Last October thousands of people attended the World Wakeboard Champ�onship in Seville. For four days Spanish and foreign riders showed off their expertise in the river Guadalquivir, doing high-speed acrobatics. The sport has won over many fans on both sides of the Atlantic as it was first born on the beaches of California.

Slide, jump and enjoy
Wakeboarding involves skimming over the water on a board, being dragged by a boat. At first glance it seems like water skiing. But... it has more to do with snowboarding. As in that winter sport, the idea is to do the most imaginative jumps and acrobatics as possible. Riders use speed and the waves produced by the boat to the point where they spend as much time in the air as they do in the water.

Lengend says this sport goes back to when California surfers got bored waiting for waves and decided to make them. That may or may not be true, but the truth is a sport was born with a lot of possibilities. It can be done on rivers and is growing in popularity. Tournaments are held around the world, even in Spain. Since the year 2000 the National Circuit and Spanish Championship have been held. Since 2001 there has been a Spanish Wakeboard Association for fans of this sport. There are famous riders such as I�aki Anitua, winner of the last national championship.

There is just one variety within the sport, called Free Riding, which is the one evaluated in tournaments. Each rider does two runs of about 500 metres. Each time he or she can do whatever acrobatics they want. It does not last long. With the speed boat zipping along, the run lasts between 28 to 30 seconds. The judges evaluate the run on the basis of several variables, such as style, height, aggressiveness, level of difficulty, imagination and fluidity. The most important thing is to avoid falling down, which means disqualification.

Beyond technical aspects and competitiveness, wakeboard tournaments are a big party. Events like concerts and contests are held on the shore alongside the wakeboard rides.

What it takes to be a rider
Wakeboarding does not require much equipment but it can be expensive. The board is similar to a snowboard, but it is rounder and its dimensions vary from 135 to 150 cm, depending on the height and weight of the rider. You also need boots with fasteners that hold on to the board when you jump. They are designed to come off if the person falls and thus avoid knee injuries and keep the board from striking the persons� body.

Naturally, to hit it big in the world of wakeboarding you need to spend hours practicing to learn the technique and the tricks that let you do big jumps. Before you start practicing you need to be in good physical shape because the sport requires a lot of energy. These days Spain has a lot of schools for helping people learn the sport. They hire out all the necessary material so you do not have to invest a lot of money to get started.