My First Stand-up - The story of a 38year old man who makes poor financial decisions.

FIRST RIDE REPORT: I need to practice!

My very first ride attempt was a shore launch on my knees that lasted about 1 second before I shifted my weight and fell over because I was barely on the throttle...womp womp...

**video placeholder**

Second ride attempt was moments later from my stomach and I was actually able to pull myself up in the tray onto my knees, get to my feet, and make a few turns before I leaned the wrong way as I hit some chop and fell off...

**video placeholder**

As expected, I spent a lot of time in the water swimming back to the ski and laying in the tray catching my breath and waiting for my arms to work again - I definitely need to get in better shape for this!!! I also need to learn how to get up without exerting so much energy. The guys I was riding with gave me the tip about starting with one knee in the tray before hitting the start button, so I need to practice that for sure...every time I tried I would lose balance immediately and roll the ski on it's side.

I let someone with more experience ride it so they could determine if the ski was as hard to ride as I was making it look, and although they were able to ride it, they confirmed that it is NOT an easy ski to ride. In fact I was told if I can get good on this ski, I should be able to ride anything lol.

**video placeholder**

The nose wants to ride high, so they recommended I switch to a longer ride-plate. I still have the extended Pro-Tec plate pictured earlier in this thread, so I plan to swap that on to see if it helps.

Everything about the ski is so twitchy and responsive its going to take a lot of getting used to, especially since I don't have the muscle memory/instincts to know how to correct when I'm losing balance, even on a more stable ski.

**video placeholder**

Takeaways:
The ski looks awesome in the water.
The engine started every time I pressed the green button and appears to be running well - has enough power to jump out of the water.
Nothing broke or came loose (yet).
I had an absolute blast even though I barely stayed up.
Video stills ALMOST make it look like I know what I'm doing.

PhotoGrid_Plus_1682434897328.jpg
Screenshot_20230426-083039_1.png
IMG_8315.JPG
 
Last edited:

Quinc

Buy a Superjet
Location
California
Its about damn time!!! Ski looks awesome and like it is going to be great in the surf. Every time you go out to ride it will get easier. Another fun part is teaching yourself how the turning works and how it is nothing like a motorcycle. :)
 
Ride Report #2

I did much better with the longer ride plate... initially. I think after several falls and deep water starts I got water in the ski that made it a bit more unstable and paired with muscle fatigue made it a little hard to stay up. After about 20 mins or so i couldn't get the ski to restart and kicked my way back to the ramp. At first we thought I had gotten water in the engine so we pulled the plugs and hit them with carb cleaner and ran the starter - nothing sprayed out... I have 8 pairs of new plugs and forgot them at home of course so we thought maybe the plugs were still getting wet but didn't have a fresh set to confirmIMG_20230517_165803871.jpgIMG_20230517_160004304.jpg...after hanging out on the dock for a while and trying to let the ski dry out, we unplugged the stop switch and it fired right up first press. I'll have to pull the switch housing apart or replace the switch, (or spring for a fancy Thurstone w/surf switch), but at least it's an easy fix and I should be ready for next wednesday.

Good turnout at the Marina - about a dozen skis.
IMG_20230517_165803871.jpgIMG_20230517_160004304.jpg
 
You can get the complete start/stop harness with the switches for about $80 online.
EW2-68311-01-00
It doesn't include the housing or the red and green buttons but is all the electrical parts.
I keep one in my "Save a Weekend" parts tackle box.
 
You can get the complete start/stop harness with the switches for about $80 online.
EW2-68311-01-00
It doesn't include the housing or the red and green buttons but is all the electrical parts.
I keep one in my "Save a Weekend" parts tackle box.
I'm sure I will be able to get mine working again, but I got a new OEM one on the way as well!
 
Had the opportunity to compare my ski to something more forgiving and it was pretty eye opening to say the least. I am definitely getting better at riding my ski, I have deep water starts down pretty well (both popping up both knees into the tray and going as well as one knee in the tray and letting the ski pull me up), and I can pretty comfortably maneuver around and turn both directions... A big part of my problem initially was when I would frequently bail, my bilge pumps would airlock and although I had the switch on, they weren't priming and actually emptying the water...the longer I stayed out, the harder it got to stay up because the ski was full of water...turning the pumps off then back on each time I eat it seems to have fixed that issue.

So anyways last Wednesday one of the guys I was riding with let me ride his stock hull, b-piped SXR 800 and HOLY CRAP!!! Those things are basically boats! it's like it wouldn't let me fall off lol I noticed so many times making turns or corrections on that ski where I thought to myself "oh I'd be in the water right now if I was on my ski"... needless to say it gave me a bit of reassurance that my struggle to tame my ski is not just ME sucking at riding, it's definitely the SKI being difficult to ride as well.
 

DylanS

Gorilla Smasher
Location
Lebanon Pa
hull makes a huge difference for sure man!
I was riding the gray turd for a season and eating it all the time thinking I had lost all my mojo, turns out I only lost part of it and the ski played a part in it.
Been following your IG posts looks like you’re doing well.
 
hull makes a huge difference for sure man!
I was riding the gray turd for a season and eating it all the time thinking I had lost all my mojo, turns out I only lost part of it and the ski played a part in it.
Been following your IG posts looks like you’re doing well.
Everyone keeps saying more time in the tray is key, so I've just been trying to get my reps in and haven't gotten too discouraged. I've been shooting for 2 rides per week minimum so hopefully I continue to progress with consistent practice. I've considered picking up a stock round nose or something so that I have an easier/more stable ski to ride for practicing fundamentals. I'm still having loads of fun on my ski though!
 
Everyone keeps saying more time in the tray is key, so I've just been trying to get my reps in and haven't gotten too discouraged. I've been shooting for 2 rides per week minimum so hopefully I continue to progress with consistent practice. I've considered picking up a stock round nose or something so that I have an easier/more stable ski to ride for practicing fundamentals. I'm still having loads of fun on my ski though!
I picked up a backup 13' superjet that was in good shape (mechanically) to have around so I can ride while I work on my fixer upper ski. Nice to have something around that I don't have to worry about. Just throw it in the water and rip without worrying about something breaking.
 

Quinc

Buy a Superjet
Location
California
Everyone keeps saying more time in the tray is key, so I've just been trying to get my reps in and haven't gotten too discouraged. I've been shooting for 2 rides per week minimum so hopefully I continue to progress with consistent practice. I've considered picking up a stock round nose or something so that I have an easier/more stable ski to ride for practicing fundamentals. I'm still having loads of fun on my ski though!
Go ride the surf once. After that you will feel like a pro on flat water. :)
 
Go ride the surf once. After that you will feel like a pro on flat water. :)
I'm just trying to get comfortable enough so I feel ready for Pismo by October. I would lose my ski if I tried to ride surf right now lol
 
Top Bottom