Surface water sports
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Surface water sports can be divided into two different types; towed water sports and non-towed surface water sports.
Contents |
[edit] Towed water sports
These water sports are where the participant is towed behind a boat at varying speeds depending on the particular sport.
[edit] Surfing
Surfing is a popular surface water sport in which the participant is towed on a surfboard, behind a boat, with a ski rope. First practiced by the original inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands. Surfing is a free style sport with highly individualistic style and form. There are no defined styles or conventions rather it is about personal style, although categories of board types and wave shapes exist.
[edit] Wake boarding
Wakeboarding is a boardsport. It was created from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques. Before it was called wakeboarding it was called skurfing. As in water skiing, the rider is towed behind a boat, or a cable skiing setup, but typically at slower speeds (16 - 23mph). Beginnners start at slower speeds such as 18mph with shorter ropes (60 - 65 ft). More experienced wakeboarders use faster speeds such as 25mph, but use longer ropes up to 80 ft long. Instead of using skis, the rider rides a single board, known as a wakeboard, with stationary non-release bindings for each foot, standing sideways as on a snowboard or skateboard. The boards, which can float, are typically 120 - 147cm long, depending on weight, and up to 45cm wide (shorter and wider than snowboards). Unlike snowboards, which are concave, they are convex (tips 15 - 25cm).
[edit] Skiing
Water skiing is a sport and recreational activity and is popular in many countries around the world where appropriate conditions exist - an expanse of water unaffected by wave motion. Rivers, lakes, and sheltered bays are all popular for water skiing.
Standard water skis were originally made of wood but now are usually constructed out of fibreglass-based composites. They are of similar length to downhill snow skis but are somewhat wider. Instead of a rigid binding, they have rubber molded binding, in which the skier's feet are placed. Skiers are pulled along by a rope with a handle fitted at one end and attached to a powerboat at the other.
[edit] Tubing
Tubing, also known as biscuiting, is where a large circular rubber tube is towed behind a boat at fast speeds. Generally considered a novice or child's water-sport due to the lack of skill involved. The general aim is to hold on as long as possible without falling off due to the boat's sharp turns; more experienced biscuiters also try to jump the boat's wake and become airborne. Also a very simple and novice trick for beginners would be the barrel roll, once the tube is on the outeredge of a corner going faster than normal, a rider can intentionally roll off the tube to try and roll from upright to upside down and back again all in the same motion.
[edit] Discing
Discing consists of standing on a circular wooden disc and being towed behind the boat. The disc supports the rider by means of spreading the weight out evenly across the water. It requires good balance, and as a result discing cannot be performed at extremely high speeds, meaning it is sometimes viewed as dull. One form of Discing is to simply do circles at fast speed with the discer trying to hold on as long as possible and seeing how far they can shoot off upon releasing the rope.
[edit] Non-Powered Surface Water Sports
This category covers water sports such as surfing, body boarding and kite surfing where, generally, a natural force is used to propel the participant.
[edit] Surfing
Surfing is an increasingly popular recreational activity in which individuals paddle into a wave on a surfboard, jump to their feet, and are propelled across the water by the force of the wave. Surfing's appeal probably derives from an unusual confluence of elements: adrenaline, skill, and high paced maneuvering are set against a naturally unpredictable backdrop—an organic environment that is, by turns, graceful and serene, violent and formidable.
[edit] Windsurfing
Windsurfing is a sport involving travel over water on a small 2-4.7 meter board powered by wind acting on a single sail. The sail is connected to the board by a flexible joint. The sport is a hybrid between sailing and surfing. The sail board might be considered the most minimalistic version of the modern sailboat, with the major exception that steering is accomplished by the rider tilting the mast and sail or, when planing, carving the board, rather than with a rudder.
[edit] Kite surfing
Kite surfing, also known as kitesurfing and kiteboarding, and sometimes as flysurfing, involves using a power kite to pull a small surfboard, or wakeboard (on water), a wheeled board on land, or a snowkiting.
[edit] Bodyboarding
A bodyboard is an instrument of wave riding consisting of a small roughly rectangular piece of foam, shaped to a hydrodynamic form. The bodyboard is ridden predominantly lying down, (or 'prone'). It can also be ridden in a half-standing stance (known as 'dropknee') or can even be ridden standing up. The vast majority of bodyboarders usually wear swimfins on both feet to aid in paddling out and taking off.
[edit] External links
- wake.com.au A community site for wakeboarders in Australia.
- Water Sunglasses A site for water sport regulars on the realities of ocular sun damage and effective "water sunglasses" options.
- Bodyboarding A Bodyboarding community with over 15,000 members from over 25 countries with instructional bodyboarding videos, photo galleries, and more hallo mein name ist nedzad ich wollt mal sagen dass ihr nicht so kompliziertes englisch schreiben soll ich als BOSNIER verstehe kein wort!!!!mit freundlichem gruß ihr nedzad ich hab euch lieb
