Dan's Papers - August 22, 2008 -

"Zach here can land a back flip...at 3:30 a.m....when the unicorns and flying pigs are out."

"Yeah, and I do it on a solid gold wakeboard!"

So goes the gregarious, good-natured teasing between boat captain Roger Kunsmuller and wakeboard camper Zach Zimmerman. It's the end of the day, and the guys from The Riders Wakeboarding, a subsidiary of Bridgehampton's Art Farm have graciously taken us out for a quick demonstration and lesson in the art of wakeboarding. Wakeboarding is a very simple concept. You have a board strapped to your feet, and when the rope, which is tied to the end of the boat, gets taut, you stand up and ride behind it, maneuvering your board back and forth.

Simple? No. Like everything with a straightforward premise, wakeboarding is, for lack of a better word, mind-boggling. At 22, I was proud at being able just to stand up. It didn't help my ego that the 12- and 13-year-old kids who went before me were pulling 360s and attempting backflips with the ease and grace of a fish attached to a wakeboard.

"I wakeboard all year long. I come to this camp in the summer, and work with a coach during the winter back at home in Florida. I've entered a few competitions, and hope to go pro soon," Zimmerman explains as we watch DK (who is featured on the front page of Ridersofthehamptons.org), his wakeboarding camp buddy attempt another flip off the back of the boat. It's clear from watching the interaction between campers and instructors that a summer with the Riders is a summer well spent.

While we got a taste for wakeboarding, the camp also caters to other water sports, including water skiing, wake surfing, knee boarding and surfing. The riders operate at a host of different locations, but the majority of boat activities take place off Long Beach in Sag Harbor, while the surfing days vary between Ditch Plains beach in Montauk and local beaches in Sagaponack. Children of all ages are welcome - 7-year-old boys and girls, nicknamed Junior Riders, get to experience the thrills of water sports in a safe environment. Small class size means that by the time they graduate to being fully fledged "Riders," they will have mastered the basics of wakeboarding, as well as gaining an understanding of the ocean. Not only does the camp offer days out on the boat, but campers are also taken on trips such as swimming with sharks, deep-sea fishing and visits to skate parks. Rainy days don't hold them back either - movies, bowling or indoor sports at the camp base are lined up to keep both kids and counselors entertained. Along with half day and full day sessions at camp, the Riders also offer private one-hour sessions at $220/hour. "Many other water sport companies around won't go out on the water for anything less than two hour bookings, but we try to introduce as many people as possible to the sport. Also, it's a great day out, and, with a few friends, doesn't cost too much," said professionally sponsored wake surfer Jeff Schulich.

All these activities, as cool as they are to many of the campers, pale in comparison to the passion with which DK and Zimmerman talk about wakeboarding. "I love it. I've been doing it for three years now. It's great. My dream is to go pro and get sponsored," enthuses DK, as he climbs back into the boat.

"It's great to see how some of these kids progress from year to year. Even over the course of the summer some of the campers make huge progress in the sports. We do what we can to help them along the way, from correcting basic technique, to helping them perfect their latest tricks," added Schulich.

While Schulich's encouragement towards my wakeboarding attempts on the water were well appreciated, they lacked a certain grace and elegance that came so naturally to the kids sharing the boat with me.