Had an incident this week where I pulled onto the third wake of a surf boat, opposite side of the surfer of course. Let’s just say the boat driver was none too pleased. I didn’t argue and said I wouldn’t surf behind him anymore and motored off. Curious what your thoughts are on wake thieving etiquette with foildrive. Is third wake too close, reasonable? Genuinely looking for feedback as I want to maintain good relations with boaters and not cause potential problems for other foilers. Thanks
Out of an abundance of caution, probably not good form to thieve when there is a skier or anyone being towed.
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Problem is, these are the wakes you want to ride.
My opinion is as long as you have control, 3rd wake is fine. I’ll dock start and end up on a second wave sometimes. If someone complains too much, I’ll pick a different boat.
Most people think its pretty sweet when you pop onto their wave.
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As a boat driver, it comes back to my confidence in the rider. Maybe they had low confidence in your skills for whatever reason.
Example: When a pwc wants to jump my boats wake, I can usually tell pretty quickly if the person is both high skill & has high situational awareness. Whenever they have either low skill and/or low situational awareness. I flag them away nicely. You can typically tell in a few seconds.
Another thought: captains under a hundred hours of driving are typically a little on edge anyway (even under perfect conditions). Making sure people are safe, managing cruise control, pulling in ropes, managing radio, filming, etc… it’s just another point of stress. Maybe even the owner of the boat was riding and a passenger was driving to help.
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Another factor is who their surfer is, if it’s their 10 yo it will probably scare / bother them and thus piss off the captain. I would say 3rd wake it too close unless you know the boat captain and rider are down.
Thank you for the feedback, I’m gonna call it a mistake on my part and learn from it. Much appreciated
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Did you mean they were towing a Surfer on a tow rope from the boat? If that’s the case, I think you’re right and should stay away from that boat.
I’m always so worried about foiling being banned from our river that I’ll only thieve boats with no other boats around them, stay super friendly and wave thanks. Also, I stay the heck away from police boats. People post videos of themselves riding police boats, but I reckon sit down on the dock respectfully, give them a nice wave and try not to poke the bear!
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Since Efoils need to be registered as a PWC, is there a loophole that makes FD exempt because it’s retrofit?
Just went through this today. At least where I’m at in Utah it was registered as a PWC but they were kind of shooting from the hip. They didn’t really know what to make of it.
Efoiling, my rule is to circle and ask. Never had anyone say no, they are usually super stoked. I generally ride the opposite side, even though crappier. However 3rd wake same side if they are confident good rider works ok…lotsnof time to avoid fallen rider..
If the rule where you are is efoils are PWCs, that probably applies to foil drive as well.
So if I am the boat skipper and you pull on to my wake and I have a surfer out - I would be super pi$$ed too. Especially if its a kid being towed.
No matter how good a foiler you are if the surfer goes down when one of you is crossing over theres a chance they get hit. Or given you are motorised hit and chopped.
Why assume they are staying on the side they are on? They might cross over.
Seems like another instance of FD’ers giving foilers a bad name.
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