Snoqualmie, WA – September 1, 2017 - O’Brien Watersports announced today that they have acquired substantially all of the assets of Nash Mfg., which produces watersports products under the Hydroslide brand name; pool and lake leisure products under the licensed brand name of Margaritaville, and rotational molded coolers under the brand name Sub Z. Nash began making wood water skis in 1954 and is the oldest watersports manufacturer based in the United States with factory and headquarters in Fort Worth, TX.
Pete Surrette, General Manager of O’Brien commented, “We are very excited to welcome Hydroslide, Margaritaville and Sub Z brands to the O’Brien family. We believe these products will fit well within our existing dealer and consumer base as well as open up new sales avenues for the O’Brien brand in the pool and cooler businesses.”
“I am very excited to see the Nash brands turn the page on the next chapter.” Said Keith Parton, President of Nash Mfg. “It has been a great 50 years at Nash and I believe the new partnership with O’Brien will be even better. I believe this is a great opportunity for all of our customers.”
O’Brien is committed to the Hydroslide, Margaritaville and Sub Z product offerings. The acquisition of these brands also supports O’Brien’s strategic transition into other segments of the sporting goods industry.
O’Brien has been making quality Watersports products since 1964 - Providing fun on the water for the entire family!
To quote Brooks Wilson, “The only thing that stayed the same is the name”. The 2018 Vapor is an entirely new ski design from Radar and the third major redesign of the Vapor.
The first generation of Vapor (2014-2015) was appropriately compared to Italian sports cars. It was fast and provided extreme performance to the skier who could handle it. The second generation of Vapor (2016-2017) had all of the performance of the previous version but with much more sophistication and polish. The new 2018 version has at least as much performance of the previous versions with an additional level of refinement.
General Feel:
The ski turns effortlessly and makes as much speed as any ski on the market but perhaps the most important attribute of the new Vapor is balance. This ski makes it easy for the skier to keep flowing in the right direction.
Ball to the wakes:
From the ball to the wakes, the 2018 Vapor holds angle and creates speed with surprising little skier effort. Part of this is the result of the ski carrying substantial speed through the turn. Skiers may find that they can take more passes per ride with less fatigue on the new Vapor. The lack of strength required is one of many factors that translates into more overall control and calm skiing.
Wakes to the ball:
Gaining width on the course is practically automatic. The ski flows out from the center of the course quickly and rolls up on edge at a rate that will surprise you the first time you feel it. This contributes to a tip down attitude approaching the ball. These same attributes also come into play after apex and result in more speed after the ball.
Off Side:
The inherent balance of the ski makes it easy for the skier to stay centered on both feet and flow through the turn. When the skier starts to initiate the turn, the ski quickly carves a tight arc and heads toward the wakes with surprising speed.
During the review period, ski adjustments were focused on getting the Off Side turn right. My personal technique flaws required me to tune the ski so it would not overturn Off Side. Once the fin and bindings were set for Off Side, I put the tools away and just skied.
On Side:
On Side turns on the Vapor are basically fool proof and automatic. Provided that the skier does not do anything frightfully stupid, the ski is going to turn when it is asked and create plenty of angle. Previous generations of the Vapor required more front foot pressure to turn On Side. Skiers should always strive to be forward at On Side, but this ski will forgive you more then most if you do not.
Quirks:
One of my personal skiing flaws is that I rotate my shoulders more than I should, and I push into the exit of Off Side. The stock “long shallow” settings are perhaps superior to “short deep” for some skiers, but the ski worked much better for me with “short deep” settings.
Conclusion:
The 2018 Radar Vapor is a ski that just works. The 2016-2017 Vapor was a classic, and the 2018 Vapor is even better.
Official Radar settings https://www.radarskis.com/finsettings/
Final Review Settings 29 15/16th /.776 / 2.507 / 6.863 / 9
The 2017 Malibu Open has been rescheduled for the weekend of September 29-30 at Trophy Lakes Sports in John's Island, South Carolina, just outside Charleston. Trophy Lakes boasts a world-class slalom course and promises to be an ideal location for the long-running skiing championship.
Originally scheduled for this weekend at Veterans Park in Milwaukee, Wis., the discovery of a blue algae bloom led the Milwaukee Health Department to cancel all activity on the Milwaukee Lagoon due to health and safety concerns.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. For more details, please visit www.malibuopenfestival.com.
If you water ski, you are aware that every year, once a year, the best amateur and pro skiers in the country converge on 1 location, somewhere in the United States, to test their talents and push their limits for a chance to stand on the podium, in their division,…and a lucky few get to be crowned National Champions.
This year, the US Water Ski Nationals were in San Marcos, TX, at San Marcos River Ranch. It was the perfect location, for an epic week of competition, camaraderie, laughs and life lessons.
This year, like last year, Nationals included a pretty wicked Night Jump event to close out the week….the best jumpers in America, sending it 210 feet off a 6′ ramp! You don’t see that every day…
Sit back, relax, and take a look at what the best water skiers in the country do with their 1 chance!
We regret to inform all the skiers, volunteers, and sponsors that the Malibu Open this coming weekend must be cancelled due to an unforeseen algae bloom at the Milwaukee Lagoon. The county has pulled our permit and will not allow the event to take place.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this will cause everyone. We attempted to work with the county to no avail. We have attempted to locate an alternate site near the area, but due to this being a last minute occurrence, a site has not come to fruition. Tony Drake worked tirelessly to help with a solution, however we have been unable to make other arrangements that would be acceptable to Malibu and our many sponsors.
We are planning on rescheduling the event at a later date to be determined soon.
Attached is a copy of the mail I received yesterday evening from the county.
Waterski Events LLC
Skiing is fun. It sounds simple but it’s what drives us to build the best products day in and day out. Radar was founded and led by skiers who have instilled in us the passion to push beyond the norm and make better products. This passion fuels our desire to innovate and create. It means early mornings and late nights, red eye flights followed by dawn sessions, leads us to conversations that flow to progression. We never stop dreaming of what’s next and what we can do to make skiing even better. Our constant desire to push the sport leads us to where we are now. We have fun creating every day so that you can have fun on the water. Just go ski.