Inflatable riders, wakeboarders and water skiers have one thing in common: their complete dependency on a rope and boat to pull them. But to get the most out your day on the water, you need to know what you’re doing. Adrian Porter explains.

These days, a lot of people have a casual interest in watersports, whether it’s a bit of wakeboarding, water skiing or just dragging people round on various water toys. The recipe to have a fun day out on the water is seemingly a simple one – wait for a sunny day packaged with mill pond like flat water (chance would be a fine thing) then attach a rope to your boat, staple the other end to the watersports enthusiast and away you go. But there is actually far more to it then we realise.

The Guidelines

Firstly, this article is not about rules, but it should serve as a valuable quick reference guide. Why do you even need one? Because for each discipline, the speed, rope length and boat balance should be adjusted for both what you’re doing and for the skill of the rider. There are also established hand signals worth learning and a few other guidelines that you really should take note of.

Skip, spot and ride

Watersports is a group activity. In fact you need a minimum of three people at all times – a skipper, a spotter and a rider. A skipper’s job is of course to drive the boat whilst a rider is naturally the one flailing on the end of the tow rope. But the spotter is perhaps the most crucial of the three, as he or she will not only be the one relaying information between the skipper and the rider, but the person to alert the skipper if the rider has landed themselves in the drink. Without a spotter, then towing someone becomes very unsafe very quickly – you cannot have your skipper constantly looking behind them or gluing their eyes to the rear view mirror, as a slip of concentration could seriously endanger everybody both on and connected to the boat.

Wakeboarding and kneeboarding

Speed (knots): 15.5 to 22

Speed (MPH): 18 to 25

Rope length: 55 to 85 feet

Starting with one of the most popular watersports, wakeboarding continues to enjoy a long growth spurt, attracting people of all ages to give it a go. Kneeboarding is also becoming more popular, though admittedly not at the same pace as wakeboarding.

For novices, a short line and slow speed is best. Starting at around 15-16 knots (18MPH), a 55 foot rope should provide a good learning environment to get the basics. A shorter line will have a slightly steeper angle down from the wakeboard tower (if you have one), which will help a bit with deep water starts. Once the rider is more confident and looking to start wake-to-wake jumps, increase the speed to 17 knots (20MPH) and pay out a bit more line (in five foot increments) until the rider is lined up with a good bit of the wake. As the rider progresses past intermediate and becomes advanced, a line length of up to 85 feet can be utilised with speeds of up to 22 knots (25MPH).

For the full feature showing how to tow people behind the boat, pick up the August issue of Sports Boat and RIB magazine. In shops as of 21 July.