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!

@Dacon62 the rudder is adjustable with an allen wrench so it's super customizable. We messed around with how much torque we wanted. For me I'm going to have it easier for a day in the boat at ski school and more torque for when I drive the short line guys that come out here.

@Bdecker during the development of the boat there were two concurrent aims on improving the driving experience: to improve both tracking AND steering. To the team 'tracking' is how well the boat goes straight and holds when pulled laterally while 'steering' is the ability for the driver to put the boat where he wants through wheel input. To give you the short version, tracking has been improved with the additional fin and the 80+ inch rails to either side of the four fins along. Steering was improved with the introduction of an adjustable rudder and the elimination of the 'clevis' connection leading to a more direct connection from steering wheel to rudder. I'm sure those who drove the boat in the last few days would agree that there is no dead space in the wheel and lateral sliding from skier pull has essentially been eliminated. The new boat turns on a dime when necessary and straightening up after turn islands is actually easier because of the better wheel-rudder connection with no slop in it. @keithh2oskier I'm pretty sure some donut videos exist...

@TEL @markn @Roger @pugs thanks for the kind words and for coming out. I had a lot of fun taking you all through the boat and I'm happy everyone seemed to leave with a smile. One reassurance to all (after @jjackkrash mentioned it), the new Prostar *definitely has a throttle safety latch*. @Roger, I'm afraid to say you must have missed it. I double checked today after seeing your post and it's there and working as intended. Hope to catch up with you all soon.

@dnewton extra pop tarts for breakfast bud! That's serious skiing. Catch you at TBS soon.

@TEL a full boat run down of the key features from the one and only @FreddyKrueger is coming in the next few days. I'll be seeing you tomorrow to go over everything from front to back but maybe a little less eloquently ?

@swc5150 Mr Broussard kind of nailed this one. Long story short, between the extra fin, the new 80 inch lines on the hull, the tuneable rudder and the removal of the clevis, this thing drives exceptionally. It holds in the water even when heavy skiers pull from high up on the boat but allows the driver the input they need to provide a good pull. Probably my favourite new feature.

@Dacon62 rear seats are lighter, cheaper and comfier. They're less sharp and metallic than the old ones which is better for keeping the interior and moving them around. I was riding around the lake sitting at the back very comfortably this morning. Real nice.

I guess some aren't feeling the SeaDek love today ? Honestly there's actually not that much in the boat *if you don't want it*. It's on the gunnels and a little on the engine box but that's basically it. Some of the imagery does look like it's full SeaDek floors but it's not the reality. As @Broussard said, the cool thing is that there are a few options. The boats I've spent the most time in have Deckadence on the floors, a spongy foamy kinda deal thats nice under the feet and doesn't pick up dirt and drys quick. That'd be my pick. But for those that are into it there's a full SeaDek flooring option. Decisions, decisions...

@ironhorse For me it's the best of both worlds. If your thing is to only ski with 10 gallons in the boat you can do that but if you don't care (or if you have a full day of ski school to drive ?) you can go forever.

@The_MS 32 gallons of goodness. 35%+ increase