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Important Notice: Chris Rossi has decided to ski exclusively at 34mph and is shooting to compete in the Big Dog events in 2015! No, that will not be happening just yet, but this 34mph set was my first real go at 34mph. Here are a few interesting things I noticed...
1) 41off/10.25m is very short, regardless of speed. As you can see, this was NOT an easy pass. I was pushed very hard to complete it. I have
always been a proponent of slowing the boat down to learn new passes. Steve Schnitzer broke it down a long time ago for me saying that each line length is like a new race course. You can not go full speed on the first time through a course you do not know. If you add to that the idea that you don't know a pass until you have completed it 1000 times, running a pass at any speed will get you closer to your end goal of running your hardest pass at your top speed.
2) Biggest difference between 36 and 34mph is the window for error. With the gate I have in this video, I would NOT have completed the pass at
36mph. Actually, I would have been very lucky to get past buoy 2. I notice a huge difference between the speeds right at the connection point after the buoy. At 36mph, if you do not finish the turn with the ski pointed optimally across course, you will not create enough space into the following buoy to make a good turn. At 34mph, I was able to finish that buoy one with the ski pointed at the boat and still get to buoy 2 with enough space to make a turn and continue.
3) My ski did not ride that much deeper in the water at 34mph. I did not feel like I was plowing water by skiing 2mph slower. As you can see in
this video, I was very surprised by how much speed I generated in my gate glide. I actually over shot my optimal location. The Strada has very efficient water flow and keeps its speed extremely well.
4) The tendency at 34 is to load harder out of the turn and thus get pulled inside the optimal arc earlier after the wakes. I felt much stronger at 34mph than I do at 36mph. The boats down course force on me was less at 34mph so it made me feel stronger. This is a very nice feeling in general. The only problem with it is that it promotes taking the power too far. It would be very easy to load more at 34mph and spike that load too early (before 1st wake) thus getting pulled to the inside through the edge change. This causes a loss of direction into the following buoy and even more detrimental, a loss of rope tension. If you do not have rope tension, you can not turn properly and end up delaying acceleration out of the turn.
5) You do not need to pull longer at 34mph, center line is still the optimal edge change location. I see a tendency to pull longer at 34mph. I believe this is mainly caused by what I spoke about in #4 above. When acceleration is delayed, you need to pull past the center line to create enough speed to get out to the buoy. I believe that if you do things right, center line will still be your goal for transitioning from pull to edge change.
6) Gates are still the most important part of any pass. I was fortunate enough to complete this pass, but it could have been a lot easier if I had not messed up my gates and thus came into buoy one on a less than optimal line. I work on gates on every pass of every set. I want to be wide on the boat, with my body outside the handle (handle near my right hip, not out in front of me), with line tension, and shoulders facing the pylon. This sets me up to start accelerating the closest to my wide spot as I can. When this is done right, I will reach optimal speed and direction by the center line.
Thanks to my sponsors: Radar Skis, Tige Boats, and Perfmormance Ski & Surf
Look for more videos and up-to-date action on my fan page at www.facebook.com/ChrisRossiSlalomguru
Web: www.slalomguru.com
Twitter: @Slalomguru
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YouTube: ChrisRossi41
Thanks for watching!
Chris Rossi
Read more: Important Notice: Chris Rossi has decided to ski exclusively at 34mph
