HO A2

[chris carter]

anyone heard when the new A2 is coming out?

[Skihack]

I heard it is going to be very similar to the Goode Wide Ride. Have you tried that one? Alot of people like it.

[Horton]

HO has done a pretty good job of controling the buzz on thier skis for the last few years. The fact that the ski was not out at Nationals tells me they are up to something. I have heard very little. 

[HO 410]

I was sitting in a pickup boat with an HO dealer over the weekend. He mentioned a month, but it went in one ear and out the other. What I remember clearly is that there will not be an A1 in the 2011 run of skis. Dave is keeping a very tight lid on his skis.

[Skihack]

On the home page of the hosports.com website, Wil Asher and KC Wilson are skiing on a red ski. My guess is it's the A2

[aguylikeshark]

A2 shallower tunnel at the rear, slighly sharper bevel up front, tip rocker comes on sooner, more inside radius side cut at the tail (to reduce tail volume a bit), slightly wider up front, improved carbon layup and tighter production numbers.

 

All of the above are pure speculation.

[Pierre Cesinski]

In the last edition of the Waterski Mag on page 29. Will be good to know more about it

[skiron07]

Will has been on an A2 all year...with obvious results

Variable bevels from boot to rear; sounds like minor refinements but possibly a blending of

some S1 characteristics  = best of both worlds

 

[h2oskier_sd]

As a 34 mph skier I prefered the s-1 because it was faster into and out of the turn, which is what the a-2 is supposed to feel like at 36

[bobuna]

A2 is on the miamiskinatiques website if anyone is still eager for a look. i can't find specs on it though.

[syndicate]

here you go

• Bob Lapoint Design
• Variable concave design
• 5 stage rocker
• fat tail geometry
• 100% carbon fiber reinforcement
• torsional carbon consrtuction
• polychloride foam core
• syndicate fin box
• size 64.5,65.5,66.5,67.5
• 3 concaves in one ski
• larger concave radius in the tail results in the fastest tail section of any ski on the market
• tradition A1 concave under the feet produces stabilty and high edge angle
• larger concave radius fore of the skis wide piont creates a very safe tip
• A2 won't stop moving as the skier moves thought the turnainto the wakes

[Chuck_Dickey]

BOAT -

Break

out

another

thousand

[LakeOneSkier]

When I moved to an A1 I increased my PB by 6 buoys. If the A2 can do the same again I'd gladly lay out $1300 for it. :-)

[bobuna]

I was reading somewhere that a lot of 34mph skiers prefer the A1 to the S1 even though it was designed more as a 36mph ski. Will the A2 perform well at 34mph, perhaps be more forgiving than the A1??

[thealy]

I am 6'2", 210lbs and have been skiing on a 07 Monza for a couple of years.  I did ski on the A1 for about a month and was unable to get it to turn consistently in a course on my off side.  Both sides were fantastic when free skiing but struggled in the course.  Any opinions if I should be going for the A2 or S1?

 

[DanE]

If you´re looking for a great offside turn, compared to the Monza the S-1 is lightyears ahead. Onside turn however is a different matter, as I remembered the Monza almost had an automatic onside turn the S-1 requires better handle control and counter to rip the onside.Give it a try though, You will have more width/time/space coming in to You´re onside.

[als2104]

Looks like the A2 is out.  http://www.perfski.com/Waterskis/Slalom-Skis/2011-HO-Syndicate-A-2-.html

 Has anyone had the chance to ride it?  Feedback?

[AK]

Anybody has fin numbers? It is amazing the official site has nothing

[Roger]

I'm looking for the official number also. Here are the numbers that I started with (numbers were on a piece of notebook paper taped to the ski, so I have no idea if they're official or not):

 

For 66.5" A2

Length: 6.840

Depth: 2.510

DFT (I used slot calipers): .790

Front boot: 29.5

HO seems to have no numbers on their website for any of their skis. They should do something about that...

I've been riding a D3 Z7ST for the past season. Last weekend I took three sets on a new Radar Strada. It took three sets to get up to speed where I could run comfortable 28/34s on it. I think with some fin tuning, I might like this ski a lot.

This weekend, Jeff from Tommy's dropped of an A2 for us to demo (thanks Jeff!). So I mounted up my bindings (RS-1s), set the fin numbers to the above and took two sets. I was able to run comfortable 28's the first set. The 2nd set, I moved my bindings 1/2 hole forward and ran several 28's and one 32. For the 3rd set, I increased the fin length to 6.850 in a attempt to get the ski to initiate the offside turn a bit more aggressively and at the same time moved the bindings back to nuetral. I didn't like this setup too much, but will leave the fin settings and move the bindings the 1/2 hole forward again for next set. The ski turns like a demon on my on-side and if I push it in really hard, turns well on my off-side also. I'm just looking for a setting where it will initiate the offside as well as it does the on-side. I will take additional sets on it next weekend (too cold in South Florida during this week to ski).

 

Edited to add: I emailed HO asking for the official numbers. I'll post them here when I receive an answer.

 

[AK]

thanks

[kstateskier]

I got a chance to ride the A2 (66) over the weekend in Orlando.  Coming from an SS but having ski'd on HO products long before that I had an idea what to expect.  Here are my random thoughts.

Quick and stable.  

Predictable, the ski never did anything that caused me concern.

I was able to become comfortable on it within 2 passes.  skis well at 34but rips at36! 

Turning the ski on both sides was effortless and never did the tip come up.  I ride animals one hole back (29.5 heel to tail) and the water was breaking 3-4 inches in front of my front foot (RFF)

Carried out well off the second wake, never did I feel narrow on it.  and finishing the turn was almost dummy simple.

I wouldn't classify the ski as 2005 Monza fast, but its got alot of speed and what I think is most important carries alot of that speed through the finish of the turn.

Overall just a solid ski, something I could see buying and skiing on comfortably with some consistency for a few seasons!

 

Also got a chance the ride the new Razor and IT IS 2005 Monza FAST :)

 

[Chuck_Dickey]

Can you make any comparison the the 2010 A-1?

[AK]

and what about your fin numbers?

[kstateskier]

Nope never ridden the A1.

 6.840, 2.510, DFT.790

Front boot: 29.5 or on HO Animal Plates one hole fwd. Rear boot 17.25 to heel rubber, not plastic.

 

[Roger]

Just got the latest numbers from HO for the A2:

6.845 (Tips)

2.505

.780

8 degrees

Front boot:

67.5" = 30"

66.5" = 29.5"

65.5" = 29"

 

I'll be trying these numbers on a 66.5" tomorrow at Okeeheelee.

[AK]

Roger thanks for the update.

Keep us posted

[Roger]

1.      Things went very well today with the new settings. I felt the ski had impressive cross course speed, slowed really well, and makes a nice turn while conserving momentum. I skied two sets on it today and ran 4 28s off the platform very comfortably. Had a really bad gate at 32 (still not entirely comfortable with the gate roll in on the ski, but it's getting better) and still got around the 4 ball. Came back the other way and ran it easily. Next set, did two 28s, a 32, and a couple of attempts at 35. Was dropping my head at one ball though (entirely me, not the ski), so didn't get further than the 2 ball there. I will probably ski one more set tomorrow and then turn it over to John Shealy so he can try the new fin settings. He skied pretty well with the original settings, but I think he will like these better.

 

[thager]

Roger, I am extremely jealous! I cross country skied today in a blizzard to run my doberman. Felt like Grizzly Adams. Its going to take a day to clear my driveway of 5 foot drifts. High for tomorrow is - 2 degrees F. Low tonight -17 F!! Oh yeah,

as hambone says "I hate winter"!

[DanE]

Kstate,

I know I´m off topic here but what about the Razor? 2005 Monza fast in a good way? How about the rest of it´s attributes, did You get a chance to ride a size/flex suitable for you? Just curious.

[Roger]

Bruce, for this time of the year, those are typical for me. Usually, once the season is over and the temps drop, I just ski all 28s for the entire winter. My tournament average this year was 3.75 @ 35. I have been running more and more 35s in practice now that I bought a ZO equiped boat, so I'm aiming to take that average up next year. Once the time changes, I can only ski weekends, so I typically don't shorten the rope at all in the Winter and just try to improve form and work on the little things.

I don't usually ski this well on any new ski that I try (which is why I broke my no shorten in the Winter rule), so I think this ski suites me and I will give it serious consideration for next season. I will probably try some other skis in the meantime though. I've now tried the Strada and this ski in the last Month. I will try whatever else I can get my hands on this Winter. I'm still pretty happy with the Z7-ST I've been riding since last Winter, but always up to see what might be better for me.

 

[Roger]

Thager, tell me again why a waterskier lives in the North, I forget?

[Razorskier1]

DanE,

I started on my Razor A68 the first week of September.  It's good fast.  More importantly, it does everything else well too.  Turns are very symmetric both sides of the boat, and it carries out wide and early.  It also keeps speed very well through the turn and runs very smooth and quick out of the turn.  By way of background I'm six feet tall, about 190lbs and was on a Fisher Orange.  In less than a month on the ski I was skiing at my PB.  The ski is put away for the long MN winter now, but I suspect it keeps getting better.  I run the ski on their (Razor's) recommended shortline fin settings and binding placement. 

[thager]

Roger, God has a very sadistic sense of humor! I have no idea why I moved back here from Pensacola following the Navy. I remember hating the humidity. Walk out my front door at 5AM to my Vette in a flight suit and be a dishrag when I got there. Wasn't a fan of the cockroaches, snakes or alligators either . Almost had a cow at Okeeheelee last year when I was greeted by a snake ay the dock!

[Guest]

thager- Those snakes live on and around the docks at Okeeheelee. They were even there with all the hustle and bustle during the Nationals. The have names and Laurie Lindsey feeds them.

[Roger]

Thager, the East coast of FL is a lot better humidity wise than the West coast or panhandle area. You may as well move back down here, everyone else is http://www.ballofspray.com/vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif

As for the snakes, they're common brown water snakes and are harmless unless stepped on and even then wouldn't be able to do much damage (btw, no one feeds them, don't know where that came from unless it was intended as humor).

You're always welcome to drop down for a visit if you can't pull off a move...

[Guest]

Roger,

 

Humor.

 

Ham

[Ed_Johnson]

I can testify to hitting an alligator on the Turnpike Lake, coming off the second wake at 35off, just before dark, a few years ago,right before Nationals. Broke my Nose and R-Ankle in three places. Could not ski for over a year after that. So the water snakes are nothing compared to the Gators...........ED

[thager]

Ham, Funny! Cottonmouth got me in the bicep in Tampa many years ago. Haven't cared for snakes much since. Gators have left me alone. Nothing dangerous here except some rattlers at MS's and of course MS himself! Roger, I may come down to visit sometime. I still have some medical issues to take care of first. .