skinut

@elr Accessible was probably not the best word to use. I was just trying to make the point that the rules currently in place make it more difficult for a young skier to have a desire to compete. I think this is really only apparent with the 10, 11, and maybe 12 year olds. Again 34 mph is just to fast for a 10 year old.

Interesting post. I have a 10 year old that just went to b2. I am not interested in a trophy for everyone mentality. Although skiing into a PB is a nice warm fuzzy, there are no trophies for that. What I am interested in is making our sport more accessible to young skiers. My son trains a couple times a week. He can get deep into 28mph at long line. I have seen him take some significant falls at that speed(last night for example). I am always amazed that he is willing to ski more after taking some of those crashes. I can't even begin to think of the types of crashes he will experience at 34 mph. And if he does get to that speed when he crashes will it cause him to turn away from skiing entirely. Seriously, I think it is foolish to think that a 10 year old should be expected at to ski at 34. How can we expect young kids to ski at such high speeds and when the chance of getting hurt is significantly increased. That to me is a disincentive. My guess is that most kids will say that I am too scared to ski that fast and will opt to ride the tube instead of taking another OTF at 34 and wrenching their ankle. The attitude of, "Well if they can't handle the speed then they shouldn't be in this sport." is a great way to make sure we see fewer fewer youth in competitive water skiing. That kind of statement also reflects the image problem that we project as competitive skiers, elitists. With such a huge difference in physical abilities between a 10 and 13 year old it only makes sense to change the age brackets and max speeds. If skiing as a competitive sport is to survive it will have to adapt to the realities that kids face these days. Between tubing, wakeboarding, surfing, etc. there are plenty of other things a kid can chose to focus on if skiing isn't appealing. It's time to re-think rules that were made when slalom, trick, and jump were the only things that you could do on the water.

@Horton After having the new prop for a few days what is your take? I have the 6.0L with a 422. Is this OJ a significant improvement on RPM's over the 422? How are the rest of the performance characteristics, i.e. hole shot, wake, top end, etc.

Steve, where are you skiing over there?

@ET-my statement about wake boarding was more tongue-in-cheek than anything. I have a lot of respect for skilled wake boarders.Yes, I have wake board and I do ride it when I am too tired from skiing. Your statement about me never trying to be good at wake board is correct. It just didn't float my boat. That could be said for anything in life. Those who have found a passion for something are very lucky. So if your passion is wake boarding and you want to excel at it, great. Wake boarding didn't flip my switch like slalom skiing does. Unfortunately, my passion and the passion of a wake boarder collide when they want to run through the course and tear up the buoys by running them over or jumping on them and of course when they power turn and throw rollers everywhere. Btw, I get just as frustrated when a ski boat tears up the course due to lack of knowledge, but a least they didn't intentionally do it and they are using the course for what it is designed for. I am sure we could start a whole new thread on which is harder, slalom skiing or wake boarding. Personally I think it is like comparing apples and oranges. Now comparing trick skiing to wake boarding would make sense. Yes, you're right, there are plenty of ski boats that power turn. They make me nuts too, but as stated by swc5150, when it's a boat that is built to throw a big wake, that wake is much more disruptive than my 200. I believe if you are throwing power turns in any kind of boat and there are others on the lake you are being disrespectful.

I skied the 200 v last year. I skied into 35 at 34 mph. Wakes were very skiable but not same quality as a tournament specific boat. The biggest downside was the drivability. If your pulling skiers through a course you will struggle to keep the boat in a straight line.

Standup jet skis are a lot like water skiing in that it takes some skill to master. That is why you don't see many of them. Sit down(couch style) pwc just require a thumb and very little in the way of conscious thought. Reminds me of wakeboarding. And yes PWC are number 2 in level of hatred for skiers. Number one is the power turning wakeboard boat. Don't get me wrong, everyone has the right to enjoy the water as they choose. I just wish that they would realize that there are others on the water that want to do the same.

@marcus- I have been trying to ski open to the boat for years and have a tendency to get on the tail of the ski. What do you suggest to do to prevent that?

@mattp That was the impression I got from Jodi. Learn balance first then apply it to more advanced styles. Like Mr. Miagi, wax on wax off!

just got done skiing with Jodi and like fuman I was a little confused. I asked him why the pros skiied open and he was teaching a more closed approach. He basically told me that being open was fine but when you were open you had a tendency to get on the back of the ski and be out of balance. He said the pros could ski open and balanced. He basically said I should learn to stay balanced and that by not being as open I could acheive that. The pros who ski open are very balanced and don't shift weight to the back of the ski.

Anyone know the best way to stretch the seals on a drysuit other than wearing it?

Uh...I found your problem.

Saw this on Planet Nautique. I am pretty sure it qualifies for worlds dumbest.... Not sure of the back story. I have attached the link to the website it came from, but can't read Danish. http://kaernten.orf.at/news/stories/2535686/

I think we should have a continuing thread that chronicles some of the dumbest things you have seen done on the water. Of course, watching Wally's load and unload boats is top on the list but I have another experience that I thought I would share. Last summer we were at the lake and I noticed something that just didn't look right. While sitting on the dock watching the usual traffic pass by I saw our neighbor attempting to create the best surf wake possible behind his DD ski boat. This idiot thought it made sense to hang off of the tower on drivers side. He was dangling over the water trying to get more weight onto the left side of the boat to make a killer surf wake. I was hoping that the idiot would have fallen off of the boat and been run over by the surfer! Unfortunately, the theory of Darwinism didn't hold true and this guy will continue to produce offspring. What are the dumbest things you have seen on the water?

@Brent AMEN!

I have learned to look at skiing that way. It is always what you did before that causes the problem that you are having. I guess that why everything seems to always lead back to your gate approach.

@Jipster-Your out of Bozeman right? Where are you skiing with Jodi? I'm in SE Idaho and would be interested in skiing with Jodi if you have room.

@Davelemons-ummmm....I could reply to that but I might get banned. I'll save it for the campfire. ;P

Geeks

I can't wait to see the smart-alec remarks on this one ;) But seriously, we are getting ready to put our course back in for the season and I have all of the buoys from last year and they are covered in moss(below the waterline). Is there a good way to remove the moss, besides a lot of scrubbing? I don't want to chafe them! I am mainly concerned about getting them clean enough to paint since they have faded quite a bit.

the course sits in 8-10 feet feet of water so it could be submerged. I've thought about a submersible course but it may be a bigger PIA than just replacing buoys.

@Travnews-I was thinking the same thing. Just not real motivated to fill 20 buoys with water.

We mostly lose buoys and buoy lines. Once or twice a year we'll have to replace pipes. One weekend this last summer i had to replace 12 bouys that had been knocked lose or cut by a boat prop. I believe that it was done by one boat. I don't think it was malicious just cluelessness and irresponsibility. The course has been in one place or another for the past 40 years or more. It is a fixture on that lake. The northern portion was specifically dug for slalom skiing. As you can see this isn't your typical public lake.

Travis-there is a ski club. Bob Kesler started it a long time ago. we run all of the funds for course maintenance through the club account.

@Crashman-That's part of the headache. I am always gripping about what I am going to find on Monday after a weekend of walleys. She absolutely hates me by the end of the weekend. To make matters worse you can see the course from the freeway so every time we drive by it I totally rubber neck and freak out if I see a boat I don't recognize out in the course. I can see her tense up when she sees another boat out there because she knows what I am about to say. It usually puts me in a foul mood.