Memorial Day may be summer’s unofficial start but the Fourth of July is when it undeniably kicks into high gear. And few local activities scream summertime like hurtling across Boyd Lake or Horsetooth Reservoir on a wakeboard pulled by a boat.
But hitting the water can be difficult if you are not lucky to have your own boat or access to one. That problem is one Boulder resident Ryan Horjus knows all too well.
He says he long saw Colorado’s many “cool lakes” as ideal destinations for wakeboarding. But when looked into boat rentals, he says he could “not find much of anything.” Those rentals he could find were prohibitively expensive.
“They rent boats at Inlet Bay Marina (on Horsetooth Reservoir) but they charge a lot of money to rent them, probably because of the convenience,” he said. “But I was like there has got to be a better way.”
So Horjus decided to purchase his own boat, a 2019 Axis A22 ideally suited to wake sports in a way most of the boats available for rental locally are not, and launch his own business through which to rent it.
Horjus began offering rentals through the business, Wakesports Colorado, at the start of the spring boating season and has already rented it for 20 days so far this summer. The A22 seats 11, according to the Wakesports Colorado website.
He stores the boat in Masonville, which makes it ideal to rent for use on Boyd Lake, Horsetooth Reservoir and other Larimer County bodies of water. However, he has already had renters take it as far as Lake Powell in Arizona and Lake McConaughy in Nebraska.
Horjus says that as long as prospective renters have a vehicle capable of towing the boat and the expertise to do so, he is open to long distance rentals.
However, part of the purpose of the business, he said, is to give prospective boaters a chance to learn how to operate a wakeboarding boat such as the A-22. To that end, he says he is also available to take people out that don’t have as much experience driving a boat and help them get more familiar with doing so. He also put on a demo day last month for prospective renters to come check out the boat and plans to hold more such events in the future.
“If boating sounds like fun but you think it’s not accessible we will try to help you learn so that you can enjoy it,” Horjus said. “The whole idea is to make boating more attainable for people.”
That’s particularly important because the directional thrust of a wakeboat makes such boats more difficult to drive then other boats.
Horjus said he is also willing to work with renters seeking to use the boat nearby to help them transport the boat to their desired body of water and launch it, he said.
Those interested in renting the boat can visit wakesportsco.com, where they can find more information about the boat, its availability and rental rates. They will also find information about a second slightly smaller Axis A20 boat that Horjus is now offering on the site through a partnership with another boater.
In Colorado, anyone with a valid Colorado driver’s license can operate a boat, though Horjus said prefers to rent to those 25 and older. The Axis A22 rents for $750 for one day and $1,350 for two. A full rate schedule can be found online.
And while Horjus is happy to have renters take the boat on long journeys, he says it can be put to top use right in Loveland’s backyard, particularly if you get an early start.
“Come out on Horsetooth early in the morning for wakeboarding and the water is like glass,” he said. “And usually there is nobody out there then.”
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