FWinter

Oxford Wake and Ski. See you there!

@Ali Mr Caldwell has some great ideas and the plan from the Waterski Pro Tour team is definitely to build out the website to give water ski fans more info on skiers, amongst many other things. It has been a big year in which the whole team has worked very hard and, in my humble opinion, achieved a fair bit. We hope you have enjoyed the consolidated event info, webcast hosting and skier rankings on the website along with the social media effort that aims to put our sport in front of those that are not already involved and addicted. All feedback is welcome. Please email me at freddiewinter@gmail.com. Now I'm goin to Off Topic myself.

@Drago glad to hear you skied the Michelin Dry, Bud, Rogaine, and Café de Columbia Tours, some were class F! However, please don’t misquote me. I did not say “pro water skiing is actually better watched online than in person with dead spots filled up with interviews, replays and analysis”. This quote was preceded by “there is a strong argument that…” which you omitted, seemingly to imply that skiers want to be on a webcast, not in front of real people. I don’t care either way how water skiing reaches the masses - through in person crowds or through a video stream - so long as it does. My entry earlier in this thread was to show that, with a freely available and limitlessly accessible webcast, we have options to reach a wider audience that we didn’t have during your heyday of countless tours. These options should not be dismissed to recreate the big crowd, crap conditions situation of the 80s which, let’s not forget, absolutely failed to maintain public interest as time wore on. Thank you.

No doubt it would be great if every event had a Moomba sized crowd and that was definitely the only way to go previously with the hour long Hot Summer Night highlight shows in the 80s/90s. However, the opportunities offered by the webcast in the new digital world are huge. Webcast viewership is only limited by the number of people with an internet connection whereas in-person crowds are limited by space, geography and require a far bigger dedication of time for someone to turn up. Also, event sponsorship can be raised from anywhere in the world on the webcast, not just the local area as for in-person crowds. There is a strong argument that, with the fantastic efforts of TWBC and others, pro water skiing is actually better watched online than in person with dead spots filled up with interviews, replays and analysis. Because of this webcast viewership is on the rise. For example, Swiss Pro Slalom had 27k views on the day this May and at one point 1500 devices were tuned in to watch. These are not huge huge numbers but the trend is upwards at a steep angle. A couple of years ago those numbers were 15k and 600 peak devices. We are lucky to have 12+ events that occur worldwide year to year. It would be a tremendous shame to disrupt these by pushing events to big lakes in an effort to harness a crowd that may not turn up (as at the last two World Champs) when the webcast can be just as powerful of a tool. The ideal scenario is for a Moomba/ Milwaukee venue with a big on location crowd along with a high quality webcast that can bring in the rest of the world.

@Jaypro Thanks for the nudge. I skied on the NRG R1 in 2019 and the Ion in 2020. Both great skis and I feel fairly spoilt to have the option of two such skis from the same ski company. I'm back on the NRG line with the new R2. Super balanced, faster than the R1 and serious angle generation. If anyone has any specific questions shoot me a message on here or to freddiewinter@gmail.com

It makes far more sense to measure something in terms of how much shorter it is than another length that you aren’t stating. This type of easy to understand talk is what will bring water skiing to the masses.

*55k World Elitist Slalom Tour?

Great skiing and good times here with Ward back in 2015. What a place.

No Elite Points? What a shame that the arbitrary, mostly useless, ill maintained Elite List won't be a part of this event ;) Thanks to everyone who's helping put this event together. Very exciting to be able to do some real skiing in a year like this. I'm very much looking forward to it.

@Barfot The 6.2 2020 MC I use every day hits 47mph+ with 4-blade prop, bimini and tower etc. The 6.2 2021 will work great for you. @chipkimball either will suit you well. I've been skiing the 6.0 2021 this last week a fair bit and it's killer but the 6.2 is great too. If you're at elevation or on a short lake and nervous about the smaller engine go 6.2 but if not you'll be more than happy with the 6.0. The 3-blade prop on the 6.0 also skis great while helping at elevation and on short lakes.

I didn't know Ty very well but at my first ever pro event at the Princes Pro-Am in England back in '09 he was very kind to me. Being the new guy skiing against my heroes I felt really intimidated to talk to anyone but Ty couldn't have been cooler and we hung out a fair bit that weekend. I remember we were on the bobble for the final going into the final qualification round, him 7th and me 8th. We stood looking out at the lake as the round started hoping for a storm to come in. We both made it in without any storm. RIP to a good man.

@Gloersen High praise which is certainly appreciated. To be honest my main aim as of right now is to improve my offside transition so I'm not fully in agreement with you :D Lots to do!

@DaveD it's a weird time to release a ski with everything going on but in my mind there's no need for overblown marketing hype when the ski works. This one does. @skibrain i liked but didn't love the evo when I tried it for a few weeks a while back. There were a couple of parts of that skis behaviour that didn't gel with me. The ion I really do get on with. Super stable through the both on and off side turns and balanced through the wakes but with a big gas pedal when you need it. You'll love it.

@aupatking, much obliged. Yep, such a weird turn of events that year. Hopefully everything can tighten up and injustice will be minimised. Had fun recounting it with @Luzz though. Got me fired up too!