Table of contents for Apr-12 in WAKEBOARDING

WITH THE NAUTIQUE WAKE GAMES KICKING OFF THE 2012 KING OF WAKE SERIES ON APRIL 11 TO 14, WE DECIDED TO PAY HOMAGE TO THE BEST WAKEBOARDING SEASONS OF ALL TIME. From late 2008 through summer 2009, Aaron Rathy was a riding tour de force. Fresh off signing with Byerly Boards, the Canadian powerhouse won nine events overall, including the Rockstar WWA World Championships and the King of Wake season title. He also finished on the podium at both Red Bull Wake Labs and added to his haul at the Wake Awards, winning Best Wakeboarder as well as the Oakley Wakeboard Move of the Year for his wrapped melon backside 1080. You might think Phil Soven's nine wins in 2007 would take it, but his 2008 season was even more…

While the all-new Z3 tops our Tigé wish list, we realize not all riders are set up for the size, storage and price requirements of a flagship wake boat. At exactly 20 feet, Tigé's RZR is perfect for riders who live on size-restricted waterways or who have smaller towing vehicles or garages. Remarkably, RZR owners sacrifice little in terms of style, comfort and performance for the convenience of this high-class compact. Like every model in Tigé's feature-rich RZ series, the 2012 RZR offers an impressive set of standards on which to build. With its brilliant screen and intuitive touch navigation, the TigéTouch is one of the best standard features you'll find on any wake boat. Its iPadlike control gives you command of the entire on-board experience, from the built-in Tigé…

Look at any kicker and you'll see skid marks running diagonally across its face, from just inside the bottom corner to just inside the opposite top corner. Using all of the kicker's width yields consistent line tension, which will result in more control, added boot and softer landings. While you'll eventually want to travel across the face of the kicker, you should simply feel it out with your first hits. Don't take an aggressive edge in and don't worry about getting a ton of pop. Just ride over it a few times to find out what the kick is going to be like. You're coming down from a lot higher and you don't have the second wake to cushion your impact, so landings off the kicker are serious business. Don't…

DRIVERS WHO POWER TURN ARE JERKS. It seems like every time I'm out on a public lake there's some guy whipping huge turns under full power to double back and pick up a fallen rider — seriously, every time, without fail. The problem with power turns is that they send rollers all the way down the lake, generally transforming a nice day on the water into a huge churning mess. Power turners also bounce everyone around in the boat, surround fallen riders with a ton of huge rollers and waste a bunch of gas unnecessarily. Long story short, drivers who power turn are jerks — no different than the telemarketer who calls your house at 7 a.m. on a Saturday. Follow these steps for perfect pickups. You'll not only keep…

With its ride-for-less mentality and tough-to-beat value, the all-new Mojo 2.5 is most definitely a Moomba. Yet, with its extra-wide bow design and a slate of first-ever features, the Mojo is also unlike any Moomba we've ever seen. To see just how much the Mojo has changed Moomba's game, we pit the all-new flagship against the time-tested Mobius XLV. For the better part of a decade, the XLV has been serving up rampy, relatively narrow wakes that are ideally suited for wake-to-wake riding. With its just slightly larger, 99-inch beam and similarly deep-V hull, the Mojo wake delivers parallel characteristics. “The Mojo's wake has some serious boot,” says Austin Hair, who was the first pro to get a crack at Moomba's new flagship last summer. “The first time I hit,…

The Power Tower is quintessential MasterCraft — a big, bold, muscular design with spare-no-expenses engineering that refines and simplifies the on-the-water experience. With the press of a button at the helm, the Power Tower lowers for dead-simple storage or raises to provide an ultra-high tow point — all without ever breaking it down or removing equipment. In a world of increasingly intuitive tower design, the Power Tower's elegant function rises to the top. We got inside the Power Tower's award-winning design with legendary MasterCraft rider Zane Schwenk. At the heart of the Power Tower's steady operation is a pair of Linco actuators, which act like massive screw jacks, rotating in and out to raise and lower the tower. As a result, the Power Tower provides the same unyielding support regardless…

Kickers are slick, so if you're on your heels or your toes, you're going to slip out. Hold your edge right up to the kicker's base, then flatten off at the last second so your weight is centered. Don't flatten off too early, though, because your line will go slack and you'll end up with a harder landing and a big jerk from the boat. The kicker is a lot like a wake, only harder. Just like riding the wake, you want to wait for the top of the kicker to pop. While every kicker is different, you typically get the best pop right at the end. In general, the higher up the kicker you wait, the higher and farther you're going to get booted. Kickers tend to over-rotate you,…

FOR SHEER FUN AND SPECTACLE, NOTHING BEATS BOOSTING A HUGE GRABBED AIR. WE TURNED TO CHASE HAZEN, WHO RODE A SERIES OF MASSIVE AIRS TO THE SURF-STYLE TITLE AT THE 2011 WORLD WAKE SURFING CHAMPIONSHIP, FOR ADVICE ON HOW TO MAXIMIZE THE SEPARATION BETWEEN YOU AND THE WAVE. First off, the longer the better because a long wave allows you to generate as much speed as possible into your launch point. Height is important too because it's much easier to air off a waist-high wave than an ankle-biter. Add on a steeper transition and a firm lip and you have the perfect foundation for huge surf moves. It's all about finding the perfect balance of weight and speed for your particular boat. Adding weight to the rear of the boat…

Given the sheer number of enhancements, even “overhaul” seems like an understatement in reference to Supra's 2012 interior reboot. After all, from the softer-yet-more-supportive upholstery and electric driver's seat to the sleek new steering wheel and throttle knob, few areas were left unimproved. In the middle of all that sparkling newness, the revamped interior of the 2012 Launch 22V stands out, incorporating all those updates and adding a few of its own. Combined with the integrated step in the 22V's rear cushion, the new walk-across sun deck lets you travel from the main lounge to the swim platform without ever sullying your seats. Step assured because the step-up, walkover and platform are all covered in SeaDek nonskid. All 2012 Supras come standard with a new, more robust stereo system that…

Make sure the kicker is angled slightly away from your boat path so you're not hitting it straight on and you can use more of the ramp. The driver should always drive at a bit of an angle away from the kicker, especially when his rider is in the air. That way, the rider never loses line tension. One of the great things about the kicker is that you can slow down in order to build your comfort level. It's not like the wake, which gets mushy as you reduce your speed. Start at 18 to 20 mph so the ramp doesn't feel as slippery and you're not hitting it so hard. Gradually, speed up as you get more comfortable. I typically hit the kicker at about 23 to 24…