USA WaterSki 8/7/08 Steve Locke post

[Horton]

Executive Director's Report, Aug. 5

Posted by: usawsOn: 08/05/2008 08:15:30In: Steve Locke

As the 66th GOODE Water Ski National Championships approaches, we have heard through direct letters to us and on various Internet message boards, frustrations associated with the evolving GPS-based systems designed to provide accurate speed control. Within this report, I wanted to share with you a typical response being provided by USA Water Ski’s Competition Department.

The Competition Department works closely with the AWSA Towboat Committee – as it does with many other committees and boards – in conducting the annual towboat evaluations. Within sport governance, this is a great example of peer involvement (not staff driven) as determinations are made by active competitive skiers, volunteers, and other officials involved with skiing and serving on various committees and boards. The following text is from Brandon Wolf, manager of USA Water Ski’s Competition Department, to a concerned USA Water Ski member who wrote to express an opinion concerning Zero Off:

"I understand your frustration, and appreciate you sharing your feedback. The decision to use Zero Off at a tournament is a decision made by each event organizer individually, not USA Water Ski. USA Water Ski/AWSA has not mandated the exclusive use of Zero Off or any other speed control system for that matter. AWSA simply approved the towboats that were provided by the manufacturers that met the requirements laid out in the Towboat Policies & Procedures. With that said, there has been consolidation in the industry and at this point, it is likely we will only see Zero Off on 2009 boats. As you may have heard, Zero Off recently purchased the patents previously held by Perfect Pass. As part of that agreement, Perfect Pass has a license for continued use of those patents; however, my understanding of the agreement between the two companies is that Perfect Pass will not be an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) product on 2009 or later three-event tournament boats. Essentially this means that in 2009 new boats will be equipped with Zero Off. However, 2008 boats approved and equipped with Perfect Pass will still continue to be used for tournaments. Certainly, I appreciate the issues you have raised regarding backward compatibility. I have received e-mails from others who have raised similar concerns with regard to practicing behind one system and skiing in tournaments behind another. The key issue with Zero Off systems is that the speed control system is integrated with the engine’s Engine Control Module (ECM). The ECM is an integral component that controls all engine functions, including ignition timing, fuel, spark advance, etc. Each engine requires a different “calibration” for it to function properly. I give all this as an explanation, not to confuse you, but rather to explain why, for practical reasons, the manufacturer does not have an option for earlier boats.

Currently the AWSA Towboat Committee is working with both Perfect Pass and Zero Off exploring options for earlier boats such as yours. Perfect Pass is working on software for Star Gazer, which is supposed to simulate a ZO pull. We cannot make any promises at this time, but are working toward a solution.

RE: Speed control designation at Regionals/Nationals: The AWSA board of directors made the decision in January, after much debate, to have the manufacturers designate a single GPS speed control option. The Towboat Committee suggested the board revisit the topic a few weeks ago. The board voted again, and decided that its original decision was in the best interest of the membership as a whole.

As a member, your opinion is valued, and so I am forwarding it on to the AWSA president, AWSA Southern Region executive vice president and the chairpersons of the AWSA rules and towboat committees for future consideration. Several members have voiced a similar opinion, so I am sure the issue will be on both committees agendas later this year to discuss how/if the organization can address the issue. Ultimately the boat manufacturers decide what speed control options they offer in their boats, and so I would encourage you to share your opinion with the manufacturer(s) as well."

[Horton]

I would guess that Steve Locke was not very happy with me when I posted a number of threads about ZO & Gazer. I do believe that along with complaints made to EVPs, council members, directors, emails, and the other forums, we the skiers have make it clear that we are not happy. The above post from the USA WaterSki site shows that they hear us.

We the skiers are the Squeaky wheel. Now we wait. I am cautiously optomistic.

 

[skidawg]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it".  usa h2O would do well listening to grandpappy's advice

[kdeupser]

"Priceless!"  Usher in GPS from a "technology is better" point of view.  Tell us all how much PP classic is "fudging" times.  Then hide behind the technology when you don't want to support the older boat's.  Ya, grow the sport hommie...

 

 

[GMC]

Is the technology better? From the information I've gathered on- andoffline, I think not. It seems to me that the system is based on aninput that can't be sampled rapidly enough (GPS) so they addedband-aids to cover the gaps in speed data - theaccelerometers. Then the algorithm is reactive (thus the gassing - Ithink it's an adaptation of automotive cruise control) and highlyovergained. The A/B/C settings can obviously alter that a bit.

I'm a bit skeptical about the virtual timing concept but over thatdistance the satellites should get it right as long as the course isright. Even if it has to call for more gas in the second segment, a laStarGazer!  It just might suck from the handle, that's all!

In the end I think that if I were to design a speed control systemfor skiing, it would end up being a lot like Perfect Pass classic - analgorithm designed around a ski course, not an adapted automotivealgorithm. GPS would only be used to establish an RPM baseline on theway to the course but upon entering the course, GPS-based feedbackwould shut off and the boat would control around it's RPM baseline.Thus the convenience of ZO and the pull of PP classic. I thinkRPM-based (or maybe even torque-based) speed control is far superior in concept than GPS-basedcontrol.    

Disclaimers/other random points:

1. There is no such thing as constant speed unless you're at a cablepark. There is always error in the system, it's just a matter of howthat error is managed and corrected. BTW, what's the best known slalomscore at a cable park?

2. If any data I am using to form my opinion is in fact wrong, I've just wasted a lot of keystrokes and some of your time!

3. If we continue down the ZO path, towboat speed control could becomethe defining factor in ski design and technique. Is that a good thing?Maybe it's always been that way? Seems to me that for ZO you want a skiand technique that gets you all of your angle at the ball becauseyou're not going to make up any time/space behind the boat any more.

4. I have only one tournament set behind ZO and it was terrible... Butit was terrible before I got gassed by the control system. I'm nothaving a good year and I'm definitely not blaming it on the system. Isuck behind good old PP classic this year.

5. I do powertrain controls for a living so while I may be a hack onthe water, I have a pretty good idea of what's going on under thedoghouse.

6. I've been waiting quite a while for the right opportunity to saythat I think ZO is a piece of crap and I think I finally found one.