Countdown timer - What is the "official" allowed time in a tournament?

[scuppers]

Please elaborate if it differs with the type of event ie C, Record, etc.

[ForrestGump]

Countdown timer? You mean the boat wait timer? If so, there is no official amount. It's set based on conditions at the tournament such as numbers of skiers, time needed for water to rollout, etc. The chief judge and chief driver will usually confer on this prior to the start of the tournament.

[Not_The_Pug]

I'm guessing you are asking about the "Wait Timer". I think it depends on the site and time allocations to complete the event. It is more to keep it fair to all skiers. We typically use 45 sec. We will bump it down to 40 sec, if we have a lot of skiers to pull that day.

[Jody_Seal]

Usually it has to do with the amount of time that the course needs to clear out and become skiable and keep the conditions constant from skier to skier. At moomba we run 60 sec at one end and 90 at the other. Cory's we run 35 seconds. At Regionals we ran 45 Seconds. It depends from site to site and any other conditions that less or extended time may warrant.

[Kelvin]

At the recent World Games they were running 1:45 min, but for conditions to really settle out between passes that site requires 3:00 mins, but then that makes for a boring spectator experience.

[ScarletArrow]

I've always felt that the timer shouldn't start until the boat stops, not when the boat clears the exit gates.

 

A 36mph skier technically gets more rest time sitting in the water than a 26mph skier.

 

On short setups where you drop just beyond the 55's it not much of an issue.

 

However, one tournament site I skied in several years back had long setups and the driver set me down and took off again after my 30mph pass in what seemed to be less than 10 seconds (the Sr. Driver was at a fast idle to tighten the rope).

 

I was burning up all my "rest" time following the boat to the drop noodle excessively beyond the 55's.

 

I wasn't prepared for such a quick turnaround and missed my next pass and it was pretty frustrating.

 

I know someone might say, "You only lose a couple of seconds, so what's the big deal?".

 

I say, "If it's only a couple of seconds why not give it to me when the boat stops for skiers below max speed?"

 

It's only been an issue at this one tournament (one round - which made it worse) at this one site.

 

I normally train with a 45 second wait, so no ongoing issues really.

[scuppers]

Yes, I guess I should have written "wait timer". Makes perfect sense to be based on conditions, but I never knew what the rule -if any - was. For sure it's always way to short.

[6balls]

If I really shit show but get out of a pass using tons of energy I have asked for an extra few seconds and usually get it as I'm huffing and puffing. Not much extra, but maybe an extra 5-10 seconds.

[LeonL]

Perfect Pass starts the timer at the exit gates, however ZeroOff starts when the boat stops forward motion. At least that's what it appears to me. Kinda gets into another thread currently being commented on concerning officials. If you ask for some additional time the boat crew would have to be hardasses not to give you some. Again, it's all for the skier. Within the concern for being fair to everyone and running a tournament with some efficiency, we use the timer as a guideline and try to stay close to it, but not overly rigid.

[Mrs_MS]

We have a wait timer set even when practicing....some people just talk too damn much! LOL

[sunperch]

@Mrs_MS Good idea!! I am usually driving and just start to tighten the line, if they talk too much they get a really short set up!!

[Than_Bogan]

We're kind of a "drop, turn, go" sort in practice, so I usually feel wait timers are too long. Almost seems hard to maintain focus. Then again, they wait for what seems like forever at John's Pond (to let it settle since the site is so short) and my top two scores lifetime are both there. So maybe it helps in the end.

[TDET]

We have to go as fast as we can shorten the rope. We get 31/2 to 4 runs in

before the backwash gets us, and that's with a quick setup.

Timer? What's that?

 

 

 

 

[Jody_Seal]

The over 55 group need more time at each end of the lake or at least they should install oxygen dispensers in the drop area's!

[alex38]

There should be a max or limit for tournaments in light of a conflicted or delayed gate ruling-yes back to that-don't ban me.

[ForrestGump]

Why? The two are not related to each other.

[ral]

We use a 30s timer, our lake is ready by then.

 

There is no wait time established in the rules.

 

@ScarletArrow, if you are below the max speed, the boat might not stop, just spin and increase speed on a tourney. We do that for kids, and we stop in just 1 side of the lake. Usually slow speed "senior citizens" do get rest time to avoid unnecessary ER trips...