Wow! Can you skimboard with a Wakesurf board?!?
IF you have a wakesurf board already you might be wondering this exact thing, because you can easily do a quick skimboarding session along the coastline.
That’s exactly what I’ve been looking at and decided to write this blog post for you.
If you have a wakesurf board you might want to skimboard on it in between taking the boat out for surfing. But, the two boards are not interchangeable and can’t be used for each other’s respective sports. Even wakeskim boards are too thick and symmetrical to skimboard.
Here’s the deal: a wakesurf board is designed to ride behind a boat and be dragged behind it for speed.
Skimboarders need dry land in order to get their speed and need a really thin and pointy board in order to do that.
Skimboarding is done on a much smaller and thinner board, which is ridden towards the shoreline. Waves and water interaction with the board propels the skimboarder towards the shore.
In other words, a wakesurf board is designed for stability and control at high speeds in open water, while a skimboard is designed for performance and speed on a much smaller and thinner piece of equipment.
Why you can’t skimboard with a wakesurf board
- Wakesurf boards are too bulky, long, and heavy
- If a wakesurf board catches a wave it will slow you down making turning practically impossible
- Wakesurf boards are too thick and symmetrical
Wakesurf vs wakeskim boards vs skimboards
For wakesurfing, there are two main types of boards – wakesurf and wakeskim. So, what’s the difference?
Wakeskim boards are:
- shorter
- with thinner profiles
- more symmetrically shaped all the way from the tail up to the tip
- without much channeling
This shallow profile without much surface area causes the wakeskim board to sit lower in the water.
This makes them better for performing tricks on the wake as they are less likely to catch the water and slow you down.
Surf style wakesurf boards are more like the larger surfboards, being much thicker and wider and thus creating more surface area to sit higher on top of the water.
Skimboards are even lighter, narrower, and shorter than wakeskim boards. They also have a pointy top to give them more control over the direction you want to skim in.
With skimboards, you have to make the speed, control the direction and have to be able to do a quick turnaround for wrapping waves.
Skimboards also don’t float on water by themselves, you have to have some speed in order for them to glide on top of the water.
Conclusion
So, can you skimboard with a wakesurf board? The answer is unfortunately no – they are two very different sports that require different types of boards.
Wakesurfing requires a board that is stable and controllable at high speeds in open water, while skimboarding requires a much smaller, thinner, and pointier board designed for performance and speed on the shoreline.
Hopefully this article has helped clear up any confusion you might have had about using a wakesurf board for skimboarding. Thanks for reading!
Look for your own skimboard to add to your board collection? Try these skimboards we’ve reviewed here
