Every wakeboard boat has a magic number of wakeboard riders that makes everything operate well and helps the wakeboard sets run smoothly. Too few people means that wakeboard riders will get tired too quickly because they do not have long breaks to recover. There is often a lot of stalling while they recover from their runs, which is wasted time. If there are too many people on the wakeboard boat, some people may not get to ride multiple times. Too many people also means that they may have to sit around waiting for their turn and they may get cold.

Every wakeboard boat must initially have at least three people aboard. One person who drives the boat , the other person is the spotter and the wakeboard rider who is the third. Sometimes other riders can serve as spotters, depending how many people are on the boat. Non-riding passengers can also serve as spotters. Bigger passengers are placed at the back of the boat to improve the wake size.

Factors that play into the ideal number of riders on the wakeboard boat:

There are a few factors that play into how many people should be on the boat

  • Age – young kids and old fat guys tire fast
  • Fitness Level – fit people will last longer and get in more wakeboard sets as they have better stamina
  • Water Temp and Air Temp – cold days in the Fall means that no one wants to sit around on the boat getting cold waiting for their turn
  • Wakeboard Experience – newbies will need more time for instruction,. meaning that other will need to wait

Just One Wakeboard Rider

We get asked for just one wakeboarder once is a while and it is a bit of a disaster, We will no longer will do it for clients unless they insist as we know they will get tired too quickly and then will need to come in after less than an hour of riding.

Two Wakeboard Riders

This is a better number than just one rider, and it works well for couples who want a romantic experience and take their time. Experienced wakeboarders will often get tired quickly and barely make it to two hours of riding . Newbies will be rotated in faster than they can recover and can also suffer from the same fate. Both groups often having trouble making it to 3 x 10 min riding sets. The wake with just two riders will be smaller than with more people on the boat, even if the boat has ballast controls and water bags.

Three or Four Wakeboard Riders

This is the optimal number of people for all wakeboard boats. No-one has to sit around for too long waiting for their set and the boat is not filled to maximum.

Five or Six Wakeboard Riders

Despite having to wait a while between sets, the size of the wake for riders in a group of five or six people is significantly bigger and can help with big jumps for experienced riders. Some riders will bring friends to just sit in the boat for extra weight. The heavier they are the better.

overloaded wakeboard boat with too many people

Seven or Eight Wakeboard Riders on the Boat

Now the boat is fully getting loaded and the wait between everybody’s set is long and can often be frustrating. The crowd at this size of group is encouraging and fun, and the event can feel like a party, especially if alcohol is allowed – which is not allowed on our boats BTW. The size of the wake is huge and wakeboard riders will not have to try hard to get huge air.

Nine or Ten Wakeboard Riders

With over nine riders in the boat , the boat is significantly over filled and this affects all kinds of things. The operation of the boat is slow between sets because there are so many people on board, which means switching over riders takes twice as long. Some riders may only get one set, but the wake will be huge. With this number of riders, the wakeboard boat is significantly running at sub-optimal performance.