Wakeboarding has a unique grace and style that other sports can’t quite match. Go down to one of the main hubs of wakeboarding in Massachusetts, such as Long Pond, and you’ll see veritable artists cruising, leaping and pirouetting on the water – and if they’re good enough – in the air.
Wakeboarding may be young – its world governing body (then under the name of Skiboarding) was only founded in 1989 – but its recent inclusion in the World Games indicates that its stock is rising in the world’s eyes.
The sport is also highly inclusive, with many of the best boarders female. Amber Wing was the first woman to achieve a TS FS wake to wake 900, a trick that many male pros have been unable to master.
Learn the Tow Ropes
Wakeboarding is not the most instinctive sport to grasp so anyone who wants to try it should take basic lessons. Massachusetts is blessed with many excellent schools, some of them located near Cape Cod Vacation Rentals, which can be your holiday base.
Air Support in West Dennis, MA, employs the biggest number of IKO-certified teachers out of any company on the East Coast of the USA. Their half-hour crash course ‘Sensei School’ lets students loose on a 2-metre training kite and teaches basic steering and control.
More advanced skills such as body dragging are offered in the ‘Hydrate’ one-to-one tuition session.
The ‘Weekend Warrior’ camp is a mixture of advanced training and actual wake-shredding, with an IKO certificate for everyone who completes.
Practise Your Skills
The rockless auburn waters and small size of Long Pond in Dracut are ideal for massive double-ups and long passes. There’s minimal traffic to contend with – just a handful of little rowboats which won’t get in your way.
The 117 mile Merrimack River is the place to perfect your fashion airs and other tricks primarily because on a river you needn’t worry about turning.
Relatively boat-free thanks to the network of dams that extend into New Hampshire, the Merrimack is probably Massachusetts’ number one wakeboarding spot.
The area near the Great Stone Dam off Route 28 is fast becoming a wakeboarding Mecca thanks largely to its textbook 5 feet depth.
Millionaire’s Playground
The wealthy neighbourhood of Martha’s Vineyard is chock full of operators from whom you can charter a boat for wakeboarding, bringing up to 5 of your mates along. One company, MV Watersports, offers a 20% discount to anyone who books some of the Martha’s Vineyard Vacation Rentals properties.
