Kroeks

Hey Canadian ballers, anyone have an old, left foot, size 11 RS1/Strada/Vapor boot (or similar, but probably size 10 if another model) that they aren't using anymore? It doesn't have to be nice, as it will just be used for some experimenting with a new cold water setup I'm working on. Thanks!

I agree, but unless I'm reading his graphs wrong, I believe they do show the min speed being just after the bouy. The entrance gates are at the bottom, no?

@schafer is that 66" 2023 PB still for sale? I'll be in Alberta in August and am getting the itch to try something new...

+1 for wally! You can buy directly from his website. Turn buoys: https://wallyskier.com/shop%2Fbuy/ols/products/buoy-wallyskier-turn-buoy-787-softest-buoy-usa Boat guides: https://wallyskier.com/shop%2Fbuy/ols/products/buoy-wallyskier-hd-boat-guide-6x-20-usa

The whole set from him was pretty much perfection

@Windsurfnut what size is the TRA? I'll share your ad with the Nova Scotia group as we have a fairly good number of young skiers getting hooked on slalom that could make good use of it.

Yeah, unfortunately I have a number of newer skiers that I'd like to get on it and they don't all fit into one binding size. I also know that myself and a few of my regular ski partners will want to play on it (looks fun to me :) ) and we're definitely not all going to fit in the same boot.

I'm in the same boat...been wanting to get a Hovercraft for a couple of years now, but can't get over the direct connect thing. Anyone have any insight to what the impact of installing inserts would be?

Depends on how tight your usual ski gloves are, but if you have room, the method I have found works best for me is: 1. Use a very thin merino wool liner-glove (icebreaker and smartwool both make nice ones, be sure to get the thinnest ones), then fold (or hem) the part that extends over your wrist in a bit so they aren't too long. 2. Put the surgical glove over the merino wool glove, and make sure the wrist of the surgical glove extends past the wool glove. 3. When you put your drysuit on, it's important that the wrist gasket on your drysuit is over the wrist part of the surgical glove but also still making contact with your skin so no water leaks into the suit (if you don't have a drysuit, duct tape around the wrist works as well, but usually after a few passes it starts to leak...plus you have to rip it off after) 4. Then put your ski gloves on. You should have perfectly dry (and warm!) hands even after multiple full sets.

I believe it was primarily tested on new skis. I certainly liked what it did to my 2018 Vapor!

I want to say yes, but whether that is due to a reduction in drag or if the smoother finish to the turns is allowing me to achieve a better position for accelerating is unclear. I guess the result is the same either way, and I like it :) My season abruptly ended 2 weeks ago, but on my last set, I salvaged a -32 off a bad gate, then ran the best -32 of my life, and then took my first try at -35 for the season...only made 3 but it was the first time that I ever felt like I had the space required at 1 and 2 to actually have a shot at running it.

No issues since 2009. I was advised to have some sort of protection for the first 6 months so I got some spex, which I like so much that I'm still using them on bright days. I've had countless crashes (on water, snow, and mtb) and no issues yet. I did take it easy for the first 6 months, but haven't thought much about it since.

That is super interesting! I may have to do figuring on that, but my guess is that even though the radius of the handle path is constant relative to the pylon, it's actually tightening when viewed from a fixed point in space after centerline. Skiers that keep the handle close after centerline are keeping their COM closer to the center of that curve compared to skiers (like me) that get separated. Conservation of angular momentum kicks in and the angular velocity increases, kind of like how a skilled mountain biker can generate extra speed on rollers without pedaling by pumping.

Update: sadly the skiing I have been doing so far this week has all been with new drivers, so some of the sets were pretty all over the place and I never bothered shortening past 28off. My girlfriend (who drove me though the course for the first time ever/third time ever driving a boat) clearly has a knack for it so I had one set where I could start to really get a feel for the new fin. The other sets were good for seeing how it handled when I was scrambling, haha! The offside is even better than I originally thought. When skiing well, it just feels so much more natural than what I'm used to. The ski used to have a tendency to over-turn and kill my speed, so then it always felt like I was starting my offside pull from a deficit. That's clearly not a problem now. I'm stubborn, so my skiing can get pretty scrappy from time to time; I got very late during a pass with a strong quartering tailwind and attempted a turn that was very stupid and should've blown the tail...it didn't, and even finished the turn smoothly enough for me to get back to a good position and run the rest of the pass. The onside is still giving me occasional trouble, but much less now. It seems to reward you when you move your hips up over your feet, and punish you with the super slow turns when you don't. For some reason I don't do that consistently on my onside, and it's something I tend to struggle with at the start of almost every season. I suspect the fin's ability to hold more exaggerates that problem, but on the flip side, rewards with a buttery smooth finish to the turn when I get it right. That's all for now. I'll try to get my girlfriend back behind the wheel again this weekend and see how it feels at -32 and maybe -35 if things are going well.

I've only had 2 sets of free skiing and 3 in the course with mine so far, but I can say that I am LOVING the offside turns. The grip just gives me way more confidence to get my hips moving through the turn without risk of blowing the tail or overturning. I still need to figure out the on side a bit...sometimes I am making these big, lazy turns that put me way down course, other times it's fine. For wake crossings; I'm pretty certain I'm getting more swing speed out of the ski now, but that's tough to know for sure. I'm hoping to ski a fair bit in the next week and a half, so I can update as I learn more. (For reference, I'm a 34mph guy and I usually ski 22 and 28 very consistently, and better than 50% at 32 once I'm into the season a little further. No luck at 35...yet...)

I get very cold feet and have had great luck with 1.5mm neoprene socks in my Vapor boots. Keeps them warm enough to get 6 passes in right up until the lake starts to freeze and there is enough adjustment in the boots that they still fit/feel/release fine :)

I think the logic is that the Senate Pro is essentially the same as Radar's top-end ski (the Vapor Pro) but made a little wider for those of us not skiing at 36mph. Having never tried one myself I can't really say how it feels, but of the 34mph skiers I know that have tried both the Vapor and the Senate, two of them preferred the Vapor, one is pretty undecided and switches backand forth every once and a while, and one very much prefers the Senate. All of them ski at 34mph and spend most of their time in the 22off to 32off range. I suppose whether you like it better or not depends on how it meshes with your style, but I wouldn't be knowledgeable enough to know what particular attributes will suit one over the other.

@jjackkrash I could be wrong but I believe the U21 record they were talking about for Jamiee Bull is a Canadian record (vice World record.)

I was just thinking about this. Well said. If nothing else is changed, more tunnel should make the ski slower. (But what if the extra stability helps the skier get into and maintain a better position for generating speed?...)

I guess this just goes to show how individual the choice of ski can be. I demo'd a handful of skis before my last purchase (which were all really nice, to be fair) but the 2018 Vapor was the clear winner. The honeymoon is well into its second year with no signs of slowing down, so it's hard for me to imagine someone being dissatisfied with it!

** Long post alert ** So much good stuff going on there; here's a small recap so far: Thursday saw two(!!!!) U21 world records go down; Pato Font in trick and Jamiee Bull in slalom. Pato was so smooth that the commentators called it a 'conservative run just to ensure a spot in the finals' but clearly he is just so good he can make an 11510 point run look easy. Joel Poland bobbled a little at the end of his hand pass, but the flips were worth so many points he still set a UK record of 10630 to take 2nd. Bull was on fire, 38 looked easy and it even looked good through most of 39. In the end, she went down rounding 6 for 5.5, bumping up the U21 record by 2 buoys. I missed the women's tricks on Friday, but Anna Gay put up a huge score of 10680 (which may also be a U21 record, I'm not sure. Either way, pretty epic.) The men's slalom was exciting; the top 3 all looked like they were totally capable of running 39. Joel Poland was entertaining again, with a cheeky hand-drag around 6 at 35off and then a scrappy-but-staying-in-it 39 until getting crushed out of 4 and hanging in there (by some sort of wizardry) to get a piece of 5 before having a massive out the front. Topped off with 2 fists in the air and a "WOOO!!" to let everyone know he was okay, the crowd was loving it. All in all, good stuff so far!

Love DFC, keep 'em coming please!

This is excellent, I'm glad to hear others are interested in the grassroots stuff too! Brandon, Manitoba has a great member-run club on the river that I think could be a model for accessible and affordable skiing in Canada. It would be great if WSWC could provide support for others looking to start clubs like that (even if it was just support in the form of info and guidance on how to get started and fight the inevitable political battles about putting a course or jump on public water.) @daryl anything to add? You're the master-mind so I suspect we can all learn a thing or two from you B)

I started using Spex after having surgery on my eyes 9 years ago (google 'spex amphibian' and it's the first result) and love them. Never had a fogging issue, but water spots can be a problem. They sell some sort of wax for a few bucks and if you clean them with that every couple of weeks you won't get the spots and all the water beads off before the boat is up to speed. As for tint, I've tried yellow and dark grey. Yellow was better for those cloudy/grey days with 'flat' light, the dark ones are better for the nice sunny days. The key no matter which colour you choose is the polarization; takes the glare out of the water's surface and really helps the bouys stand out!

If you're skiing 34 or 36 I would definitely go with a 66". For reference, I'm 5'8" and usually 155 lbs (a little lighter at the moment) and the 66 is perfect.