BugHunter

Hero 9, 10, 11, 12 all work great. Hero12 will have the best video quality. Older models will also work with the app but their battery is the old model, so I do not recommend those if you have to and buy one. I have a test version that is actually doing that already. But only for slalom. You idle the boat through the course and hit a button in the app to record the coordinates of the pre-gates on each end of the course (only once, a la Sure-Path). The camera will be activated when coming to speed before the pre-gate and will stop recording when going through the end pre-gates. The advantage of this is that the videos are shorter (no use seeing the end of the pass after the gate) and if a skier falls and is picked up in the course the camera will not start the recording when the skier is pulled back to the start of the course for the next pass. The reason it is not included in this first version is that the logic got confused if more than one slalom course was entered (by entering multiple pre-gate sets). We have two lakes with a peninsula between them and the logic could not handle the intersecting activation "bubbles". I decided it needed more testing and disabled it for now. The problem for tricks is that you have to enable the camera at the set course boundaries as well instead of relying on a speed trigger. The combined latency of the app and the camera make it harder to get the logic right. Also, one of our lakes is wide enough, so we have the trick course running almost along the side of the slalom course in that lake. The logic went bonkers trying to figure out where the boundaries are. In the end it will require UI changes and it will be released once the testing is satisfactory.

I will get some sample videos and post them. I do not ski at 35off (I wish) but my ski pals are so I will make the video this weekend.

Most of the testing was done during slalom but we did some trick sets and it worked as expected. It is very easy to adjust the trigger speed when switching to tricks. The difference with slalom is that with tricking the boat does not stop at the end of the pass but turns around. At least that is what we do. As the boat is not going under the trigger speed while turning, the camera will keep recording. So you will not get the videoclip-per-pass as with slalom.

About two years ago our little ski group here switched to using GoPro as a training tool and quickly realized that having a way to automatically start/stop recording a la Wakeye would be great to have for the newer GoPros. I'm a software engineer by trade, so I started this little project as a hobby project. It was not intended to grow into a real product, but with more interest coming from the waterski community and even more from the car enthusiast side, I decided that it was time to make it available in the mobile stores as a product. Now after two years and hundreds of hours of testing/use later it is available for IOS and Android. Features used for skiing. Start and stop recording at a configurable speed. Force the GoPro preset selection to a configured preset. Turn camera on/off from the app. Supports GoPro Hero5 to Hero12. Hero4 only on IOS. If your phone can control the GoPro with the GoPro Quik app through Bluetooth, HydraPro will be able to control it as well. More info: www.lakeshorelogic.com/hydrapro

And for all you GoPro'ers out there. Always run a shock tube and attach a float to your camera. We had two instances where due to either a shock from rope release or from the rope wrapping around the camera, the little feet of the camera itself broke of the camera. One is on the bottom of the lake and the other luckily landed in the back of the boat.

I would go with the Hero 9 at least. That is the first model with the new better battery. 8 and under have smaller batteries. Those batteries will be harder to buy new now as well. I have from 9, 10, 11 and 12 now and for skiing there is not much improvement going from 9 to 12. The 12 is better if you want to slow-mo your videos afterwards and it is also better in lower light conditions (early or late sets) but it is also $500...

We got our Touchless cover in 2007 and it we have not regretted it ever. It does hold up very well too. The only maintenance we do is replace the pulleys when they eventually wear out. We had to replace the motor in 2010 after a lightning strike on the dock, which fried everything electronic in the boat and melted the steel cables holding the cover, dripping molten metal on the boat 😞 And one of the near-direct-hit hurricanes we had ripped the cover. The company's advice is to keep the cover down in a storm, but we now take four heavy straps with ratchets and tie it to the roof of the dock. And it made it through the last storm without problems. The dock and cover were made initially for a 24' wakeboard boat with the tower up, so it is wider, longer and much taller than is needed for a ski-boat.

We replaced the steering cable in ours earlier in the year because it was stiff and had a lot of play. The cause of the play was the mechanism behind the steering wheel. There were some metal shavings stuck in the grease, so it was worn for sure. After replacing that the play is now completely gone. Replacing the cable was an adventure though. We knew about the gas tank having to come out etc... But the main drag was that the factory had zip-tied the steering cable to other cables going from the front, under the engine, to the back. Finding and cutting those zip-ties was the biggest challenge. This is on a 2019 SN 200.

We now have a new boat with a heater and it indeed does solve the fogging problem. Thanks for the guidance.

The Kevlar. The rubber on the handle is holding up good, so I will stay with kevlar if I have to replace them.

Switched to Stealth gloves more than a year ago because the other gloves I was using kept on falling apart in a couple of months. Been using the same pair of Stealth gloves now for over a year and the do not even show signs of wear yet. The way it is going the velcro strap is probably going to go before the rest of the gloves.

Amazon link; https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00F8FEGMK?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Nothing worked as far as products to put on the windscreen. It would fog up on the outside and on the inside. So I found this little tool that is designed to clean windows and it works perfectly;

https://www.onlyinboards.com/2019-Mastercraft-Prostar-190-for-sale-FL-Palm-Bay-Florida-145321.aspx

We actually started using a shock tube to protect a GoPro camera from being ripped off the pylon mount due to a recoil. It happened three times this past year. Luckily, the camera landed in the boat each time. Did not think about the safety issue until this thread...

I have the same ski but it will be 3 years old next month. In the summer I average 50 passes a week, in the 2 month winter here in FL probably 20 a week. No problems yet, but this makes me think though!

3 seconds from start to full throttle works for me, I'm same over-weightiness as you with smaller ski and have no problem with deepwater starts. Making a full pass is another story ;)

Ordered on-line yesterday morning. Got a call around noon that one of the items was on back order and a similar item was proposed. Received the order this afternoon, replacement item is as expected. Perfect!

I love the idea and had expected it to come sooner. I'm not a 'bad' driver but also not one of the good ones. A good driver can keep the boat in the path and at the same time watch the skier to help with coaching. I can NOT keep the boat in the path without being focused all the time. Heck, it sometimes takes me a couple of seconds to notice a fall. Auto path would be a tremendous help. Safety: your throttle is already automatic, is that not a safety issue then? Affordability: it will be one of the more expensive options on the boat option list at first, but after a couple of years it will come down. ZO is not even an option now after 20+ years and always included. I'm sure that most course skiers would check it off as their first option on the list. Better for the sport: for sure. A lot more drivers would become available. Metamarine guys: stop posting here, go back to work ;)

I own a 2019, once or twice a week ski/drive a 2021 and a 2018 Nautique. Plus on 2021; - The main standout is the traction, which is now close to or better than the Nautique and not even comparable to the 2019. - Much, much quieter. - Platform is lower to the water. Neg, just details; - Lost the cupholder and glove box in front of driver. Cupholder was great for cellphone holder (true course). - LCD screen is bigger put layout is harder to read. Also would miss the old-style big gas gauge. I can not feel any difference in the wake, but I'm slow and long line (30mph, 15off). My warranty is up in 3 years, at which time I will change to a new model. For me the improvements are not worth the investment now. It takes more concentration to keep it in the course with short-line skiers, but we manage.

You could buy a lot of new slalom boats for the cost of one track/cable system. Maintenance/repairs would also be a drag. If my boat were to have an issue, I have several buddies with boats. If the track/cable goes down... I'm looking forward to electric power though...

Went from using the Clincher-type for years to regular gloves and will never go back. I have a lot more feel with the non-clincher gloves. Started using the heavy Stealth gloves a bit over a year ago and they hold up better than the Clincher-types I have used as well.

Raised by 4", renewed support frame and resurfaced with Trex.