“Wakeboarding is wild. There’s practically nothing as good as flying through the air, with your board board strapped to your feet.” Sabine Schmitt from Langenfeld near Dusseldorf is describing her favourite sport.
The 21-year-old sports student is the German number one and reigning European wakeboarding champion. It is three years since she traded in her waterskis for the shorter wakeboard, which looks like a cross between a waterski and a snowboard.
Wakeboarders surf the waves generated by the wake of a motorboat at speeds of anything up to 40 kilometres per hour.
The aim of the sport is to ride the wake with a combination of spectacular jumps and other manoeuvres. Experienced boarders can reach heights of eight metres above the surface of the water when performing a jump. These manoeuvres, with names such as Back Scratcher, Whirley Bird or Air Riley, demand a high degree of expressiveness, creativity and no small amount of aggression.
“In Germany we’ve got 33 complete cable wakeboard installations, which is more than in any other country,” reveals Friedel Hermann at the German Waterski Federation (DWSV) in Hamburg. And every year that number is increasing, he adds.
Cable wakeboarding was invented by the German engineer Bruno Rixen and involves the wakeboarder being pulled by a winch on a cable suspended over the water instead of by a boat. Although this means there are no wake waves to use as a springboard, Hermann is adamant that with a little practice wakeboarders can perform the same tricks using a cable system as behind boat.
Compared with cable boarding, fees for a session behind a boat are considerably more expensive. “Wakeboarding is quick and easy to learn,” says Benjamin Suess, Sabine Schmidt’s training partner. Although he only discovered the sport four years ago, the 22-year-old Suess is already the European wakeboarding champion and has secured the runner-up spot at a World Championships.
“Anyone who can stand up on the board is ready to go.” The buoyancy of the board means even beginners can do spectacular tricks in no time at all, he says.
“And compared to snowboarding the sport is not at all dangerous for the beginner. Broken bones and bruises are extremely rare,” he continues. The flight characteristics of a board, or in wakeboarding slang, a “good pop”, are crucial for performing the best stunts.
“For wakeboarders, the most important thing is to have fun. At nearly all the events there’s a party and bands come to play live,” explains Sabine Schmitt. To make sure the fun in the water keeps pace with lakeside “apres-board”, organisers have recently taken to installing ramps (kickers) and rails (sliders) on their courses.
Wakeboarding originated in the motherland of all “fun” sports, the USA. Years ago bored surfers began mounting ropes on cars which would then drive along the beach, pulling them through the waves.
In 1985, in San Diego, Tony Finn developed the “skurfer”, a cross between a surfboard and a waterski. The first tricks performed with this new invention came from the world of skateboarding, giving rise to the name skiboarding, which was later changed to wakeboarding.
The popularity of the sport only really took off when bindings were built into the boards. With these wakeboarders were much better able to control their passage over the waves. In 1990, the World Wakebaording Association was established in Florida and shortly afterwards, thanks to some clever marketing, fans could follow the first wakeboard competitions on television throughout the US.
Since then the sport has expanded to include a professional world tour. At the latest World Championships in Orlando Florida, 15 wakeboarders competed for prize money of 100,000 dollars.
Wakeboarders in Germany can only dream of turning pro. A total of only 50 have now dedicated themselves to the sport – for the majority, wakeboarding remains a no more than a hobby.
Nevertheless, the DWSV is fighting for official recognition of the wakeboarding by the state. According to the DWSV, the 75 German waterski and wakeboard clubs can boast a membership of 18,000 and the German Wakeboard Tour has grown into the second biggest series in the world.
However, in terms of prize money, the Germans have a long way to go to catch up with their American colleagues. Each event offers no more than about 1,500 dollars in prize money, with the leading male boarder taking home about 350 dollars, while the winner of the women’s event has to be content with 200.
The modest financial scale of wakeboarding in Germany may be a source of frustration to aspiring professionals but it is ideal for the novice. Beginners can still hire equipment and cable time at clubs very cheaply.
Organisers of the second German Wakeboard National Championships in Alfsee/Rieste in the middle of August are looking to draw in 10,000 spectators and to that end have added bungee jumping, wakeboard demonstrations, shopping facilities, parties, and live bands to the list of attractions.
They will be hoping that if the weather keeps its end of the bargain, it won’t be long before the traditional American wakeboarder cry of “See you in the water!” becomes as much a part of everyday German parlance as Big Mac and Coca Cola.
