T-fromTO

I had the opportunity to try this handle for a set last week at Okeeheelee. Paul Turner had one and was offering to let a few people use it. Although I think the handle is a great innovation, and may work for some people, I will be sticking with a regular handle. The biggest problem is that you need to grip the handle right at the center. If your hand grips even an inch or two away from the center, there is the very real feeling of your hand wanting to slip off. Because of this, there is no flexibility on where you place your hand on the handle. With a regular handle, there is a bit of play with where you grip and if you grip near the end of the handle, your hand won’t slip off. But with this handle, you have to get your hand in the same exact spot every single time and I found it distracting to have to think about that. I saw some talk of putting a nub at the ends of the handle, and I actually think it could be helpful. Also, the material on the handle feels slightly more slippery than the material on a regular handle. I saw a lot of chatter about how this handle would affect your technique. I personally didn’t feel it change anything about the way I ski for better or for worse. I don’t see it having a drastic effect on the way a person skis.

The guy is smart and successful but really new to the sport. He learned a very hard lesson. I really wish the rest of us at the lake had paid more attention/helped him out.

I think the whole website is filled with fake listings.

It may have been a wire transfer, not 100% sure. I’ll try and get some more information from him.

It looks like the scammer created a fake website based on a real business called Eddie’s Boat Works in Texas. Just saw a post on Facebook from the real Eddie’s Boat Works warning people about the scam.

Sadly one of the members at my lake sent payment in full for this boat about a week ago, about $50,000 Canadian. It was supposed to arrive from Texas to Buffalo today where he was going to drive across the border and pick it up. Weirdly, the scammer is still answering his phone calls, and says he will refund the money on Monday. I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen. Does anyone have any ideas on what recourse he would have?

T’s Pond. Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada

@JeffSurdej I’m curious as to what sort of survey was taken. Was it just going around and casually asking the ladies at tournaments what they wanted or was it a broader survey that encompassed all the AWSA women’s 4 members? @Luv2Ski and @Shell Thanks for chiming in!

@sunperch Okay, got it!

@MISkier I am advocating for a 32 mph max speed for women’s 4 skiers. What you guys do with the rules after that to accommodate someone who wants to ski faster, I don’t really care. Give them extra buoys or whatever, but the standard should be 32 mph.

To put this in perspective, how would you guys feel about skiing at 36 mph well into your 50s?

@BraceMaker At 45 it didn't occur to me to ski at 32, but if someone had put that out as an option I would have taken them up on it. I honestly feel that 45 is the right age for women to drop down a speed. Also, I am Canadian, so I don't really know what ZBS scoring is.

Very few people commenting in this thread are W4 skiers. I am a 54 year old female and it is amazing to me that I would be expected to ski at the same speed as a 35 year old male. Let that sink in! All this talk about "Suck it up" "Oh, you're not a dedicated skier if you want to ski at what is actually an appropriate speed for your age." I for one am overjoyed that the speed has dropped to 32 for me.

My dog fell out of the boat a few weeks ago when I was skiing. I didn’t notice at all and the driver only noticed when he saw her climbing out of the water onto the bank. He was thinking “Hey, didn’t she used to be in the boat!” She is a tiny 7 pound lap dog.

A lot of guys were saying that the rope was spongy so they switched the rope for the second round and the scores did seem to get better. Harald got 3 at 41 on his second round on Saturday. So that made him first seed for the finals. He has been getting threes in practice quite often recently. There was a rain delay only on the final pairing. They had actually started and then had to stop, wait in the water, then start over again. BTW, @Horton we need you to come back and do the announcing. There was no announcing or music and it was kind of sad.