Like drag lifts on ski slopes that pull skiers up the mountain, but in the sea to pull surfers out to sea. I just returned from skiing --- and it occurred to me: although I've never been surfing, it seems a lot of effort to swim against the waves to get to the starting point. So... make an underwater pulley with buoys floating on the surface attatched to some rope that you grab onto. This is a surfing drag lift.
-- lubbit, Apr 28 2002

Big Wave Tow-In http://www.surfersv...2.asp?num_news=3239
I've conversed with #5 Tom Carroll #10 Ken Bradshaw & most recently #12 - Rodrigo Resende - Nice guys with nerves of steel [thumbwax, Apr 29 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Solo Waterski http://www.solowatersports.com/
Waterski towed by a RC jetski [FloridaManatee, Oct 04 2004]

There was a great documentary on UK TV about these guys a couple of months back. It was awesome. They are also completely insane. I also seem to remember that one of these guys was killed last year (was it Brian Keaulana?)
-- goff, Apr 29 2002


Sorry, I'm thick. What are you talking about?
-- lubbit, Apr 29 2002


[goff] is talking about surfers who get towed onto fast moving waves by a Jet Ski (Laird Hamilton et al right?).

[lubbit] Wouldn't it be better to have the pulley and it's workings above the surface of the water to eliminate some drag? The large pylons required might prove unpopular though.
-- stupop, Apr 29 2002


Pulleys above or below would be deadly.
Jay Moriarty, not Brian Keaulana. Brian is the fittest of surfers. I first heard about Jay in January of 1995. Hawaiian surfer Mark Foo had just died a few weeks earlier at a local surf spot, Maverick's near Half Moon Bay. Maverick's had a reputation for being a hellacious and awesome spot to surf. Rumors were swirling that a young kid had wiped out just a few days before Mark had died but he had survived. It wasn't until I laid eyes on Jay in the May 1995 Surfer Magazine that I began to understand what had taken place. A 16 year old Jay had charged a 40 foot monster wave on his first time at the surf spot. He took a noble stance on the lip and then fell down the face of the wave and lived to tell the story.
-- thumbwax, Apr 29 2002


with all due respect to the boys pushing the limits of tow in surfing, can I just say that surfing is what it is 'cos it is one man (or woman) working in harmony with one of natures most awesome manifestations. Paddling out with a rip or in a channel is as much a part of surfing as getting shacked. Keep the machinery well away from the beach. Dammit!
-- briandamage, Aug 03 2002


There's a cool waterski-towing unmanned jetski commercially available. See link.
-- FloridaManatee, Jan 02 2003


I'm personally all for this idea. I hate the paddling, getting the wave in your face, being pushed back into the sand, paddling,...

Ok, so I'm a rookie.
-- PauloSargaco, Mar 19 2004


Anytime you guys get tired of the pylons, just knock them over and we'll dive on the resulting rich reef.
-- normzone, Mar 19 2004



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