Ryno

@"Mateo Vargas" Hey mate, I noticed watching the Amateur feed the boat crew are clipping the rope length onto a short shock tube that stays attached to the pole. Does this add that 0.5m or so to the total length of the rope? Great work on the tournament mate... Wish I was there!

Still loving my Barefooter, she even received a 2013 Mercury ProXS as a Christmas present. Here she is all dressed up on Australia day...

I looked into it several years ago. It's a nightmare in NSW, when endeavouring to use a slalom course in public water. When I enquired, public liability insurance was required and would cost several thousand per year. It's crazy given anyone skiing should be covered by the skier liability portion of their boat insurance. Yet fisherman do not require the same insurance in the instance a skier hits one of their crab pot floats.

I looked into it several years ago. It's a nightmare in NSW, when endeavouring to use a slalom course in public water. When I enquired, public liability insurance was required and would cost several thousand per year. It's crazy given anyone skiing should be covered by the skier liability portion of their boat insurance. Yet fisherman do not require the same insurance in the instance a skier hits one of their crab pot floats.

@Teddy You are correct, the exhaust manifolds should be fine, though you may eventually see corrosion in the heat exchanger. Though this will usually take much longer before it's an issue.

The only thing I would add, is that if you are using a boat in salt, make sure you use an additive such as: Salt Away, Salt X or Macs when you flush your engine and rinse the boat/trailer. It's cheap insurance to keep corrosion at bay. I personally use Macs when I flush the engine; as well as removing the salt, it's oil based and leaves a film on the water galleries etc to prevent corrosion. For the external of the boat, trailer and ski gear I use salt away. I ski most weekends throughout the year and usually get a couple of years out use out of a gallon bottle of each. So for less than $100 per year, you're silly not to use it. Usually on an inboard (without closed cooling) that's seen salt water use, the first area to cause you problems is the exhaust manifolds as they corrode from the inside out.

I've shopped through Wileys for years and have always had an excellent experience dealing with Darren. Shipping to Australia and NZ was always very fast and well priced, and I was never burnt with paying tax on arrival! Recently though, I bought a new Reflex boot through Miami Ski Nautique (as Wileys don't deal in Reflex) I must say they were awesome also. Next day shipping, free tee shirt, great price!

@BRY I haven't discovered the water temperature specific setting issues you found with the SR2. In the last few months I have skied anywhere from 90 water temp to 55 (today). My settings haven't changed, the problem is always with me rather than the ski. I do use the carbon fin with a front ventral and the wing at 9 deg. So maybe it's the aluminium fin that was more sensitive to changing conditions.

While we're on the topic of Sans Rival, it doesn't look like their site has been updated in a while and they didn't release a new ski last year. Have they gone under?

I've been on a Sans Rival SR2 for the last four years and I just can't let myself replace it. It still skis bloody well, but I love the look and quality of construction. My previous choice for best looking ski was the Obrien Quattro, but I didn't like the feel when I skied on one. http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t440/RyanJMcGill/IMG_3021_zpslgmxa5il.jpg

The Senate is a nice ski and will definitely be a decent improvement over the O'Brien Siege. I can't say whether the 2017 is much of at improvement over the 2016. It really depends on the deal you can get. Give Darren Wiley a call at www.wileyski.com +1 (206) 762-1300 If you call first thing in the morning (AEST), you should be able to catch him during office hours in Seattle. He has always been brilliant to deal with and his shipping to Australia is much better priced than I've found with anyone else. I've probably had 4 or 5 skis sent to me in Australia from Wileys over the years.

But how does it look? I need a pretty ski, to distract from the flaws in my technique!

Although I'm no where near the level of @AdamCord, I too didn't really start to progress down the shortenings until I free skied with a shorter rope length than my PB. It really forces you to fix errors that you were getting away with at the longer rope length. Specifically for me, that was handle control going into my pre-turn.

Any more information on this wing? @brettmainer did you try it the other way around? and if so how did it go?

@ozski I too have nursed a front ankle injury from a Radar boot. Mine was my front foot only coming half way out of a Radar Strada boot. About three years ago I switched the front boot to a Fluid Motion E Series and haven't had any similar problems since. I still run a Radar Strada rear boot but do not lace it all the way to the top. For me it has been a very good setup and I have no desire to switch to another system.

@wtrskior That probably won't help him narrow the choice down - I'm pretty certain they're only available in pink.

You've made a good choice with the Senate. A friend of mine has one (that I strap on occasionally) and in some ways I find it more enjoyable when open water skiing than my Sans Rival. It just cruises and flows nicely, where as my Sans is more of a "go hard or go home" option. At the speed you're tackling the course I'm sure the Senate will go better for you than the Prophecy, as you need that extra surface area to maintain a bit of speed through the turn. Then once you improve enough to start shortening at 34 mph, you can switch back to the Prophecy.

Good engine choice @VONMAN, you're going to love it!

@6balls The throttle/speed control at low speeds is all down to the type of outboard you have on the back. My old Flighty (with an early Fuel Injected Merc) struggled to hold a set speed at anything below 15 kph and would often fall on and off the plane. However the new boat has a direct injected Mercury Optimax, and that engine is amazing. I can now adjust and hold speeds below 15kph to the accuracy of around 0.1 kph... It has better control and response than an inboard!

@dihrdskir I found it by chance when I looked at another ski boat and they then referred me on to the guy selling the Barefooter. It was purely luck, as it hadn't been advertised yet and fortunately I was able to snap it up for a good price. The boat was actually being looked after by Pete O'Neil (one of the worlds best bare footers). As you say the boat should last at least another 15 years - I love that there is no wood in the construction, so like most modern boats with the right care it should last a life time. Pete O'Neil actually has his own Malibu Barefooter (of similar vintage) that has clocked up over 3000 hours and is onto its third outboard! It's a real shame Malibu stopped making the hull and I'm bloody lucky to have one in the driveway.

@Fast351 I agree with you assessment of dominant foot. But I apply it completely differently and put the dominant foot forward. You can't compare the foot position of skateboarding, wake boarding or surfing to slalom skiing as in those sports, it's primarily the back foot that controls and turns the board. In Slalom skiing your front foot controls the ski, and by putting your dominant foot forward you have more control over the ski and less of a tendency to have too much weight through your back foot. However, this argument has come up on here quite often and the opinions are often opposed, so if you're not sure go with what's comfortable.

@AdamCord As you can see, you'd get no shortage of skiers of here in Australia willing to test the next big thing to hit the water. I like what I've read about your ski, in that it carries more speed through the turn. I ski on a Sans Rival SR2 and (as I'm now 36) I've been contemplating dropping the speed back to 55 kph. I usually run the 14.25m at 58kph, however I find when I drop the speed back to 55 kph it takes more effort to maintain/generate width and carry speed through the turn. The slower pass should be much easier, right? ; ) Therefore the positives of your design seem very appealing. Do you have a timeline for the public release of this ski? Or are you expecting another design change before then?

@AdamCord Any idea when you will have a product ready to sell? The water temp is already over 20 deg C where I am in Australia, so it's shaping up to be a long summer on the water!

What's an off season?

It did not look like fun inside the wash... They drew the short straw for sure!