How would you rate these boat paths?

[Horton]

[Horton]

Hey to be clear - I do not personally know the driver but his reputation is solid. I am not attacking him personally. More than likely he was just having an off morning. I get that 100%

 

On the other hand I have lost patience with the system to weed these scores out of the books. CLASS L means something. It is a higher standard. If the driver has an off day that is understandable but that does not mean the scores should stand as Class L.

[Than_Bogan]

The second time he's coming at the camera, the path is pretty bad. But overall I think this meets my expectation for class C. (I got bored after a few. If this gets worse in the second half, that might sway me to F.)

I also place some blame on the boat judge, who should have pointed out the driver was consistently toward the left.

[Horton]

@Than_Bogan second to last skier runs 41 off & gets 1 @ 43. watch the 41.

[rico]

@Horton I like to put a line on a bigger screen to watch the path like when monitoring tournaments.

I think Freddie's 41 is actually not too bad. the driver is almost a foot to the right through the gates which would make it harder for Freddie then he's pretty good until 5 balls where the driver is actually a few inches to the left which again I would imagine would make it harder for the Fred.

Having said that some other passes have variances of more than a few inches with some passes where the driver is not centered or let the skier take the boat.

 

I personally blame the chief boat driver (not sure who that was). They should ensure they know their driver, and someone always watch them and adjust their driving after each pass. (hey in the boat please move 2 inches to the left, or counter earlier on 1, 3...)

It is safe to say that nobody was watching the driver or no feedback was provided.

 

My two cents, people need to care more, especially when the best in the worlds are skiing on a L,R. If people don't care, they should let someone else chief or drive.

 

 

 

[Kelvin]

Class L/R is required to have an official monitoring the end course video at all times. Where was this official? It's crap like this that's forcing the governing bodies to move toward requiring the new GPS based real-time course monitoring. That's just going to drive up the cost of participation in the sport even more.

[jimski]

A couple of those passes should of had re-rides imo

Those are wide boats to keep in the course

[JackQ]

I am sure glad no one has a video of me trying to drive a couple of monsters at 39/41 when they get out of sync. If you watch just to pylon it is not as significant then if you are looking at the boat. Frankly I find it amazing that any driver can keep the pylon within the cumulative deviation required for a record to be approved, particularly with a large aggressive skier.

[matthewbrown]

That boat looks like it’s on a sheet of ice, I see very little stability or consistency with the path in those passes.

[Dirt]

It does not look like the driver intended to give an advantage to the skier. As you know, even the best drivers have a bad day, get out of sync with the skier or get a crappy boat with play in the steering.

I have a lot of respect for most of our drivers. I am not as skilled as they are and it is not for lack of trying.

[ScottScott]

Id hope I'm not being short sided like that, even in a class C. Totally out of sync.

[darinmontgomery]

So, how many of you are Senior rated drivers or Judges for the matter?

 

I have the privilege of skiing with not only this driver, 90% of my practice sets, but also several other top rated drivers in the World here in WPB. I can tell you they are all very similar, each having subtle differences that may suit particular styles better. I’ve run 39 behind all them in practice and L tournaments with zero difference in the pull.

 

We had the opportunity to ski with SurePath last fall at my lake. This same driver performed perfectly thru 41 as did the several other drivers I mentioned above. The most revolutionary addition to our sport is about to be required that will eliminate any question of boat path. In the not too distant future this same advancement will replace the need for a driver completely in the course.

 

The pylon is all the matters, the front and rear of the boat can mow down the boat guides as long as the pylon is centered. The new Ski Nautique has more movement than the SN 200 or 196, more like MC & Malibu. This is a good thing for the skier but not necessarily for end course video opinion.

 

I can also tell you that most Open and Master rated skiers would prefer to be short with a tight line at the backside of the buoy than 2 feet wide and no rope.

 

Posting a video and asking members to vote when a large percentage have zero expertise is not productive and serves no purpose. We have an entire governing body that is responsible and accountable for enforcing the rules. If there are concerns over anything, they need to be handled appropriately and not by an opinion poll on a forum.

 

@Horton if you ski with anyone that runs 39, please post some video of your SurePath driving the first few sets, you may be surprised of your actual boat path, not how it appears in video...

[jimski]

@darinmontgomery Canadian level 3 judge and driver slalom , trick and jump = US senior Driver & judge

[dave2ball]

@darinmontgomery well said. I happened to be at that tournament and the conditions were not ideal by any means. Either wind or rain or both wind and rain while skiing . The driver in this video did an awesome job as did the other 2 drivers given the conditions.

[darinmontgomery]

@dave2ball thank you for mentioning the conditions. I believe it was raining during most if not all of the Open Men’s skiing.

 

@jimski appreciate you sharing your ratings

[skierjp]

@darinmontgomery . Yes and for some reason the post seems to not know all the details. The tournament had to be stopped due to rain on Jon Travers set. Maybe a little jealousy. How many drivers can say they pulled Friday Winter 4 rounds in a row into 43 or any other skier for that matter in a record tournament. We continue to self destruct our own sport, unbelievable!

[ScottScott]

So I guess the question of what is the intent of this post/poll.....? If looking strictly at the boat path video as an example of less than ideal boat path....then it is what it is. Anyone that knows the tournament, and the conditions that day, would say its understandable and they did a commendable job. Later that day there were tornado warnings in the area also.

 

I can't now, but knowing the conditions and the way the poll questions are phrased, I would say it is L/R "quality" driving. The end result on a normal day wouldn't be, but the quality of driving was.

 

I would think they would have taken a minute to set the time stamp on the DVR......it certainly wasn't 2013.

[dave2ball]

@skierjp @darinmontgomery both of you are correct. Open men was run in rain and wind. When it came to Jon Travers it was raining so hard the event had to be stopped until the rain was manageable able for skiing. The majority of the day was very challenging for both driver and skiers.

[drew]

Something to keep in mind: the video format is designed to accentuate lateral movement; it is compressed vertically, elongated horizontally and zoomed for distance clarity. As a result the boat and boat guides appear relatively wider (and vertically shorter) such that side-to-side travel is magnified.

I am happy to say that I was Chief Judge of the tournament--and I am extremely proud of the effort made by all skiers, drivers and officials during this return to play period.

It was our privilege to have the talents of Andrew Bergman, Jeff Kepchia and Vinny Stadlbaur as our Sr Drivers. John Travers as TC, and Sergio Font as Pan Am Judge, brought their immense experience and skills. Dana Garcia, our Chief Scorer is at the top of class as far as perfect and seamless operation. Cyndi Benzel, Matt Rini, Whitney McClintock, Skip and Janet Dunlap, Sasha Danisheuskaya, Taylor Garcia, Sam Dumala, Bailey Austin, Lou Alkemo, Sean Hunter (whom Cyndi tested for his Sr Judge rating on Thursday), and Cole Grant, your contributions as our valued officials are so greatly cherished. And thanks to our Safety Director, Dave Macchi, too. My point is, as we all know, it takes an army of dedicated talent to make it happen. I certainly know that each driver and official on this list brings 100 percent of their effort and integrity every time they show up, and I look forward to working alongside each of them again soon.

To those who think they may be able to drive better--if you can, congratulations, for you're at the top of the sport.

 

 

 

[Andre]

Most positive waterski post on BOS for a while!

Wonder what the opening poster was going with this...?

[darinmontgomery]

@drew very well said and often taken for granted. Thank you for shutting down the lake, providing world class experiences for the skiers, judges, and drivers, as well as, being the LOC of the tournament.

[The_MS]

Crazy how these thing play out. A few years ago they suspended drivers.