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photography by Garrett Cortese

Stalefish re-entry w/ Aaron Rathy

It isn’t always the hardest tricks or “getting big air” that make riding behind a boat fun. Here we present you with a simple yet totally fun maneuver you and your friends can work on next time you’re out on the water to add some extra flare and style to your riding. Re-entry tricks can range anywhere from simple grabs to spins to full inverts. Aaron Rathy shows us how to style out a stalefish grab without jumping the wake.

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Part 1: The Turn
The easiest way to start doing tricks like this is frontside, facing the wake. You will want the driver to turn the boat away from you so the wake builds up and you can get a good ollie. You’ll actually be able to see the curved section of the wake and it’s similar to hitting a hip in a skate or snow park. The more the boat turns the more you can carve into it and land in the transition.

Part 2: The Ollie
The most fun is being able to get a big ollie and landing in a perfect transition as the wake forms back underneath you. You want to edge in right as the boat is turning and give it a good ollie as you pop off the top of the wake. You can stand right next to the wake and do a little ollie to get used to what the wake is doing as the boat is turning, but it’s more fun to come at it on edge and get more air. When the driver is arcing a turn you’ll be able to see the wake getting steeper where you’re going to take off. Don’t stay on edge so that you jump the wake and land in between the wakes, you almost want to carve away from the wake as you generate your ollie so you go straight up and can then land in the transition of the wake below you. When you’re in the air the board will be sucked up underneath you because of the ollie, so you can grab anywhere you want, add a 180, whatever. The stalefish is one of the easier and more stylish grabs to try at first because you just drop your back hand down and the board is right there, if you get a big enough ollie you can poke it out a bit, too.

Part 3: The Finish
Keep your front arm pretty straight throughout the whole trick to keep the rope tight, just as if you were doing a big carve on the wake. You don’t have to extend your legs much to land, especially if you time it properly and are able to land in a perfect down transition in the wake. It’s a lot of fun and a cool feeling when you do pop the ollie just right and land in perfect tranny. After that cut back out, let the driver turn a bit again, and go for another.