Peter Fleck's Corner

Dear Barefoot Central,

I don't have an expensive barefoot boat to ski behind.  As a matter of fact, my dad's boat will barely reach 40 mph after taking several minutes to get up-to-speed.  I've tried several times to get up deepwater behind the boat, but can't hold my breath long enough.  Some people have told me that footers used to start on kneeboards or wakeboards first, then stand up once the boat is up to speed.  I've tried that as well, but my driver & I just can't figure it out.  Can you describe how this is done.

Peter's Answer:

I hate to bring bad news, but the reality is, even if you learned to start off a ski or kneeboard, barefooting creates more drag than a ski or kneeboard and will drag the boat speed down.  At a beginners level, inadequate speed will cause you to catch a toe.  Learning this method on a slow boat will become very abusive on your body.  I would recommend borrowing a friends boat that goes faster or try re-propping your boat with more of a speed prop.  This may allow your boat to get to speed slowly and might do the trick as far as your speed needs are concerned.

Best of luck

Peter Fleck

Peter does not have a web site at this time.  If you would like to email him, his email is PKFleck@aol.com.