The Hammer is Coming Down on Wakesurfing in the Commonwealth of Virginia

[Stevemo14]

https://="https://lis.virginia.gov/c...211+sum+HB2083


Surf’s up at Smith Mountain Lake, but Virginia legislature is considering restrictions on wakesurfing | Latest Headlines | roanoke.com

Here is a new one just popped up. This one seems to be more sensationalized.

https://beachgrit.com/2021/01/virgin...into-the-dock/

[Nautiquehunter]

Remember when Honda made a three wheel off road motorcycle?

[bird_dog0347]

Here is a new one just popped up. This one seems to be more sensationalized.

https://beachgrit.com/2021/01/virgin...into-the-dock/

Holy crap!!! That must have been written by Mama Boucher, "Wake Surfing is THE DEVIL and I forbid you to do it Bobby Boucher!"

I'm not saying there is no problem with what seems to be happening there, but that "news" column is sensational on the National Enquirer level.

[bturner]

The not-suitable-for-children music just adds insult to injury and gives more excuses for people to lump surf boats in with other bad behavior on the lake. Remember, everybody has phones these days and can easily video you blasting adult lyrics and email it to their local elected officials or enforcement officials.

This is all part of the package that lake associations will use to legislate surf ships and basically any boat with a tower off the lake. If wakes aren't enough to get people riled up you now have the pontoon boat families out at the sand bar with their kids being blasted with Cardi B WAP from the surf ship 20' feet away. You now you have 2 groups that hate your boat. And while we're at it let's add 2 more groups that are effected by careless wake boats, kayakers and paddle boarders. Don't think these groups aren't going to throw in with the wake boat haters? Attend a lake association meeting sometime and listen to the complaints.

I don't know what the answer is but I will say that I'm truly amazed at times how clueless or maybe it's just self absorbed people can be.

[srock]

This forum is obviously an informed group that cares but you will never win against the group that could give a crap about anything but themselves and their good time without some sort of regulation. We have a group that fights to keep a spring called Silver Glen open to the public but a lot of people publicly post that they will do what they want regardless of how offensive or "wrong" and when they shut us down I will just go elsewhere. This is the disease that has no cure.

[GMLIII]

Remember when Honda made a three wheel off road motorcycle?

Yes I had one ACT 90. I loved it

[nyryan2001]

LACA at Lake Anna is trying to further restrict wakesurfing also.

[Gtsum2]

I hope it doesn’t come to lake Gaston but I fear it’s only a matter of time


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[GMLIII]

LACA at Lake Anna is trying to further restrict wakesurfing also.

It just makes me mad they singled out SML in VA as the only wakesurf restrictions

[GMLIII]

I hope it doesn’t come to lake Gaston but I fear it’s only a matter of time


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You are probably correct . We are only seeing the beginning of these restrictions before wakesurfing is banned completely IMHO

[mgs917]

I am on a few other brand forums and FB pages. I don't have exact numbers, but it seems like over half the post are about where to place lead or how to upgrade ballast. I would guess 90% of these people can barely even ride ropeless. Some of them are buying brand new boats (also first time inboard owners) and then asking what advice others have for them. Sure enough "upgrade the ballast/lead to get the wave" is one of the first responses. I had a 2000 SAN for 7 years and we wakeboarded empty ballast over half the time and still did wake to wake and basic spins and inverts. My point is most of us don't need these large wakes for wakeboarding or surfing and we could do the same level of riding on smaller wakes. And, a lot of these people are the more money than brains crew or older and/or better credit and have caused new and used boat prices to skyrocket. Sorry for the rant just irks me the direction wakesurfing is driving the inboard industry.

TLR Most of us can do our bag of tricks wakeboarding or surfing on smaller wakes. Wakesurfing driving prices up.

just my 0.02

[tdc_worm]

As for the golf course, I think it is the perfect analogy. Just because the owner purchased their home pre surf barges, doesn't mean there hasn't been the "Wake" issue for a long long time.

we can agree to disagree on this one. for the golf course analogy to work, it would have to be a house at the far end of a driving range.
there are many bulkheads/seawalls and many boat docks on many lakes/rivers that are 20+ years old and predate 5 tons of vessel dragging a hole through the water. an OG 210 wake from 2005 has WAY less impact on those structures than a Gboat surf wave. is this a one sized fits all position? certainly not. on larger lakes with larger boats, its a non issue. on smaller and narrower bodies of water, its a real issue.

to the behavior of "plowing"....plowing in my 230 still does throw a roller anywhere in comparison to the surf wave i can make with the boat. plowing is something we can educate against. educating on creating the biggest surf wave possible...well...that seems like an exercise in futility as that is how these boats are marketed.

[Stevemo14]

People that bought their house 20 years ago when drives were barley 300 yards by the pros, so their houses were "out of range", are now in range due to driver tech and ball tech. Their houses are now getting pounded by balls, all because of new tech that wasn't around when they bought their house. So how is that any different?

My real point here is that when you choose to live on the water, or at the golf course, you should be prepared for things that happen because of where you choose to live. If you are on the course, expect your house to get hit. If you are on the water, and you don't happen to be in a no wake zone, waves are going to hit your dock and your shore. Yes some may be bigger now, but I can't imagine the people that had to pull their kids out of the water because of a surf ship would let them play down there on a busy day with wakeboarders and other boats cruising by. It not likely they just took the "no wake zone" away from in front of their house, so in some form, they had an idea of what possibly could occur, wake board boat, surf ship, or Baja alike.

[tdc_worm]

People that bought their house 20 years ago when drives were barley 300 yards by the pros, so their houses were "out of range", are now in range due to driver tech and ball tech. Their houses are now getting pounded by balls, all because of new tech that wasn't around when they bought their house. So how is that any different?

My real point here is that when you choose to live on the water, or at the golf course, you should be prepared for things that happen because of where you choose to live. If you are on the course, expect your house to get hit. If you are on the water, and you don't happen to be in a no wake zone, waves are going to hit your dock and your shore. Yes some may be bigger now, but I can't imagine the people that had to pull their kids out of the water because of a surf ship would let them play down there on a busy day with wakeboarders and other boats cruising by. It not likely they just took the "no wake zone" away from in front of their house, so in some form, they had an idea of what possibly could occur, wake board boat, surf ship, or Baja alike.

like i said, we can agree to disagree, neither of us will change each other's mind, and our positions are likely rooted in our experiences. my guess is that your lakes aren't similar to the lakes that i frequent, which are typically more akin to a river and didn't see boats regularly 23 ft in length until the G23s took them by storm....the docks are fixed, non floating types....no bajas, no cabin cruisers, mostly direct drives and bass boats until the OG 210 came on the scene in 99 methinks?

what i hope we can agree on is that nobody should have to tolerate the willful negligence of others. some might opine that disregarding the impact a wave has, when destructive, is willful negligence. at some point too much of a "good thing" will result in change.

[GMLIII]

In the Commonwealth of Virginia today the proposed Wakesurf Regulations bill was defeated . Not to say it can’t come up again next year . Keep a watch out , coming to a lake near you .