aguylikeshark

Awesome video by Troy Crivello JT Rocking the E's and RCX in the city goes downtown at the Nats.

The question as a skier is - what are you working towards? What are the subtle changes you are going to make to progress? What movements are beneficial, vs counter-productive. What do you need to do to work from where you are to where you want to go? Slalom it's difficult to make radical adjustments. It can be done, but instinctively we opt to our comfort zone so we don't take a header or miss a pass. CP's is certainly a great style to emulate if you have the size. I would put JT right in there as well for lefties. They are your USA #1 and #2. Having said that there is nothing wrong with puttin' on a speedo, locking the front leg and skiing behind a Donzi in a classic Mediterranean style!

Optical illusions. CP certainly is one of them. At the limit CP's knees and legs are more active with increased range. Watch him at 35 he's cruising it, no need to overdo things. I am studying JT's style these days. Talking with a coach last nite about it. The early edge change, pendulum or swing effect. It's a different approach than say a decade ago. I am working with that to improve my offside exit and onside results. PS: In the pix John posted I hit the RH gate ball pretty much spot on. I am moving in a 45 degree slip/angle, boat at 55K so in a blink I am right at the gates with decent outbound angle, ready to release out to one. Note that most photos are not taken from on top of the pylon.

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For sure. I like to move mine forward on the ski (on side load up) so that the ski is flatter (max ski in the water), without dropping my chest and keeping my arms relaxed and in line with the rope. The way I do this is by loading up my human springs = my legs. As the line load builds, the upper body is locked and the legs in a way protect the planing attitude of the ski. What happens when you compress a spring or a ski? It rebounds. This is what that terms means to me - and it involves bending the knees. So we might debate the terms but a skier's gotta do what a skier's gotta do. Locking the front knee is a great way to stay in a classic long-line style.

Thanks Eric for keeping the discussion on target. I looked around for the parts DW mentioned but could not find any sites - could you please post some links to sources? Exh manifolds i would consider. Heads - probably not. Pix of your modded boat would be cool too. 250 lbs is a LOT. With the CF motor box i am getting up in that territory. However I must say this SN is starting to feel a lot like my old Sea Doo GTX. The back end sits quite high and am wondering if handling issues will crop up. I've had my boat since new 10 years 1200 hours. It's better than ever - using less fuel, faster, quicker, handles way better, no bow rise. I'm lovin ' it. Also the lack of wake has made the course longer and seriously we are able to focus on technique, instead of getting beat up by the wake so the skiing is much more enjoyable. Also did a video of the wake with the Carbon Fiber Motor Box,copyrighted sound track (lols):

Ghost is just warmin' up. He's driving the lower body forward - both knees are bent onside pull. Skier #2 trying to get to the dock when the throttle is being cut. Skier #3 Offside pull and that looks like the jumper's grip (opposite? can't tell for sure) Anyway this type of skier style is more upright by default. But it's not possible to really compress into the wakes offside. Have to shoot the ski ahead at least that's what JT does as he slinks through the course.

We did this today Kx+ and Px 15 or 20 with the switch. To "gas" more I could use a higher Px. Felt very Zo-ish to me. BTW Any control algo that is tuned for tight control will experience some overshoot beyond the setpoint (e.g 34.2). Unless it's what we call model-based then control overshoot is more contained. To maintain boat "speed" you have to work the throttle pretty hard depending on the skier. Today I had a tech look into developing Laptop based software/hardware for a GPS Slalom Pass Tracker - something that collects the Speed and RPM between the 55's or the gates, then plots it. This way we'll be able to measure boat performance and get one boat close to another in terms of response. ZO or PP

You know I am wondering if the best way to emulate ZO in the really older boats is to go back to the PP switch and just use manual GPS for setting up. Example - We skied today and i plugged in a Garmin GPS. My bud was pulling down the boat 3 to 4 km during the pull and it would recover at the ball. I have a PP Switch, set pretty soft (I think) so I probably can tune that to pile on more throttle to maintain speed and keep the GPS constant. This is what Zero Huff does of course to maintain actual speed (v.s. RPM)

i know it's another dig but.... I wake up early and work fast. Plus a full stocked shop with materials, tools and expert staff a hundred feet from the dock helps a lot!

in 1998 CC degsined a new motor box is that much lighter? Put the 1997 hulking motor box on a scale today 70 lbs. Probably build a composite one in the less-than-20 lbs region. Also did a top speed run today, first time in years. I got to 5090 and 47 mph with the roof up. Also need a new prop my blades are bit bent at the ends.

working late, running a second shift these days. anyway new parts, in addition to what was mentioned earlier or shown, ALL interior removable panels redone in Intuition EVA or Carbon Fiber. Deleted: storage separation panel, those long side pads, audio, heater+hoses, boat bumpers. Slalom buoys integrated into gunnels now serve as bumpers and course spares (see video). Compact battery(smallest one i could find), light-weight paddle, all unecessary item are OUT. It all adds up. Fuel load is visual i don't use the gauge and have a fast ez fill siphon we designed for quick fuel ups. I was looking at the motor box what a honking heavy thing that is. Will weigh that tomorrow. For now the Mbox is located 3" (full) forward. Look at how high the boat sits in the water, how high the grid is. The first chine now clears the surface at the back. I have friend with a 2000 SNOB the grid is at the surface. Don't like skiing his boat. The difference is huge on our lake, way more time in the course all agreed/noted by 4 skiers now. Chris Rathy - world class/rated tournament driver, driven all years of SN is coming to check it out this week. Chris' son Aaron was the #1 3 eventer in the world, used to be sponsored by SN now he boards for MB www.aaronrathy.com He'll give it a good assessment. Cheers.

Wakes are so low they're spooking me. Kinda like this thread. name="allowFullScreen" value="true">

Couple of things: 1. How do you grip the rope? Lucky, Mike, Jeff Rodgers, Kristi are all opposite gripped and yeah ski with straighter legs it's that leverage style I call it. Want to ski a more dynamic style requires the conventional grip. 2. Using the TRX suspension trainer will work your core mobility. The one-legged squats, flexibility program will help your balance and stance. It's great. 3. I am not sure the knee band actually helps with a dynamic stance. I wear one we made here from EVA/Velcro from time to time. In fact I'm using one on the . Look carefully as I come around one ball you'll see the strap. I use it because I have a habit of letting my knee fly out and this produces a slower offside turn for me. With the band my legs are working more as one unit. I am thinking of offering these as a training product because I really like it. 4. To answer the question why bend your knees you'll have to go to Mexico-how-to-ski ha ha. Seriously compressing through the wakes seems to build distance in the course. Your acceleration and speed go up too with that type of position. Will Asher, Jon Travers, JB, MB, Terry Winter are some examples

Wake off: The FM Carbon TSC1 vs the best in the business the SN 200.