TEAM D3 World Record Holder Nate Smith continues his total dominance

[Horton]

 

TEAM D3 World Record Holder Nate Smith continues his total dominance of every slalom event he enters. Since switching to his new D3 EVO Nate has been almost perfect at the 10.25 (41off) rope length.

 

Nate’s first pro event on the EVO was the TRAVERS GRAND PRIX last Friday the 11th. Nate won both rounds and the championship with scores into 9.75 (43off) No other skier ran 10.25.

 

Nate’s next event was the SWISS PRO SLALOM last Sunday the 13th. In the first round Nate again completed the 10.25 pass to lead all skiers. In the second round again Nate completed the 10.25 and scored 1@9.75. In the final Nate did what he needed to do, he scored 4 @ 10.25 for the victory.

 

FUN FACT- Nate Smith has run the 10.25 pass in competition more times than any other skier in the history of our sport. Unfortunately for the competition he isn’t showing signs of slowing down any time soon.

 

At D3 we are honored to have Nate as an ambassador for our brand and our sport. He is always willing to give back and drive the boat, judge an event, coach skiers, whatever he can do to help the sport we all love. Next up for Nate and TEAM D3 is the US Masters at Callaway Gardens, GA presented by Nautique Boats. The excitement starts on Friday the 25th and ends with finals on Sunday the 27th.

 

Be sure to catch the web cast for all the action or join us at our booth on site. https://www.nautique.com/events/masters

[OSUwaterskier]

Unreal. Anyone know if the more 41s than the rest of the world combined stat is still true?

 

Any feedback on the EVO yet? Has been pretty quiet since it’s unveil.

[ALPJr]

Amazing! I'm a little surprised that 90% of Ballers aren't skiing on a D3 with TFactor .

[mbabiash]

Both of D3 current skis are really good but very different. The NRG is very consistent in the turns but skis similar to a nano one in that it shuts down pretty quick off of the second wake. Staying connected a touch longer is the key on the NRG and you’ll be rewarded.

The EVO on the other hand gets a lot of width and space before the buoy and continues to carve the turn well after the buoy. I settled on the EVO. Buoy count was the same but the EVO really gives me the time to focus on letting the ski finish and load later. At 215 lbs the NRG loads pretty quickly off of the buoy and zero off punishes me.

With the EVO I feel like I can load later and not let zero off punish me as much.

It’s very consistent on both sides at stock numbers but a 1/4 back of stock with the boots.

I’m loving it.

 

[Stevie Boy]

Ski Buddy switched from NRG to EVO, 10 sets in, wow what a difference, he,s running more 35,s than ever before and looking good for 38.

Been said before different ski,s suit different skiers, but he,s real happy he dropped the dollars on the EVO.

As for Nate what a combination, Super Nice Guy, Natural Talent, Great Competitor, Backed by a Great Ski Manufacturer.

[Ed_Johnson]

@mbabiash ... Are you on a 67 or 68 EVO and NRG? Did you notice any difference in size between the NRG and EVO since the EVO has slightly less surface area? Thanks.

 

[MrJones]

What he is doing is really amazing. It's not that there are not other amazing skiers out there right now either. He is just at another level and consistently so.

[mbabiash]

@Ed_Johnson

68 on both.

EVO is only a touch narrower up front than the NRG. EVO is much faster than NRG but still sheds speed well.

[Skid]

Before I just say what I think of the new EVO, I will say that I was behind the lens when we were shooting the new ski. At the time, D3 only had two EVO's in the world. Nate had one and Ryan Canepa had the other. Nate literally had one practice set on the ski before we started shooting and I was told that he ran deep 41 on it. Not bad for a first ride on a new ski!

As for me, I rode the ARC-S for about a year. Really great ski, and I wasn't sure I was going to switch to the EVO. It was especially tough because my last set on the ARC-S I ran 4@38.

What made me switch was how much better the onside was and how well the ski holds angle. The new ski is extremely fast, but easy to get slowed down. It's predictable and you know it's going to be there when you finish the turn.

On the Arc-S I was getting hung up at 3 ball in most of the tournaments I entered and had a lot of 2.5@35 (36mph) scores. I did have 3 tournament rounds last fall where I did manage 4-4.5 buoys at 35 all 3 rounds. Thankfully I did run one (my first) tournament 35 on the ARC-S earlier this year.

Since the change, I've been running more 35's in practice than ever before and 38 finally seems like a pass I can run. My confidence on the EVO is so high that I recently opted up during a practice round (i've never opted up before) from 28off to 35off for the first time ever and ran it pretty easily. I usually open at 22off, so to start at 28 and then opt up second pass and run 35 the way I did was really encouraging.

Currently, I'm running the stock settings on my fin, but have the wing set at 7.50 and the back of my front binding is 29.8750 from the tail and I'm riding a 67.

 

-Spencer Shultz

[Horton]

@mbabiash I don't believe the new D3 is much wider or narrower than the NRG or the ARC. The NRG looks wider because of it has a blunter tip but the width under your feet is not that different.

 

They are clearly three completely different skis. I'm just saying the new ski is not significantly narrow.

[mbabiash]

@horton

I agree. That’s why I said a touch narrower.

I measured right in front of the boot on both skis 68 inch and the EVO was slightly narrower. That width continues a touch further forward on the NRG.

Overall very close to the same surface area which means nothing compared to bevels in relation to speed of the ski.

 

[DanE]

@Skid What settings do you have on your fin?

[teammalibu]

Last weekend at the Ridge we had a starter failure on the Nautique 200. Nate jumped in and spent quite a while working on the boat! after they got it going with out any warm up he went out and ran 1@43 off! Just another day for him! Super ambassador for the sport IMO!

[Skid]

@DanE I'm on the stock settings.

Length is 6.935 (tips)

Depth is 2.455 (flat)

DFT is .755

And I have my wing just slightly off of stock at 7.5 degrees, I'm riding a 67.

[Skid]

@"Jack Kinne" 67'' Arc-S