Where did your tournament PB or "most memorable" tournament Happen ?

[swbca]

Tournament PB is on most BOS subscriber's profile so its not a secret.Most people remember their best (or most memorable) tournament days . . for many having a best day is why you work so hard to have the skis, boat, site, training help and friends to ski with.

so WHERE and WHEN did it happen ?

What did you run including boat speed in mph and rope length in feet off ( not metric units )

What did you place if relevant

What made that tournament memorable

• maybe you were on a borrowed ski after yours was lost or damaged while traveling

• Maybe you met your hero or had a tie-runoff with him, or maybe your whole family was there.

• Maybe your most memorable tournament wasn't about a good score or a medal . . tell us about it.

Include a relevant photo if you have one

[Keith_Menard]

My 'best day' had nothing to do with the skiing itself. It was the day I finally decided to stop caring about my score and just enter the tournament in Oakham about 2 years ago. My son, daughter, and I tented it and wound up being engratiated into a group of the most wonderful people and skiers. The 'tournament' went well into the night with an impromptu jam session and port tasting.

[swbca]

One of my most memorable tournaments was a local tournament in Waverly Iowa. It was my first tournament at age 13. My Mom and Dad drove me down from Minneapolis. Laid awake in a motel most of the night. I was one of the last skiers out in the Boys division.

On the first pass, the rope broke. I sat in the river for several minutes while they retrieved another rope from shore. On the next pass, the replacement rope broke. I was in the river hearing the announcer complaining about the skier saying something like "Whats going on, what's that guy doing" The third rope didn't break. I don't remember my score but I had 1st place and it was my PB at the time . . my first tournament. I weighed about 140, don't know why the ropes broke but it was back when people spliced their own slalom rope.

Memorable in part because of the rope trauma and it was the first time my parents drove me all over the Midwest region for the first years of my tournament skiing.

After that . .Placing 2nd in Men3 at Nationals was next with 5@35off was a good day but not a PB.Placing 4th in Men3 Nationals a couple of years later with 1.5@38off was a fun PB.

[ETskier]

1983, Fairland, IN. First time I ran 36 long line and they had to stop the boat to shorten the rope. That day I officially became a "shortline skier". I started at 30 and in those days they didn't stop between passes until we ran our max speed.

[MISkier]

My memorable tournament and current 36 mph tournament PB was at my club site - Tivoli Gardens, which is also where my 34 mph tournament PB occurred a few years ago. I started tournament skiing late (age 45), and I have been setting certain goals over the last 12 years to check some things off my list of water skiing challenges.

In 2021, I decided to ski a couple of L tournaments in the IM division to get a ranking (any ranking) on the World Open Men Slalom list. I also had a goal to beat my previous 36 mph tournament PB, which was 5@-28 from 2015. At the first L tournament, in 30+ mph winds, I didn't get what I wanted.

At Tivoli for the last L opportunity in the Mark Boender Buoy Bash tournament, I scored 3@36/-28 in the first two rounds and the wind for the 3rd round was increasing. I already had a couple 4@36/-28 scores in some class C tournaments that summer and decided it was all or nothing to beat that 5 buoy PB. With about a 12-14 mph headwind straight down the pipe, I decided my opener off the dock for round 3 would be 36/-28 - do or die. I figured I could pull long and slam turns to do whatever to make it. Not only did I run it, but it was quite smooth and I had time left over at 6 ball. I should have been able to get 2 or 3 at -32 on the way back, but I did the noob thing - got all charged up and overcranked the gate and 1 ball for a 1/2 buoy score.

My ranking peaked at 397 on the world list from those two tournament scores. Obviously not great, but that is where I am. As far as placement in that tournament, I was the only one who skied IM - so first.

Below is a photo from that PB tournament. You'll notice the water is not calm - and that was the good end of the lake.

Second most memorable is the Michigan 3-Event State Championship in 2020. I broke my ski in half during practice the night before and pulled my 9500 out of the closet. Hadn't skied on it in many years. My first pass on it was in round one (the placement round) of the tournament the next day.

[ToddL]

2nd BOS Cash Prize in Austin at Aquaplex. Oct 1&2 2016 (2017 ski year).

I ran 32 off for the first time in a tournament, (1 @ 35 new PB). Then I did it again, 1.5 @ 35, another PB! Prior to this tournament, I was getting 2 @ 32 off occasionally.

Doing this in the first 2 rounds was not ideal for the format. Ideally if I had done that in the last round, the 1st place check would have been for sure! But, one never turns down an opportunity to run their hardest pass for the first time ever for the purpose of sandbagging...

Still, @Horton felt compelled to adjust my ranking average score going into the 3rd round. I ended up skiing 4 @ 32 off (still above my prior performances, but the adjustment made had me settling for a little less cash.

I was asked how/where did those scores come from? Well, two things:1) I got a great setup/coaching tip from @SkiJay
2) I did what he said and only focused on that

What was it? Get the inside hip (left into 1 ball) up over the front foot early during/conclusion of the edge change. I still come back to that tip from time to time, but injuries, life has not let me train at the level I was those years. Maybe next year I can get there again.