Personally I note a HUGE difference here in Jax when the water gets < 660F.
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This is noticed mostly with regard to unpredictable & unexpected blow-outs. Additionally it does seem more difficult to create width & space. I don’t attribute this to the ski being “faster†in cold water. Faster imo equates to getting wider & earlier, somewhat counter-intuitively, a great pass (wide & early) often feels “slow†but if theoretically covering a greater distance it must be “fasterâ€. In any event, great passes are harder to come by consistently for when temp <660F.
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I suspect most of this is attributable to the increasing surface tension of water as the temp declines. As many have stated, the ski probably rides higher on the surface and this probably has a greater influence (viscosity influence as well) towards the tail of the ski creating a more level attitude (pitch), thereby creating more relative tip pressure, thus harder to get wider. Many advocate moving the fin forward ~.005†to accommodate; it makes sense. Based on blow-outs, I’m also inclined to drop the whole fin down (L:D unchanged) as well.
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The greater viscosity of water with lower temps intuitively implies more friction (viscosity is essentially fluid friction) and thus, relative to warmer water, the ski’s response will be slower. It may seem like we are skiing “faster†but only because it is harder to create width & space; that is those less than desirable passes when one barely gets around each ball and felt as though they were rocketing, holding on with whatever can be mustered to complete a “fast†pass. Before ZO we would end the pass asking the driver how much + rpm adjust was added, the response being the time was a 17.12 or something disappointingly slower than expected…. Imagine skiing in molten lava, tomato soup,.....
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IMHO cold water skis slower, we just ski crappier and feel like it is faster (just like a crappy warm water pass). It also hurts a lot more after the nasty blow-outs!
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Who knows what happens with the ski’s flex; can’t imagine it getting anything other than less. How does carbon/resin flex vary with 300 variations in temp?
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In Florida winter sucks; unequivocally.