ripa38

Shmear

I skied Precision last night with Donny. It was not nearly blue enough. I want more blue Horton.

The 1" rock will not stay in place. It will wash back into the lake within one year. Giant waste of money. We have already tried that. Have the board look at the rock on the east side of Adobe or the west side of Paradise lake 2. It's the bigger 2-3" and it stayed in place. Can even compare the bigger rocks on SWV lake 3 west side.

@Horton, I did exactly that yesterday with Charlie behind the wheel and 38 went down off the dock. 39 start did not feel bad either. Super wide and turn in with speed/no load (ever). just stay connected off second wake.

@Chef23, nobody tries as many skis as Horton, but I am fortunate that I get to try a lot skiing with him. Besides my regular ski brand which I am comfortable on and stick with through each new iteration I would say the Raptor is my favorite ski that I have tried from Horton's vast inventory of test skis (his collection is really quit impressive). Now that he is done with the review I will try it again for sure, and spend a little more time moving the bindings and tweaking the fin. I think the fin numbers he published are good though. Willi, the man behind the Raptor will be back to our lake to ski, so I want to give him some additional feedback. I also want to make sure I beat @Horton's score. There will be something at 39 on it soon.

@OB1, Something like that would certainly help. Demo days around the country at places like your site would be a great idea. Clubs should contact Willi through the Raptor website. I know he is doing clinics on the west coast and has several weeks scheduled in Mexico.

They are doing very well in Korea.

It's difficult for people to get excited about a new ski they have not had a chance to try themselves, or don't know anyone currently skiing on it. The Raptor should be creating more of a buzz on BallOfSpray with a bunch of hardcore slalom junkies as the primary audience. I was lucky and had the opportunity to test the same ski as @Horton, and spent some time watching him from the boat, and working on fin numbers with him. We were both near our average on the ski, and I am sure more time on the ski would have gotten me right up to my average and maybe in PB range. @Horton does a good job of describing what I also felt on the ski. It rides high in the water and carries a lot of speed with minimal effort. The gate pull out and glide was the biggest adjustment because the ski gets out wide much easier than my regular ski. It's fast and carries the angle off the second wake and creates a ton of space before the ball. As @Horton describes in his review, it turns on a rail, and does not punish the skier if you are a little off center. I think the final numbers in the review are really close, and a great place to start from. Ballers need to find a way to give one a try. I would love to see what other people think.

Yep, assuming regular drill with your neighbor on the North end.

BallOfSpray Headquarters

Finally got back to the Raptor project with Horton yesterday. Willi from Raptor Skis came to BallOfSpray headquarters with a couple of skis, and we got down to business in 110 deg heat and 90 deg water (hands are toast). Both Horton and I liked certain characteristics of the ski from our trials a few weeks ago, but were not running 35 smooth, so we started tweaking away alternating skis and sets with Willi observing from the boat and coaching us up. By the fourth set of the day we were alternating on the same ski with fin numbers we both liked and could both run "flowy" (Horton term) 35 off passes. Even though worn out from testing, tried some 38's and ski still felt good. 32's are ridiculous early and easy. The Raptor is a legitimate high end slalom ski. Adjusting the fin was critical and took some effort, but I don't think that is unusual for any high end ski. Horton and I have similar buoy counts, but different techniques, different foot forward, and different height and weight. I think the fact that we found numbers we both liked and skied well with speaks volumes. I drove for Horton each time so Willi could watch, but hope to watch later this week and compare to what I saw a few weeks ago. Hopefully Willi can get some skis out for demos because I think skiers are going to be surprised.

Yes, D3 is building the skis for Raptor. Similar to Radar building the Mapple. The Raptor looks really good, and has the same quality finish as the D3 products.

Get better. I bet you like it. You do realize that we are competing for buoys, not who can make the biggest spray.

I had the opportunity to try a Raptor yesterday, and was I was very impressed. I ski with Horton when our schedules sync up, so I get to try a lot of skis after he has completed his reviews. I guess I beat him to this one. I do not possess Horton's talent for riding a different ski every week, and usually require a few rides to adjust. I jumped on the Raptor yesterday and ran straight up the line through 35 without a bobble. Did not try it at 38. This is a high end ski that is super stable without sacrificing performance. I was very impressed and will give it another go mid-week. I am not sure how skiers can get an opportunity to try one, but it is absolutely worth trying.

@AnnaRipley What lake in California? Are you looking to rent for single event or permanent installation? I ask because we had planned a three round slalom with round three at night, and we were going to rent 6 banks of lights typically seen on road construction projects. We did not get Board approval in time and it fell off radar. This year we plan to try again. Would be interested what your plans are. We are in Bako.