03RLXi

@BugHunter could a future feature be a GPS location based on/off? That'd work for many trick skiers, also for slalom course

Way outside box thought............. if you want subfloor floatation but don't want to risk foam getting soggy long term how about fill the void with capped plastic bottles before rebuild the floor? Low/zero cost. Might be noisy though.

@Horton I agree with them being private. Good reasoning. Probably a good idea for each coach to provide their coaching bio and a demo video so the purchaser knows what they'll receive if they select that coach. Some will use graphics, some will just be voice comments, etc.

You won't regret it. Quality kit.

Awesome. It sounds like a more user friendly and more flexible version of the gopro labs speed activation discussed here.

Shame you don't scan the gauges frequently when driving as knowing if all at once or sequentially would be useful info. Try swapping the gauges on the other plugs to see it that helps. That'll tell you if gauge, or medallion, or sensor. Heaps of info on themalibucrew. Also Ron Tanis has these useful history and testing videos. Your version of course doesn't have the pitot air tubes. Effort to replace with TRD kit is minimal. Certainly less than 2hrs. If in a hurry could be 30 mins. Only you can decide if repairing, replacing stepper motors, replacing gauges, upgrading to TRD etc is worth your time and money or if you take risk and rely on alarms preventing engine damage. Personally I'd not be comfortable without oil pressure. Fuel level fixes are known and common to most boats (replace wire, better earth, replace level transducer). They're just a bit of a hassle to do.

@MitchellM have the gauges progressively failed, or did the 3 just suddenly all stop working? If progressively it's the stepper motors. If suddenly it's the wiring, plug or medallion. Lots of info on themalibucrew about resoldering the medallion. When my medallion MMDC failed I went for the TRD kit. Easy DIY plug in kit and then just a couple of wires to crimp. Kit cost less than replacing the medallion. Bonus is the kit provides a new multigauge and GPS speedo that are better quality than OEM gauges. Plus I sold the OEM multigauge and speedo to recover a large portion of the TRD kit cost 😁 The TRD gauges have glass rather than plastic face., and because medallion deleted there will never be a future issue with it. If TRD multigauge or speedo eventually fails can get them cheaply. I later fitted a separate Hawkeye 2BX to recover the depth/air/water temp as the TRD speedo doesn't have the little LCD. I opted for the stainless steel bezels rather than black. I also opted to upgrade my single line PerfectPass to Stargazer. Vey happy with the kit, the quality, the performance and the look of it. Before and after photos.

Awesome! @Horton I thought that was your intent but do know that some website owners would use a change like this to steer all content through a system where they can 'clip the ticket' and earn a few $. I'm pleased you're not one of them as skiing as a sport already isn't as popular as we'd like it to be.

Agree! I've learnt a lot from seeing collective critiques and the discussions that follow afterwards on BOS. It's highly valuable. Get much better feedback via BOS than when ask on facebook pages. Certainly hope financial drivers don't mean that non professional video discussion will become banned on BOS 🤞 As I see it this new system is just giving people who want professional coaching good access to it online now that givego is gone. Hopefully it proves to be trustworthy. Users pay and get to hear and see the coaching. I've no issues with their online coaching session being private. It's not like we get to witness on lake in person coaching. Overall it's a good thing as I never get chance to access the international pro coaches otherwise.

Was it an insult? I mean a ‘tool’ is a useful thing right? 🙂 But I’m pretty sure one of the other definitions was intended so I did the dangerous thing and asked Google. Oh dear, there's few possibilities.............. 1. a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function. "gardening tools" a thing used to help perform a job. "computers are an essential tool" a person used or exploited by another. "the beautiful Estella is Miss Havisham's tool" 2. a distinct design in the tooling of a book. a small stamp or roller used to make a tooled design. 3. VULGAR SLANG a man's penis. a stupid, irritating, or contemptible man. "that guy is such a tool"

A possible answer is current hours plus one, because something might happen in that hour that dents your dream. But most probable answer is its the current hours plus many many more hours of enjoyment, and the occassional expense. Mostly small expenses, some big expenses, but at the end of your life all boat related costs will have been absolutely justifiable 😁

I won't offer any advice as I'm not much better, however do have a look at the really valuable advice I've received.

I suspect fixing the prop might have worked better

Well maintained steering makes so much difference! When not moving it should be feather light to turn i.e. easily spin steering wheel lock to lock with single finger. When boat is at slalom speed however the steering wheel will feel 'loaded'. Don't misinterpret that as a problem though, it's not. The rubbers are shaped to do that as it helps driver 'feel' the skier and to drive accurately through the course. If the steering hasn't been maintained everything will be stiff and it'll be harder to slow speed maneuver and you'll loose the 'loaded feeling'. Easy fix though, replace cable and grease rudder. See the youtube how to videos.

https://www.youtube.com/@rontanis1024 is another great source for vintage boat maintenance videos. His shop is good too https://www.skiboatpartsonline.com/index.php

I heard Charlie Ross audio ok so maybe just a problem for some viewers

Awesome response! Gives me confidence to try things but to always have position as the focus.

@twhisper Thank you! I've resisted going faster and shorter as I know my stance isn't solid yet. Because of that, and because of some fear 😉 I wrote about it in this post. It even states "get the basics right first as if I didn’t, and if I tried faster, I’d hurt myself." I feel like I've improved a lot in last couple of years due to listening to the podcast, reading this website, and by working on body position and not bouys. 3 years ago I skied like a half folded pocketknife! I will give 52kph and 14.25m a go to see what's being talked about as I've improved a lot since I last tried 52kp[h. But if my body position is at all compromised I'll immediately stop and revert to 46 or 49kph and 18.25m

Boat speed is 49kph. That's my normal free ski speed. I do occassionally try 52kph. Given flat water I can run course fairly consistently at 46, and sometime at 49. Have never tried skiing shorter than 18.25m. I'll certainly give it a try. I'm aware of this however it feels like if I hold the edge longer I get excessive speed and width after second wake. I will give it a try though! Wake fear always used to hold me back from attacking wake but since getting the LXi that's become a thing of the past 🙂 I'm doing that. Listening is easy. Implementing is hard! LOL

Initially when reading this I thought "What!!!!!! I've just spent >US$1000 upgrading the paddlewheel Digitalpro PerfectPass to Stargazer 3 event and you're saying its speed isn't accurate enough.............." but then, doh, remembered I edited the video to include some 1/4, 1/2 and 2x speed. I'll repost the real speed video 🙂 Real speed this time https://gopro.com/v/DkEkk0r9yeaqW

Haven't videoed myself this summer but did get this on 18th Feb, just a few days before getting Covid for first time. Covid has sucked bigtime (my wife's first time too and she ended up in hospital) however being home rather than work it has finally given me a chance to get a skiing video online. I'd welcome any technique suggestions. Speed was 49kph. 18.25m. Free skiing and not course as there was another boat using it.

I did like the tower bimini combo that appears to motor up and down.

I may have misinterpreted however I was thinking the topic was if the cost of new boats is causing a decline of skiing numbers, or if it's something else. I'm not seeing skiing declining here, however competitive sport skiing is. Costs are part of that reason, but not the dominant reason. To me it seems to be sport promotion and water access. Those who really want to will find the money (& the water access if pockets are deep enough) however if they're never introduced to the sport aspect of skiing they won't get hooked to begin with.

Maybe this should be off topic since it's the wake barge but it might be ski boat future too so I put it in boats section https://arcboats.com/arc-sport

Costs are relevant but not the dominant reason. For example there are a lot of water skiers in New Zealand. They're once a year during summer skiers, behind their own or a friends general purpose trailer boat. My guess more than 30% of population has tried sometime in their life and 5%ish participate most years. However general public and these skiers do not see it as a sport. Most don't even know it exists as a serious competitive sport. It's simply a fun reactional activity to do occasionally. In my opinion lack of publicity of it as a sport, and limited access to suitable water conditions is why it'll always be a fun reactional activity for the majority and it'll be a sport for a tiny tiny minority.