There’s nothing more exciting that being towed at speed, on water skis or a wake board, skimming across the waves. Yet now there’s many more watersports you can do from a RIB.
With people flocking to the UK’s beaches this summer, there’s been a huge growth in watersports – from paddle boarding, knee boards to towing inflatables and wakeboards. They all tick the box for a fun day on the water.
Whether you are an adrenaline junkie, wanting a new challenge or simply to explore the coastline, doing watersports from a RIB means you can get away from the throng.
Experience the thrills and spills whilst getting to places further afield.
Just as snowboarding has changed skiing, wakeboarding is like a bit like water skiing with added tricks, jumps and spins. Your feet are strapped onto the wakeboard as you are pulled along facing sideways to the boat. Just like snowboarding, you’ll fall frequently whilst learning!
Start wake boarding by floating in the water behind the RIB, strapped into your board. The power of the RIB does most of the work to pull you up, so you can skim across the water. You steer through using your feet and pressure through the heels and toes on the edge of the board.
Skim out to the side of the RIB’s wake, turn and head back across it to jump the wake. As you get more confident you can try bigger jumps, flips and spins.
Getting up on water skis for the first time gives you an amazing sense of ‘standing’ on water. To waterski from a RIB, start floating in a crouched position behind the engine and facing the boat, with your feet secured into water ski bindings. Keep the ski tips upwards, facing forwards. The RIB pulls you up onto two skis.
After mastering your balance on two skis, you can drop one ski off and start slalom skiing. Pull hard on the ski rope, ski outside the wake and create amazing spray by carving large S bends on the water.
If you want a really tough challenge this one takes some learning. We suggest get some tuition before you start and master water skiing first! You can get up barefoot on the water by floating in the water and being pulled up directly on the RIB towline, dropping your single slalom ski or standing up off a knee board.
Zipping across the water, securely on your knees is one of the best watersports activities to start out with. A great one for both adults and young people to master the basics. Your centre of gravity is much lower on a knee board, meaning far less chance of falling off.
To kneeboard from a RIB you are towed either by a rope hooked to the board, or by holding a towline handle, similar to water skiing. Start lying forward facing, as if lying on a surfboard, holding the front. As the RIB driver increases the power, pull yourself into a kneeling position, pull a strap across your knees and then you’re off!
Available in all shapes and sizes from donuts, banana boats and hotdogs to various stunt inflatables that you can sit on, astride or lie on.
Perfect for starting young kids out at slow speeds, a good RIB driver can give the most exhilarating ride too. Exciting and fun, as you swerve the turns and leap over waves, there’s no special skills, standing, balance and co-ordination required.
Stand up paddle boarding can be as gentle or exhilarating as you like. Take the paddle boards on board your RIB either fully inflated or stored in their back pack.
From the RIB, explore the creeks, cliffs and beaches, where swimmers and boaters can’t normally get to. Or start surfing the waves as they roll into the beach – and try to stay standing!
When looking for a RIB for sale for doing watersports with your family, look for a versatile boat that is a good cross-over for leisure boating too. You’ll want to get to the best beaches, especially the ones people don’t drive to.
Choose a RIB that:
For towing wakeboards & water skis ensure it has a:
The Drystack
Give Corinne a call now on 02392 387833 to find out more about The Drystack facilities.
Chichester Boat Storage
Give Courtney a call on 01243 375 335 or email her HERE
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