Fidgetstick, Wakeboard Review – SkiFun Jamie
In 2007, “Jamie” Bloemsma was crowned the Dutch national champion in slalom water skiing. As of 2009, Jamie can be found during the summer months offering advice and instruction from him through his ski and wakeboard school at Ellingham Waterski Park, nr Ringwood, Hampshire. SkiFunJamie offers water skiing, wakeboarding, ski tricks, kneeboarding, barefoot skiing and ski jumping lessons and classes for anyone who wants to learn. This really is inclusive in the broadest sense, as evidenced by the large number of disabled participants whose stories are told through the walls of the clubhouse. Jamie believes that everyone is capable and that it is his job to make sure that everyone pushes themselves to improve and enjoy these exciting activities.
The facilities at Ellingham are good. The clubhouse, while a bit rustic and in need of some upgrading, is functional in nature. They have two high-spec competition standard boats, a container full of rental gear, and a man-made lake that offers the only full 80-mile slalom water ski course. The setting is idyllic and quiet, where you can enjoy a barbecue on the terrace while watching the activities on the lake. There is a real sense of community about the center and the club. From the member-donated furniture in the clubhouse and donated equipment in the children’s play area to the committee that cares for the club and its strong base of 125 members. We met Jo, one of the committee members, who showed us around and explained how the club works, how the 4 slot system works (1 slot out of 4 during club sessions is for non-club members ) and the challenges that a club like this faces.
After a stop-over, Jo dons her wetsuit and before you know it, she’s flying up and down the lake on a mono-slalom ski, gigantic rooster tails sticking out behind her. Once she was done, she quickly put on her dry clothes and went back to the computer to do the necessary paperwork to keep the club running. Funding is clearly a challenge, but fortunately not all aspects of the club’s financial burden rest on its membership base. The lottery funded a recently built new slipway and jetty, crucial for launching boats and allowing safe access to and from the lake.
We participated in a beginner wakeboarding lesson with SkiFunJamie. None of us had wakeboarded or waterskied, or frankly anything that involved more than being pulled by a motorboat, since we were banana boating kids. This was really going to test Jamie’s instructor skills, as well as our courage. Kitted out with wetsuits, life jackets and wakeboards and bindings rented from the school, we were ready to rock and roll.
I’d be lying if I said we weren’t a bit apprehensive. We didn’t want to look silly, get washed away like a Police Academy movie. We’re also a bit competitive, so I’m sure, I was secretly hoping the other would seem at least a degree more stupid. After a short safety briefing, it was time for a pep talk and some words of wisdom from Jamie. The latter easily delivers the shortest but most effective advice I’ve received when engaging in a new activity for the first time. “Turn your hip.” That is? Nothing more? I probably have to harness my upper body strength, manage my weight transition, control my edges… Nope. Just stay relaxed, bend your knees, and let the boat, board, and water do the work. A well-timed hip twist will straighten you up and you’ll be moving steadily with the boat. And he did. wow. The static, rigid bar used for newbies was a blast, all thanks to this little gem of a tip.
Fear not, the relative ease of the static bar is soon replaced by the intimidating sight of a rope falling off the back of the boat. Joining the rope, swinging like an apple on the back of the boat, was a whole different ballgame now.
As the boat moves away, the pressure builds against the board and begins to lift you out of the water. Compared to the barbell, the forces exerted on the upper body are enormous and a bit surprising. Little did I remember, the first time, that I held the key to managing this effectively. “Rotate the hip.” In the wrong weather and you leave it too late, you feel like you’re carrying the whole load of the ship and you have a lot of horses in your cold, numb hands. Needless to say, you’ll let it go. With the right timing, you relieve pressure, increase stability, and rock the boat with the biggest, cheesiest grin imaginable.
Anyone who has snowboarded before, like me, really feels how you can use your edges to control your position, direction, and speed on the board. We started traversing the wake of the ship, negotiating the wake’s height changes and using the bow of the rope to move from one side to the other. We got a few runs around the lake before pulling up to the jetty, puffing and totally excited.
We made pretty good progress and under instruction we were moving at a pace dictated by us, but also enhanced through Jamie’s understanding of the sport, our abilities and our potential. The session lasted 15 minutes, in which we did half a dozen runs on the lake. The cost of this is just over £20.00 which while not cheap is great value for the education, equipment and overall excitement of the trip.
Jamie teaches classes Monday through Friday from 9am to 1pm and is also available in the evenings and on weekends to accommodate club sessions that take priority during these times.