6 bouy course or.......???

[jnan66]

[jnan66]

We are going to set up a course in a public lake shown above. There is 540m approx which leaves us with 85m from ends to pregates. Would you put a regular 6 bouy course in or would you go with an overlapping 8 bouy course? That would give us 125m to each pregate. Is the "5 ball" very disturbing on the gate setup on an 8 bouy course?

[Mastercrafter]

We ski a lake that is 500m long with a 6 ball course; so it’s doable, but I think 8 ball would be ideal in both your and our situation. 

I’ve skied with Tgas a handful of times on his 8 ball course, and the Zero Ball (5 ball) is actually a nice training aid for width and turn-in timing. Lapoint Ski Park sinks theirs and I’d actually rather have it visible. 
 

 

[jnan66]

@MastercrafterDo you turn in before or after "5ball"? On what linelengths could it be a problem?

If you learn to ignore it........would you likely hit it somehow anyway?

[MISkier]

We had a previous site that was that same distance and used a 6 buoy with no issues.  I would do 6 buoy.  You could set it up to curve your start in on the end at the bottom of the photo and maybe slide the course down that way a bit to give you more space for the end at the top of the photo.

You could actually curve the start in on both ends (see red lines), but the top end would be a right turn for the boat versus a more natural left turn that you would take on the bottom.

Is there any reason you didn't put the course to the right side of the lake (the other side of the peninsula at the bottom)?  It looks like you have more length there (see yellow line).

[jnan66]

@MISkierThese red curves are exactly how we planned to drive. At the top of your yellow line there is a passage under the road/railway where boats go frequently. At the bottom of the yellow line there are more shallow water with rocks/stones. One member of the club lives in the house in the green area and also owns the water where the blue line is. We have done a check of the depth and the only thing is a rock at surface level (green cross) but it is already marked with a rod.

[Mastercrafter]

I only ski into 14m so I forget all the details on shorter line lengths, but you turn around/after it. Not sure what happens at 12 and 11 when the line doesn’t get there. 

[lpskier]

Many people say to go around zero ball at 14 and before it after that. I go around zero through 12. 

[Mastercrafter]

Just now, lpskier said:

Many people say to go around zero ball at 14 and before it after that. I go around zero through 12. 

I think Tgas said he goes around it until 11.25 as well. 

[6balls]

Jodi had us going around zero ball at -35.

[Drago]

An Open friend of mine went to Goode Lake. Starting at 32, RFF,  center punched the zero ball and beat it in. IIRC, went a little later after that 

[Spencer_Shultz]

8 buoy for sure. First set will confuse the heck out of most people but after that, it’s great. 

[dave2ball]

Go with an 8 ball course. 1771 feet is a bit short for a true 6 ball course unless you can drop and go into the cove near the bridge in the picture provided and line up at set speed. The 5 ball you refer to is also known as the zero ball. As the rope gets shorter the ball will not come into play. Most people just go around it or turn just inside the ball. Once skiing with is you won’t really notice it after some sets.  A

[hacker]

Several years ago, I skied at a short lake with an overlapping 8 ball course. They used a noodle at the “0” ball, with only 6” or so above the surface. Not at all intimidating when setting up for the gates, plus it was still an adequate marker as a five ball coming back the other way. Pretty good solution, as long as you’re not using it as a tournament lake.