I run a decent no-stretch rope. I think mine is a Ronix, cna't remember what brand the rope is, but the handle is definitely a Ronix. 60ft in length I think. Whatever the standard length is. I've tried longer and shorter, I'm not sure I'm good enough to tell the difference to be honest. Shorter put me into the jet wash a little more than I liked. Longer just felt "weird" and the response to input was dulled a little.
The board I ride is a Hyperlite Stylus 45in. Not sure they make them that large anymore. I'm 6'2" tall and run about 215-225 depending on my weekly beer intake. Had a
nice dual layer Ronix (like this one, but a different model) with our last boat, but let it go with the boat. The Hyperlite was under $100 when I got it. Again, I'm not good enough anymore to need to dual layer multi-rocker setup.
Here's the Stylus 43. It might be a little small for you, but at 190lbs you'll probably be OK, might have to add a little speed to keep it easily gliding on the water. Maybe 19-21mph or so.
I used to ride 2-3 times a week with 2-3 60min sessions each time out. Then I had kids, and I probably haven't put more than about 4hrs on the board in the last 4 seasons.
Behind our AR190, I'll ride in the 18-20mph range. little more speed will get the spins out in the flats a little easier. Balancing on the wake lip (like riding a rail) is a little easier around 18mph. Just adjust as you need to, you'll get the feel of it.
Biggest difference between the board and skate is how you come up. The board will "pop" out of the water, it has MUCH more surface area than the skate. The skate will be VERY squirrely to come out of the water. Stick with it though, you'll figure it out I'm sure. Also, you can't start from a "dead stop", you need the driver to give you just a little forward pull. Like 2k rpm in our 190 (maybe 1-2mph), just enough to keep the board on your feet so you can set your hands. Then hammer down and get pulled up. Once you're up, STAY SEATED for a second. Like in a crouched position, this will get your center of mass down low and give you more control over the board. Then SLOWLY stand up. Once you get the hang of it you can go straight to standing.
Once your one the board, ollies, kickflips, and rails are hte tricks to start working on IMO. Get those nailed (you'll crash A LOT) and you'll have a really strong base. I couldn't even ollie last year when I was out, so I stuck to playing on the lip of the wake, and doing surface spins. Think I had (3) 360 spins in a row as a record. Takes some planning to get the handle pass behind the back just right, but once you do, you can spin until you're dizzy. Great fun!
Also.....The crashes DO NOT hurt like they do on the board. You just kind "fall off" and the skate goes the other way. Boarding gave me a headache on to many occasions, that's why I moved to the skate. Even if you catch a nasty backside edge, you'll just fall into the water at speed, it won't slam you into the water.
Did this last year on the skate. I don't advise it, but it was neat to do once. Best friend was driving his tri-toon next to me while skating, so I slipped over and high-fived him!
This was the same lake two days later. No tricks or anything cool, but man the water was soooo smooth
Nevermind the thumbs in this one. Have a nice 360 spin in there, but otherwise it's pretty boring.
Like I said, I used to be fairly decent, now I'm just glad to get to stand on a board in the water a few times before I'm either out of time, have a kid that's bored, or too out of shape to keep going.
