What’s up with wakeskating?

“Oh my God, his feet just came off the board,” one shocked onlooker exclaimed. “They’re not attached.”

That’s pretty similar to my reaction when I found out that it was physically possible to glide across the water at more than 20 miles-per-hour with an unattached board at your feet. This is not a sight often seen in land-locked Nevada. But some of the best athletes in the sport of wakeskating are performing today at 10:30 a.m. at the Sparks Marina – for free.

One of those athletes is 17-year-old Stuart Shinn of Brighton, Florida. Shinn took 17th place out of 39 wakeskaters at the Portland, Ore. Master Craft Pro Wakeboard Tour stop held on July 17, 2006. But the next weekend he placed 3rd in the Pro Men Wakeskate Finals for the 2006 Malibu USA Wakeboard Nationals.

Shinn’s mother Jody Shinn said he had been wakeboarding for four years, but after he recovered from knee surgery he found the sport put too much pressure on his knee. Wakeskating was easier on his leg and that became his sport of choice.

A Washoe zephyr made it more difficult for wakeskaters on Friday afternoon.

“When there’s a lot of wind it’s really hard on the wakeskaters because it blows around the board and they can’t do as many flips with the board,” Jody Shinn said.

Jody Shinn said the sport is more accessible for many, since wakeskaters can be pulled behind Jet Skis or by a winch on a truck driving alongside a body of water. Unlike wakeboarders, wakeskaters don’t need the larger wakes produced by boats to pull off their stunts.

I was looking through the list of stunts and I don’t think they get as much launch as wakeboarders since I didn’t see any back flips or equivalent stunts. How comparable to skateboarding is it? If anyone knows, please blog in and tell me, what are the limitations of wakeskating? Eye witness reports from today will do. Check back later to read more about some professional wakeboarders.

P.S. Thanks to Jody Shinn for sending in this photo of her son wakeskating in a Florida bayou.