Just as snowboarding is similar to skiing but you have your feet fixed onto a single board, so wakeboarding is similar to waterskiing.

With both feet strapped to the wakeboard you are towed behind a boat at speed while trying to stay upright on the surface of the water.

Once you have mastered this there’s a huge array of jumps and tricks you can learn – exhilarating for the wakeboarder and thrilling for spectators.

Expert riders steer their board away from the wake left by the boat and then manouvre back into it, using the wake to launch their board into the air.

One of the simplest tricks is the raley – where the rider jumps over the wake and lands on the other side. Rolls involve the rider flipping over while in the air and there are various landings and levels of difficulty for this.

You can try wakeboarding at watersport centres around the UK and many of these have cable tows which pull boarders along from a fixed point. Many beginners prefer this to learning attached to boats.

Each operator will have its own age restrictions, though children over eight are usually allowed to have a go providing they can swim at least 50 metres.

Perhaps the best place to watch and try wakeboarding is at the annual wakeboarding and music festival, Wakestock, held each July on the Llyn Peninsula in north-west Wales.

As well as holding competitions they also offer lessons for beginners.

The key to successful wakeboarding is to crouch down with your arms relaxed until there is enough tension on the water to take your weight.

Once you are standing, your shoulders need to be parallel to the board with one leg forward and the handle by your forward hip. Couldn’t be easier...

For information on where to try wakeboarding see www.wakeboardinguk.co.uk. The Wakestock website is www.wakestock.co.uk.

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