JCH

@skimtb, are you still looking for a boat? I have a ‘99 Ski Nautique 196 CB coming up for sale soon. It is a Navy masters color scheme equipped with the GT40 and Zbox. It has close to 650 hours. I am located in NW Ohio.

Finally got a few sets on my A3. This ski turns and holds angle like no other ski I have had the chance to ski on. Truly awesome.

@AB, beautiful site. Still waiting for the Maumee to go down again down here in Defiance. Only been out three times this year. Need to straighten the course again this week if the water goes down.

@Jody_Seal - I have a 99 Nautique with a GT40 and PP Digital Pro 6.5ng. I ski in a river and have issues with the magnet pickups. Muddy water, current, etc... I have heard there are issues with Stargazer getting consistent times in a river with current. Do you have any recommendations on a speed control upgrade? Jerry

Jerry Higbea, 42 y.o. married with 3 boys, 6 and twins that are 1. Somehow still find time to make it to the water. I live in NW Ohio and ski on the Maumee River. I set my PB this year with 2@38. Then broke my ski on Labor Day and still looking for the replacement.

I have been working on -35 for 8 years. I finally ran it a couple of times this year. It was an awesome feeling to finally accomplish that! So, my PB is 2 at -38. On Labor day, while skiing in some chop, I popped the handle at 1 ball and blew out the side of my Sixam SS. Now I am looking for another ski...I think that I have narrowed down the choices to either an HO S2 or maybe a AM33...Any thoughts?

There are two kinds of beer in the world. The kind that I buy and the kind that you buy, and I drink them both.

Beer - it's not just for breakfast anymore

IMHO to go away from magnetic timing is a step in the wrong direction. ZO "timing" is calculated from way points and the perceived speed. IF something is out of calibration in the ZO system and there is no crosscheck, how do you verify someone's performance. (Think of the Malibu Open recently where the buoys moved) Someone will always be out there trying to get an edge, and as long as the only check is by computer and software, there is always a chance for a hacker to cheat the system.

99 Nautique w/ PP 6.5ng. The wake is great. The boat is great. I've had it since it was new, and from what I have seen on this board, why upgrade?

The biggest thing that I changed from 28 to 32 gates is the point that I initiate the turn in toward the gates. I start the turn in a couple of feet earlier on the boat. (I key off of the boat position on when to turn in.)  The next biggest factor in making 32 vs 28 is the preturn. At 32 you must initiate the preturn earlier. Any hesitation in doing this will result in a mountain of slack and really long arms after taking all of those hits. You must trust your ski and speed that you will make it to the buoy line. Remember that the only thing that needs to go around the buoy is the ski. I too often forget this and hesitate initiating the preturn and end up with sore hands, arms, and back.

This would be an excellent tool for ski evaluation. Instead of a skier's perception of speed or position in the course, you could have a map with speeds. A ski that is perceived as slow out of the ball, but still early for the next could be actually explained with data that it holds speed better through the turn.

Horton,  How did you get your Wiley's to mount at 30". My Wiley's are either at 29 7/8" or all the way up to 30 3/16" as the back binding holes are about 5/16" apart? Did you drill out between the two binding holes, making it a slot? The ski seems to hold angle better and be a bit faster at the 29 7/8" setting but was a little more unstable in the turn.

Started the season on a 2005 Sixam 1.0. That ski broke a couple of weeks ago. Switched back to the F1. Now have a Sixam SS that O'Brien sent as a replacement for the 1.0! I don't have any sets on it yet. We just received about 8 inches of rain. The river is a complete wreck and had to cut the course out. We won't be able to get back out for at least another week.

I am suffering from the same problem. I can ski a sweet 32 off (34 mph) pass, but when the line shortens to 35, one of two things happen: I wait too long and I get wide at the buoy and when the ski comes around the buoy the rope fall on the water, or I am narrow and too fast right on top of the ball. Either way ends with too much slack rope. One of my questions is, how do you compensate for the turn in for the gates going from 32 to 35. I ski out to the buoy line and try to make a gradual turn in for the gates. At 32 I turn in at the windshield of the boat, and at 35 when the nose of the boat goes through the entry gates. During my last attempt, I was concentrating on trying to get closer to my 32 gate turn in point and changing edge as soon as I crossed the second wake. Am I on the right track? Any advise is appreciated as I do not have any skiers with me that ski a shorter line to get coaching from. I have struggled with this for the past 3 years.  Thanks Jerry