Wake Skating
Wakeskating is new type of watersport and is an adaptation of wakeboarding that employs a similar design of board manufactured from plywood or from fibreglass. Unlike wakeboarding, the rider is not bound to the board in any way, which gives the sport its own unique challenges. Instead, the top surface of the board is covered with griptape, (in a similar fashion to a skateboard) or a soft, high-traction, foam covering that is kinder to riders in the inevitable crashes. Riders usually wear shoes while riding to afford themselves extra purchase on the board, similar to skateboarding.
Wakeskating is a natural progression of wakeboarding. It is increasingly popular in youth culture across the globe, but is prevalent mainly in its country of origin; the United States. An aspect of wakeskating that draws many aficionados to it, as opposed to wakeboarding, is progression without the need for the large and extremely expensive boats (necessary to create the wake for wakeboarders to achieve maximum air time). An alternative to using wakeboard boats to tow riders is using high powered jet skis. This method of watercraft can provide an adequate tow, however, produce little or no wake. Jetskis are better for shallow water or where water obstacles are available to perform tricks on.
Wakeskating tricks are inherently more technical than wakeboarding. The tricks are based firmly on skateboarding as opposed to snowboarding. Numerous tournaments and competitions exist throughout the world for the sport of wakeskating.
Smaller Rider Owned Companies have started to make their mark on the sport of wakeskating, such as Cassette, New, Oak Wakeskates Sattelyte Wakeskates and Integrity.
New materials and assembly techniques are continually introduced into the sport of wakeskating. Traditional boards are made of plywood or fiberglass, but a new technology has come out called Tri-Ax Fiberglass reinforcing. A woven fiberglass top sheet is applied. This process helps the board to be more rigid and increases the life of the board.
One type of board is a bi-level wakeskate. The bi-level was first used on a wakeskate by one of the forefathers of wakeskating, Thomas Horrell. It is basically two boards usually made of plywood and/or fiberglass connected in the middle by two brackets. The point of having a bi-level board is that the flex in the top board helps you ollie higher than you could if you had a normal single level board.
The other type of board is a Concave deck, usually either compression molded out of fiberglass, or a wood core deck. Most compression molded decks are shaped much like wakeboards, usually used by the rider with a more wake to wake style of riding, although this is starting to change. The wood core decks tend to be a tad bit heavier, but are usually favored by most wakeskaters. They state that the wood core deck feels more like a skateboard and is easier to control/feel.
Wakeskates usually size between 100-114 cm (roughly 39-43 inches), which is considerably smaller than a wakeboard. They do not usually have a sharp edge which limits aggressive edging, and reduces the risk of a face-plant.
Wakeskates are manufactured by many of the same companies that produce wakeboards such as CWB, Hyperlite, and Liquid force, along with many Wakeskate specific companies such as Integrity, Oak, Sattalyte, and New. The company mostly given credit for pioneering the sport was a small rider owned company called Cassette, which split off from Liquid Force in 99-00. The owner Thomas Horrell is widely respected from his influence on wakeskating and his contribution to its progression. Although the company is currently defunt, Cassette Wakeskates are still sought after for both riding entertainment as well as historical value. Horrell still lurkes, putting out stand up video parts and pushing the sport.
