A_B

AM was running back to back to back 38's this summer. I know, practice doesn't count, but she makes it look way too easy sometimes. Fun to watch. If she gets a good start at 39, she can go deep. I would be surprised if she doesn't run it next summer.

I think ULL has won the last 4 Nationals. Annmarie W. has quietly won Nationals, Worlds, and now National Collegiate womens slalom titles this year. She got an unlucky draw at Pan Am games skiing in moring sun. She said she couldn't even see the pre gates. Not a good call making slalom skiers go out in known sun glare.. Wouldn't have won, but could have made final round, and then maybe podium if she skied up to her potential.

Best average high score with the smallest deviation. A ski that gets you a couple extra buoys inconsistently, won't help in this sport. As far as historical MOASS, the Goode 9100 likely would be high on the list, as it had one of the biggest improvement factors across the masses.

@OldboyII I picked up a Pulse boot a few weeks ago and agree it is very similar. It does feel different than the Vapor boot, but much closer feel than the new Vapor. I didn't try it out and our season is toast at this point. Thanks

Anyone have a good shape size 12 Right 2017-2019 Vapor boot they want to get rid of? I really don't like the newer hard shell style. The Boa system just isnt getting it done for me. The older one with blue or green splashes of color on it is what seems to agree with my skiing at this point in time. Thanks AB

Anyone riding on the Pulse boot? It looks a lot more like the older Vapor. any comparisons? I am not giving up on the Vapor yet, but i have a perfecly good 2019 Vapor boot that just feels right and I have been swapping that on the differenct skis I have been riding this year. Only like one new variable when i try skis..

Was down to my last old style Vapor boot so bought a new one. Don't really like the Boa front laces, as there is no stretch to the cord, so it seems like I need to run loose to make sure I get out of it. Anyone else have suggestions? I don't think the lace holes are big enough to thread the old style stretch cord in it or I would have taken the Boa off already. I guess change is painful..

69" HO Syndicate Omni 69" Connelly Carbon V 69" HO Wide Omni (for sale on SIA) Have in storage for the moment: 69" Senate Pro 69.5" Vapor Pro 71" Senate Lithium Just sold a 2015 69" Senate Lithium that I bought new. I think I need to sell a few more skis....

@BraceMaker Pardon my lake of servo knowledge. I guess my thought on the throttel control was the driver could overide a few ways, pulling the throtte back, pulling the safety lanyard, or hitting the stop button, If you get a hard left or right rudder that is unexpected, I was thinking getting tossed out of the boat. If safety can be built into this then I agree if you have crappy drivers in your group, by all means have at it.

We use it and think it makes a better driver out of everyone. What I wonder though, is sometimes I don't think I was off like it records. Doesn't happen a lot, but there are times when it says I was +/- and I didn't think that I was. How do we know it is working 100% right all the time? It would not be good if someone's pass was pulled because of a technical glitch. No? A big no on GPS steering from me. What if it pegs the rudder hard one way or the other due to a malunction? Realize we drove back in the day hot-sticking the boat with a stop watch in our right hand on the throttle when we didn't have an observier. Technological advancement is a good thing, but it kind of takes the fun out of it too if you enjoy the challenge of being a good driver!

We planted Poplars 40 years ago and they did grow fast. Many died out several years ago and half of those started growing again. The other bad thing about poplars is cotton wood. I have found that I am very allergic to it and when it sits on top the water it gets in my eyes and it isn't a good situation. If I had to do it all over again, I would plant Norway Spruce or some other fast growing Pine tree that will not drop leaves into the water to form algae blooms. We planted over 5000 pine trees one year and unfortunately that became a very dry summer and the lack of vegetation in winter had the deer and rabbit chomping on a majority of what we planted. The ones that made it have formed a nice 30 foot high wall to block the Turnpike traffic and it is difficult to even see the lake when ridig by on the Turnpike. If only the other sides survived like that one!

I have read the story behind Jeff Rodgers setting the world record was he made a .001" Depth change right before he skied. But that is Jeff Rodgers...

I won one last year from picking the podium on the Water Ski Broadcast and while the 68" is too short for me, my training partner who normally skis a 67" DV8 jumped on it at basically stock settings and was getting deep 38 off at 34 mph with it after a slight tweak. I think we shallowed it up a fuzz, but not sure on that. He was an old D3 skier for years until he went to the DV8. He gave it the thumbs up for sure. The guy who is skiing on it is my son in law who is about 185-190, was on my old 67" 9500, and he said it turns and grabs angle a lot better. I only wish they made a 69", but I am working on getting down to 68" weight! Buy one, it is a good ski.

I have an older 66" WR and my training partner's wife might give it a spin. I will need to put a fin in it. Anyone have any fin and binding suggestions? Thanks!

The 9100 240 AMP was a game changer for me. Made me a consistent 35 off skier vs part-time.

We do a lot of skiing without an observer in my private lake, so we use ours maybe half the time. I think once I saw the video of the boat that snagged a buoy and basically nose-dived I thought about a lot of what-ifs and figured I would try to use it more than not. It is sort of a hassle because when you reach to shorten the rope, you do notice it is on your arm. In reality is really isn't a big deal to stick your arm through a "hole" you can create at the end and push it up your arm to your elbow, which is how I use mine. I assume if I fly out of the boat it will still stay on my arm...

@Broussardyes there was a couple Ballers trying to create another LISA at some point but we didn't have the technical skills necessary so gave up. The benefit of LISA was it showed the position of skier in the course and the load factor on the handle. This would be valuable when making changes to where and how you resist the boat. There was a Spray or WSM article on it, and they compared Andy to some solid tournament skiers, and of course Andy's load was almost equal and peaked at about the same place on BOTH side of the course. Amazing consistency versus the tournament skiers that showed a decent onside resistance but offside fell way short and longer, like most skiers. Someone who still has all their magazines might be able to look for the article and post it. I think I have given a date range on here before, but no takers on digging through old Mags. I think Benzel may have written the article, not sure though.

@Zman You took exception to my post, which is fine, but why not back up your dislike by articulating how a ski aimed at the pylon is the preferred method of leaning through the wakes. I explained my rationale, so please explain yours.

When I was actually skiing "well" quite a long time ago, on my onside turn, I had the sensation of "sitting on the buoy" with my right bum, RFF. This was typically a super tight turn and setup to handle load immediatley. Not so much on my offside turns, although a good counter rotation there always helped, but never felt that "sitting on the ball" feeling there.

@adamcaldwell - "light on the line" slalom skiing debunked! LOL The best slalom skiers in t world should be light on the line if it was at all a possible theory. I always tried to pull the pylon out of the boat. Handle control to me means grabbing the handle and aligning your body is such a way to handle more load, Practice leaning on dry land is a way to figure out how to align your body in the "sweet" spot to handle it on the water..

Gordon thought leaning with a handle was a good idea. I have always had one setup in my basement tied to a support pole.

@Horton I hope we aren't going to debate skiing by coordinates again.... Easy enough to see that the top skiers cross their ski under the line (which leads directly to the pylon) very early on at the finish of the turn. When a ski points at the pylon, skier leaning, there will be no pull from the boat to keep the skier up and they would likely fall over. A flat ski pointed at the pylon means, game over...

Let's all assume that as you lean more, you aren't double jointed and the ski doesn't stay flat on the water so it rolls up on edge more, and you don't lean back and pop a major wheelie, and you are leaning away from the boat in a stacked position with the handle anchored on your hip or close, and your elbows are locked into your sides, and your fin isn't so shallow that all you do is smear sideways down the lake, then hell yes you will increase speed.

There was a dentist with a pretty slick adjustment system… Maybe could apply to a jump ramp?

Who won last year?