddenly I was up, out of the water and facing the right way. Yeah!
After a couple of goes using the pole, it was time to progress to the short rope, attached to the pole, but giving more of a feel for a normal tow. Once again I popped straight up and rearranged my weight distribution as instructed. This was followed by several abortive attempts to get up, due to me thinking too much about what I was doing and taking too long to stand up, but eventually I recovered and was ready to try the long rope.
I was taught the hand signals for faster, slower and “take me home�! As well as how to safely take hold of the rope. With clear instructions to have my arms outside my knees and to shout “hit it� when I was ready, the boat moved forward.
The occupants looked at me expectantly, I took a deep breath and shouted, “Hit it!� The boat accelerated, I got up, I turned the board and I was officially wakeboarding!
After several tows across the bay and further instructions on how to direct the board, using a shift in weigh onto my toes or heels, I was ready for my first trick, apparently! At this point I had been ready to call it a day, but the mention of a trick renewed my energy. Dave explained how to perform a “sideslide�, it was all to do with moving the position of the arms, which would result in the board turning 90 degrees and then back again. I did it on my first attempt! However, by this time I was starting to get pretty tired and although I did try it once more I wasn’t able to complete it and decided it really was time to use the “Take me home� signal. Still, I was pretty pleased with myself, I had performed my first trick and no major wipeouts! Although I have to say my arms and shoulders did ache for the following couple of days.
Now it’s just a question of if I get to practice a few times before next weekend, as to whether I enter the Wake Up 2 Northern Cyprus competition!

The Wake Up 2 Northern Cyprus competition takes place Sunday 3 September at Green Coast. This years classes are Under 12, Under 16, Ladies and Open, entry is £25 per class. Matt Crowhurst will once again be judging and he will also be available for lessons on Friday and Saturday. There will be entertainment all day with the competition commencing at 10am.
Lessons with Big Tow are available from Dave and Angela Winship at a price of £1 a minute, with a recommended introductory lesson of 15 minutes.
For more details on the competition or lessons, contact Dave on 0533 845 3713.

by Claire on 15:34 on 8th May 2007