Bud Man

John, I don’t understand what appears to me to be sarcasm. My drill press, and all that I have ever seen, has a large hole in the table for different size bits to pass through. You gave sensible warning about the carbon splintering on the back side, so I added the suggestion of a backer board. I have put a lot of things to my table to drill through and when they are small I make sure I clamp them instead of holding them with my hand. I don’t understand what you are talking about clamping to his hand.

I’ve never drilled into carbon before, but hearing what John just said, I would suggest putting a backer board under the fin to completely support where the bit exits the fin.

Those pickups can't be relied on to do anything but pick up trash and not work. That is why PP went to paddle wheels a long time ago. IMO

@ktm300, That is a great suggestion. I put a zero buoy and extra gates before #2 and #3 just at one end. They really show what is going on, but by not having them at both ends I don’t become dependent on them with each pass. I have never gone around it though. Here are some videos with the zero buoy and extra gates.

Have you tried the Strada? I tried the A1 and then the Strada. For me the Strada was the way to go. Very stable, long sweet spot, gets killed angle if you decide you need it, but does not bite. The ski is awesome and the company and people at the company are fantastic. There is a guy that skis with me sometimes, and he got off of a D3 and loves his Strada much better. The Strada is great short line, long line and everything in between. I would guess you haven’t tried it, because if you did, you would not be asking about a different ski. You would be writing a review about how great the Strada skis.

I thought the RS-1was a smooth skiing stick with nice turns. I think the company and people at the company are great as well.

I see your and his point. But, we do have the word virtual in the title. I want to get that anxious feeling before I ski and if we call it practice, I think I will miss out on getting use to skiing under pressure. You and a lot of others ski many tournaments and might be more accustom to skiing with that pressure. I have not skied very many tournaments at all. I did ski the State Championship in 2006 and hardly could sleep the night before and not a whole lot the week leading up to it. I actually get anxious NOW when I think about the two tournaments I would like to ski in this year and they are months away.

Thank you Steve, If I under stand you, basically you are saying that if I don’t get a good start, I never will have time to think and will be playing catch-up the whole time until I go into the drink. But, with a good start I will have that valuable time before #1 and every buoy thereafter to think and work on the other things I am doing wrong. You have good advice and I appreciate it. Looks like rain here all day, but next time on the water, I will try to get wider before the gates and of course like ral said, delay the start of my pull out a bit.

Did any of you see the picture that auskier posted of the thread Moomba Masters 2011 Slalom? It was something else. Those skiers where nowhere near their regular top scores and they all looked like they were really struggling. I use to ski in a pond that had a current after a lot of rain. If the air was completely calm, you could see the current making a slight swirl around the buoys but I do not ever recall feeling a difference in skiing with or against the current. I guess it was not strong enough. It would seem that if the gps speed control is pulling the exact speed in relation to the buoys then if there were a paddle wheel controlled speedometer, it would read fast into the current and slow with the current. Is that right? So how do you compensate your skiing technique for skiing in a swift current? Think about this: If the current was flowing 34 mph and your PADDLE WHEEL SPEEDO was showing 34 mph then the gps speed control would be going 0 mph upstream and 72 mph downstream. You would never reach the course or move away from the dock headed upstream. Of course the current would not be that fast, but help me process my thoughts here. So now let’s say the current it 10 mph and the gps shows us moving 34 mph through the buoys, that means we are approaching the buoy at 34 mph, but in relationship to the water, it would not feel that way, right? If the buoys were not there, it would feel like we were skiing 24 mph in one direction and 44 mph in the other direction, which means the wake behind the boat would be like a 24 mph and a 44 mph wake. However, even thought the water felt slow then fast, if we open our eyes we would see that the buoys are not coming at us any slower or faster than 34 mph. Does that mean that skiing a current would be similar to skiing a head/tail wind? So what do all of you think?

Thanks for posting that picture auskier. That looks like some wicked current.

I just watched the slalom part of the Moomba Masters on the front page. I really enjoyed watching it. It looked to me like they were going so fast through the course. Did it look like that to anyone else? If so, then why? That was wild looking when Will just did get through the exit gate. I was excited to see men’s first place went to my ski, the Strada. I know I sure like mine.

OK, I just skied my second round in the April virtual tournament, so I did have butterflies, but I tried to pull out latter and turn the ski in better. I have not watched the video yet, but it felt better. I very much appreciate the help. I only got 4 @ 11.25m but after that I ran a second 12m and then several 13m and enjoyed the set immensely. I think it was my best set since taking off the baggy dry suit a week ago. I credit it to the help I am receiving. @Steve, In the past, I generally I have not focused a lot on the gate. I believe the gate is very important, and I believe a great gate can set you up for a great tempo and path throughout the course. With that said, there are some things that I am doing wrong and even if I lucked up and got a perfect gate, my faults cold totally botch the rest of the pass, therefore I try to prioritize my focus points because of my limited thinking ability. I absolutely am going to try to incorporate these suggestions and changes in my gates. Thank you again ral and everyone.

Second round today. Bud, M5, Friday April 15, 2011, 55 kph, 4 @ 38 off, 11.25m, 100 buoys, PPC First week out of dry suit and windy and bla, bla, bl,a bla, bla! I actually felt better today than all week. I’m getting more use to no dry suit for sure.

@ral, That sounds like good advice. I appreciate it and I think all of us can be helped with it. Let me make sure what I need to do because my brain is not what I would like it to be sometimes. Pull out same but a slit second latter. Then turn the ski in before I start drifting back to the wakes. I have tried pulling out at a lot of different places, but lately it has been when the boat enters the 55s. Parris seems to go sooner and Rossi seems to go later. Of course they are both at 58kph. Parrish seems to hang out there which I like, because I like to gain a little composure. Rossi looks to me like his out and back in is one motion and when I try it that way, I feel rushed. Again, I thank all of you for your help. I’m going to hit the water now with your advice and ski my second round in the April virtual tournament. I just got butterflies as I typed this sentence. I can see the wind looking weird across the pond in front of the house. It seems to be swirling and gusting in different directions. I will focus on me and not the wind though.

Good question Boody.