Milford

If anyone is wanting to try some new settings, give these a shot… 66” Bindings 29 7/16 from heal 6.655 dial caliper using jaws 2.530 .715 dial caliper 7 degrees For a 64” go with bindings at 28 15/16

@Deanoski I would start with recommended stock settings and adjust from there. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1keAwg1ROvf1QxJIhe1sZ2MWmqeJtuyHDua9XbL9bxrE/pubhtml?gid=0&single=true I find that as the line gets shorter I prefer a little more DFT. Stock is .77, I’m running .94.

@Deanoski I would go with the 64” with your height/weight. If you are skiing at a max speed slower than 34 mph, the I would go with the 66”. The 64” has a lot of surface area and would be ideal, but if your skiing at a max speed of 30 mph, because your older, I would size up. Good luck!

I think the Goode Wide Ride CC is one of the most underrated skis of all time. This ski works for extreme short line skiers as well as those running 32 mph long line. Stable and forgiving, yet fast and nasty when needed. The shape allows the ski to turn on a dime, so if your running late, you can literally make up all you lost in one turn, setting you up early for the next buoy. I have been skiing on a Wide Ride off and on for the last 12 years. Always looking for something better, but keep coming back to the Wide Ride. My scores are consistently better on the Wide Ride, simply because I can get away with making mistakes and still end up running the pass. I know we all want to ski perfect, but in reality, only a few pros are capable of doing that, so I pick the stick that allows me to ski and get the best scores consistently. The carbon core version of the Wide Ride is an improvement over the original ski.

My last pre release. This was the one that finally motivated me to make the switch. Now using Goode Powershells with double reflex release.

The prospect of automated steering is certainly exciting. I truly believe that a computer can ultimately do a better job than a human. Now getting is right is going to be hard. Lots of great points brought up earlier in this thread, but once properly programed, the repeatability and consistency will be awesome. I don’t think one setting will ever get the job done, as there are way too many factors involved at different line lengths. The inputs and timing of those proactive steering movements are much different with a skier at -22 vs -39. The reality is that if a computer can be programmed to proactively start turning away from the skier prior to receiving the load, it is possible to give a world class ride. The only way I see that working is you would have to set the line length in the system, so it knows when to make that proactive move away from the skier, because it changes as the line gets shorter. The system would also need to know where the boat is in relation to the buoy, so it can make that proactive movement. Someone at 32 mph long line does not require much, if any, proactive movement and is very easy to keep the boat centered. Shorten to -39 and it is a whole different ball game. Skier weight and the way in which they load the boat will also alter the amount of proactive movement. Without that proactive movement, the skier will pull the boat toward them, and it robs all of the energy, in essence making it feel like terrible driving. If the right programmers talk to the right people, I would think it could be done, but if @Metamarine_RTK is not collaborating with the right people, then it will never be a good system and will not make it into the tournament scene.

Saturday. https://livestream.com/accounts/24094889/events/9295145

Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it this year. My wife and I are traveling supporting our kids from the sidelines of the soccer fields around the country.

I gave up on plus mode when I was skiing behind a new 2020 Ski Nautique promo boat in a tournament that was shipped with rev R. Several other newer Nautiques are still being shipped with Rev R, even this year. Rev R and Rev S are drastically different in plus mode. I didn’t want to have to worry about checking each boat in a tournament before I ski.

The Air Force is currently working on eliminating ailerons on B-2 stealth aircraft and replacing them with air ports, which vent air in a similar fashion, to get the aircraft to turn. This concept applied to a slalom ski has legs

We have used a company named SePro out of North Carolina. They have been great to work with and have many options to accommodate different issues. We have also used a local company to do annual baseline testing for things like Phosphorus, Nitrate/Nitrite, Calcium, PH, Sulfate, Coliform and EColi. Attached is SePro's lab pricing chart to give you an idea of what is available. We used the Algae ID service for $97 and got a full report of what algae is in our lake along with options to fix. Very helpful in putting together a plan and establishing a budget for a long term mitigation strategy.

@skierjp I would think that if someone has ponied up the $$ to buy a Sure Path system and they were going to be at a tournament with a base station nearby, I can't imagine them not wanting to use it in the tournament. It's not like a boat that depreciates with every hour used. Why not make the tournament as good as it can be?

We have 30 owners on our 2 lake site and are hoping to get 6-8 of them to go in on a base station and buy rovers for each boat. Cuts the price per owner down to around $1200 each and gives us a whole lot of control without any hassle. The price of knowing your getting great ride and that your fellow ski partners and neighbors are investing in becoming the best boat drivers possible....priceless!

I agree that a member has to want to become a member and has to have a benefit to make the $85 purchase each year. For me, it is all about tournament waterskiing. Without that, it doesn't make much sense to join. I think that if AWSA could create one or two more value points to retain current members and possibly attract new members, that should the goal. Example - if I get injured and have to take the year off of tournament waterskiing, why would I sign up? I like the idea of creating a discount for each year of renewal up to a maximum discount say at 5 years, which would create a little more loyalty for those in the sport. Other ideas that come to mind revolve around webcasts. There were several webcasts this year that were really well done and held my interest for the entire day. TWBC seems to have cracked the code with how to do them well, which has tremendous value to those interested in our sport. At some point, could AWSA sponsor such webcasts and require a membership number to log in and view? This would incent me to retain my membership if I were injured and had to take the year off. Webcasts are also the future of our sport and the only way to get to the masses, so why not invest, sponsor and drive people to join AWSA to access? Would more people join AWSA to watch the pros, nationals, etc? Someone would need to dive into this and see if the numbers work, but this reinforces the idea that AWSA needs to have more value than just being able to ski in tournaments. I also like the lifetime member idea, but that could be dangerous if those running AWSA don't manage the funds appropriately. If half the membership chose to opt for the lifetime option, an endowment fund would need to be created to help fund AWSA into the future. If invested properly, this could provide a nice boost to current revenues and secure a nice future. Just a few thoughts from someone who has no idea how to run an association for a bunch of water-skiers.

Any webcast planned for this event?

This thread is certainly killing the vibe of this tournament. Really surprised to see the comment from Mark and the tone.

I will get some pictures of my current set up and post. @Andre - that is how I configured with the R Style boot, but now use a reflex toe bar to hold the front of the PowerShell rear boot in place and the cabinet hardware secures the back. The interlock releases both boots in a fall.

@Bruce_Butterfield - I'm the dude on the left in the picture above. I use double Goode Powershells on a single G-10 plate with interlock under the plate. I depend on the interlock to release the bindings from the ski if needed. The cabinet hardware is simply there to allow me to deep water start with dragging my rear foot. Much less pressure on the back and I get the full benefit of a double hard shell system.

@Bruce_Butterfield - The pictures in the thread above were an experiment with an R Style boot system. I have since gone back to a full double PowerShell with the same cabinet latch to release the back boot for deep water starts.

@Bruce_Butterfield - I suffer from the same problem and tried to convert to a RTP in 2006 after my first back surgery. Spent 2 and a half years trying to make it work and could never get my scores back up to what they were, so I figured out a way to get back on my double power shells and still be able to drag a foot during the deep water starts. I don’t have any pictures of my set up handy, but would be happy to show you what I have come up with. I have been using this system for around 12 years now and it it works awesome. It does rely on interlock as the release mechanism. I used a reflex toe bar and a spring loaded cabinet latch on the back of a reinforced G-10 plate. I deep water start with the boot released from the ski and once up, I simply step in and the cabinet latch locks into place. When I settle in at each end to shorten the rope, I reach down and open the latch to release the boot from the ski. I really wish someone would take my idea and run with it. I am convinced there are many skiers that would benefit from a system like this as it really helps reduce the load on the lower back during deep water starts. PM me for more info. Thx!

@Than_Bogan - yes that was a long time ago. I have had 3 back surgeries and each one makes me think I am done skiing. I wear a powervest and try to manage the pain associated with short line skiing, so to be back into -41 after the 3rd surgery is very exciting.

I have been riding a large C-75 for year and have absolutely love it. My scores instantly improved by about 6 buoys from what I was consistently running on my old ski, which was awesome. I have been stuck at 2 buoys at -39 for quite sometime, but do occasionally get out the 3 ball in practice on the Denali. The guys at Denali have been great about sharing fin set ups and binding placement and have asked for video to confirm suggestions. I am 195 lbs and am right between the medium and large recommendation, so when I got the chance to try a Medium Insanity Flex C-75, of course I was willing to give it a go. Well, yesterday, I just ran back to back -39’s and am still riding the high. The ski just keeps moving and made the -39 feel easy. I had to ask my driver to confirm the rope was at -39. The ski feels exactly the same as my large, but is turning much better than my large, which is making -39 possible. I feel like I just bought another 6 buoys!

Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to ski with Dave Goode has had the awkward experience of having him tell the boat driver “I love you”. This was Dave’s ritual, his process, his muscle memory. Every tournament that Dave skied in across the world, the driver would get the “I love you” as his signal that he was ready to go. The looks on people’s faces were priceless! The experience was even better when the surprised recipient would respond with “umm...I love you too!” I even witnessed boat judges get in on the action. For those who don’t know the back story, Dave developed this ritual during his early days of skiing with his wife Dawn. Dave took the opportunity on every set to tell her that he loves her as a sign of affection and appreciation for her learning to drive short line. Dave , like all of us waterski fanatics, started skiing really well and did not want to change his ritual, so he transitioned to telling his ski partners that he loved them. Then tournament drivers got the “I love you” treatment. You never know when your last ride will be. As I think about Dave and his legacy, what I appreciate most is that he didn’t hold back on sharing his love for the sport and the people involved in it.

Dock house.