Malibu no longer making ski boats?

[Ali]

Just heard this. Any confirmation out there? 

[bbruzzese]

Still on the website boat builder for 2024 if that means anything.

[Drago]

1 hour ago, Ali said:

Just heard this. Any confirmation out there? 

Source? (Reliable source?)

[Horton]

Rumors about the TXi program started circulating about two weeks ago. I spent a few days actively searching for news with the intention of breaking the story. Ultimately, I could only identify one source claiming that the TXi program is officially canceled. I'll share all the information I've gathered, and you all can discuss and debate.

Dennis Kelly managed the ski program at Malibu for 30 years. Approximately 10 days ago, Dennis was abruptly let go. When questioned, Dennis mentioned he is uncertain about the future of the TXi.

Last year, Malibu produced around 50 TXi boats.

Reports indicate that some of Malibu's major dealers are facing financial difficulties. The recent Malibu stockholders' earnings call was a blood bath. In other words, the financial situation seems tense, reflecting broader industry challenges.

I reached out to individuals on the USAWS tow boat committee, Malibu pro athletes, and ski schools associated with Malibu. None of them asserted that the TXi is canceled. Some believed it wasn't canceled, while others were unsure of its status.

I cannot confirm with absolute certainty whether the boat is canceled or not. It's a great boat, and having a third boat is essential for spreading out promo tournament hours and serving as a sponsor for USAWS.

There are a few potential scenarios:

1. The boat will continue to be manufactured and sold for years to come. I find this to be the most likely outcome.
2. The boat might suddenly become unavailable on the first day of Malibu's next financial year without warning. I consider this equally probable.
3. They may fulfill existing orders and cease taking new ones. I see this as the least likely option.

Another plausible scenario, perhaps the most likely one, is that no official decision has been made yet.

[jjackkrash]

Anyone here still holding out hope for an inexpensive, stripped down ski tug?   If you want a ski boat get 'em while you can.    

[Horton]

@jjackkrash

[jjackkrash]

Panda?  I have been saying for years we are lucky to have three boats to choose from and that the stripped down ski boat fantasy was a pipe dream given the economic realities of the industry.  And now we might be down to two.   

[Drago]

49 minutes ago, jjackkrash said:

Panda?  I have been saying for years we are lucky to have three boats to choose from and that the stripped down ski boat fantasy was a pipe dream given the economic realities of the industry.  And now we might be down to two.   

Stop making sense! Wait, you aren't.

[jcwaterskiparadise]

If it's confirmed, it's a sad news for waterski world. I truly don't understand the direction where the boat manufacturers are heading with those overpriced new boats, with uneccessary upgrade of engine power and way too much electronics. All of this is making the life of the ski school all over the world miserable and challenging, if you don't want to kill your costumers and respect them.

I feel sad for my sport, and i feel bad to be part of the few and only remaining.

I don't see a lot of pro skiers complaining about the situation of their sport, as they don't wanted to loose their sponsorship.

In Europe, almost every ski school keep their old boat and change their engines when they need to. It clearly a sign that something is going wrong.

To read that only 50 new Malibu boats where sold worldwide is shocking and not surprising, and i am not talking about the quality and the skiability of the  boat witch is fine. This sport need to be bigger and decisions has to be made, but who gets the gutts to do it?

People tells me waterski is not for everybody. Indeed, but it should be accessible for more people than now. Inflation and cost of products are not valid excuses. The reality is that folks are greedy and wanted to keep they margins. They even win more by doing their wake barge than a classic 3 event boat. Everybody has to make his part!

By the way it's cool to see, per example, Freddie winter on an instagram recent video being towed by an old mastercraft and still having fun behind it. Only thing who is important if you still wanted to do tournament is zero off, the rest is just bullshit and killing the sport we all love. 

 

 

[ALPJr]

Other options may pop up?

[Taperflex]

So, if they quit making ski boats, will there be a Malibu Open this year?

[MitchellM]

And which company will land Regina?

[Horton]

@jjackkrash what you were thinking may have made sense but what you wrote did not. The Panda was for suggesting a stripped down boat could ever be a thing. If that is not what you were trying to say then it is what it is.

[escmanaze]

yikes.  This is a bit scary.  Here's to hoping for the best.  

However, knowing how publicly traded companies work, there is also certainly reason to fear the worst.  

[skialex]

This is sad… 

[jjackkrash]

2 hours ago, Horton said:

@jjackkrash what you were thinking may have made sense but what you wrote did not. The Panda was for suggesting a stripped down boat could ever be a thing. If that is not what you were trying to say then it is what it is.

It was late and a long day.  If my post was ambiguous, to clarify, my point was all the talk of a stripped down boat over the past few years on this site is and has been a delusional pipe dream.  And if Mailbu kills their ski-boat program and we are left with only two options, the prices on what's left going forward are only going up and the supply is only going down. 

[Dano]

If Malibu steps out of the tournament boat scene. It's because the sport as a whole has failed.  It was once a thriving sport with a reasonable following in the 90's.  I can even remember a tournament being held on our local public lake once when I was a kid and there were even spectators on the shores, conditions were aweful but it still happened.  People were interested.  Since then it's completely died.  the market for rec skiers is null, the course skier crowd needs good water for which there is limited access.   organizing bodies are focused on tournament skiing only. Boats and gear being expensive is not what is holding the sport back.  People spend way more to surf.   What the sport needs is the the organizing bodies to put some effort into growing the sport at the younger ages, getting some ambassadors out there, promoting the sport and generating an interest in it again .  Skiing is growing in popularity again.  In my area there is a lot more skiers today than even 3 years ago.  A lot of those skiers are rec skiers enjoying free skiing. It's now always about running buoys.   The opportunity for the sport to thrive is there.  The 90's was a boom, the ad's were there, the exposure to the public was there, and skiers were there.  It's not like we have to reinvent the wheel. 

Bring back the enthusiasm and you will bring back boat sales. The price to me is not the issue.

[Slaloman]

My perspective may be way off on a macro level, but locally for me it is pretty simple. I am 62 and every person I have talked to that tried skiing or used to ski (when young) now view slalom skiing for nutcases. They surf/wakeboard and can;t understand why anyone would want to go that fast or risk falling at a higher speed, etc. I can't get anyone who used to ski try it again and if they never have tried it they have no desire to. From kids to 50 year olds, I am sad to see this happen and even watching me, as an older guy ski still does nothing to peak their interest. I go to the Raleigh boat show every year and if I talk to a salesperson or attendee in any aspect of water sports and mention Slalom Skiing I may as well said I have not taken a bath in a month.

[UWSkier]

5 minutes ago, Slaloman said:

My perspective may be way off on a macro level, but locally for me it is pretty simple. I am 62 and every person I have talked to that tried skiing or used to ski (when young) now view slalom skiing for nutcases. They surf/wakeboard and can;t understand why anyone would want to go that fast or risk falling at a higher speed, etc. I can't get anyone who used to ski try it again and if they never have tried it they have no desire to. From kids to 50 year olds, I am sad to see this happen and even watching me, as an older guy ski still does nothing to peak their interest. I go to the Raleigh boat show every year and if I talk to a salesperson or attendee in any aspect of water sports and mention Slalom Skiing I may as well said I have not taken a bath in a month.

That might be a localized phenomenon I reckon.  I split my time between Arizona and Wisconsin and in both places I ski, slalom is alive and well.  6 years ago when I got to Arizona, there were maybe 2-3 boats on the public lake I go to that were slalom skiers.  That's at least doubled since.  It's a small crew, but they're still out there, including a couple newer Nautiques and ProStars.

In Wisconsin, both in the northwoods and in the southern lake country between Madison and Milwaukee, morning slalom is thriving.

I know this site is mostly focused on private lake crews turning buoys and shortening the rope, but there are thousands of us out there who ALSO or ONLY open water slalom, and my family has skiers as young as 10 and as old as 75 going out in the morning together.  In our Malibu.

[jcwaterskiparadise]

35 minutes ago, Dano said:

If Malibu steps out of the tournament boat scene. It's because the sport as a whole has failed.  It was once a thriving sport with a reasonable following in the 90's.  I can even remember a tournament being held on our local public lake once when I was a kid and there were even spectators on the shores, conditions were aweful but it still happened.  People were interested.  Since then it's completely died.  the market for rec skiers is null, the course skier crowd needs good water for which there is limited access.   organizing bodies are focused on tournament skiing only. Boats and gear being expensive is not what is holding the sport back.  People spend way more to surf.   What the sport needs is the the organizing bodies to put some effort into growing the sport at the younger ages, getting some ambassadors out there, promoting the sport and generating an interest in it again .  Skiing is growing in popularity again.  In my area there is a lot more skiers today than even 3 years ago.  A lot of those skiers are rec skiers enjoying free skiing. It's now always about running buoys.   The opportunity for the sport to thrive is there.  The 90's was a boom, the ad's were there, the exposure to the public was there, and skiers were there.  It's not like we have to reinvent the wheel. 

Bring back the enthusiasm and you will bring back boat sales. The price to me is not the issue.

Bring back the enthusiam and you will bring back boat sales. Probably, but price are an issue, sorry. New boats are out of budget for the middle class, period. Every year it's becoming more and more difficult to be part of the sport, no wonder why they sell so few boats...

[Ski_Dad]

I sure hope this is not true - i love the Malibu brand.

[teammalibu]

I guess I need to start thinking 

about a new Email and BOS handle to go along with my
Prostar!

[aupatking]

I’ve been saying it would be more surprising for this to NOT happen. I hate it. That TXI is a great ski boat but when you can sell a $250,000 boat or a $100,000 boat and the margin is better, getting your stockholders to believe in the smaller boat smaller margin is not going to happen. If surf is growing with $200,000+ boats, price is not our killer. Desire is. Skiing is hard. Hard to learn, hard to get good at. When people see me ski on public water they stop and comment that it is badass! And I’m only a 32 off skier. Surf is easy, can be done by any idiot with a beer in his hand, and honestly, is fun. I applaud HO for developing the Hovercraft to help make learning easy. More of that may bring some market pull back, but it’s a drop in the bucket. I do believe the more surf and wake boat bans we start seeing, the more these manufacturers are going to have to move back to ski boats. And barring an oncoming recession, people are not going to stop buying boats

[DvarianDan Johnson]

This should not be surprising. From an investor standpoint this is as simple as saying does it make sense to build ski boats that deliver X% ROI vs non ski boats that deliver 3-4X% ROI and on larger numbers. That Malibu was keeping minimal build slots for low return use is clearly telling that at some point it will end when investors question. With only 50 made – this was a given to occur.  No argument left either for keeping a presence in that market for the sake of other lines.  Speculation on big boats pulling back is just that , but it can also add support to this move by saying if we're making fewer widgets we need to make sure they all are producing the highest ROI .  

[buechsr]

1 hour ago, DvarianDan Johnson said:

This should not be surprising. From an investor standpoint this is as simple as saying does it make sense to build ski boats that deliver X% ROI vs non ski boats that deliver 3-4X% ROI and on larger numbers. That Malibu was keeping minimal build slots for low return use is clearly telling that at some point it will end when investors question. With only 50 made – this was a given to occur.  No argument left either for keeping a presence in that market for the sake of other lines.  Speculation on big boats pulling back is just that , but it can also add support to this move by saying if we're making fewer widgets we need to make sure they all are producing the highest ROI .  

That’s true, assuming that there was insufficient infrastructure to build both the TXI and  Vdrives.  I agree it makes a little sense to build a TXI instead of a Vdrive, but that wasn’t necessarily the case and appears to definitely not be the case going into 2024 given what the numbers appear to be for all manufacturers.  In other words, if Malibu can still make 30 grand on each TXI build, and the plant is far from capacity, why trim it when all of the R&D is done?  

[jcamp]

If all of the above is true (and I hope it is not), I just want to say thanks to Dennis Kelly. He worked his tail off keeping Malibu in the water ski game for as long as they were and has been a huge support of the sport, its athletes and events. Wishing him and his family the best. 

[chaloux]

That's rough news, if true, and it's a big if at this point. 

At the boat show in Toronto a couple weeks ago I almost pulled the trigger on a '23 Prostar that was owned by the McClintocks. I didn't in the end - 100k CAD financed over 20 years was $700/mo, AFTER a 50k deposit. Lol. But the rep said that there were 15 Prostars for NA. Is that right? The number seemed shockingly low, I figured 25 at least. Regardless, these kind of sales numbers are just way, way less than expected. And yes, any new boat is totally out of range for the middle class. My dad purchased a new Supra Comp in 93 for 25k outright, as a single income family, self employed electrician.  The divide between wage increases/stagnation and inflation have just not aligned at all. While I don't think that they price of boats is the entire picture, it has to be a part of it. 

[BKistler]

@Dano When I was executive director in the early ‘80s I feared this would happen. I tried to get the Board to focus on the recreational skier. I was roundly ignored. They would spend hours arguing about technical rules and could not have cared less about growing the base. 

[BKistler]

I was successful in building the administrative foundation for competitive barefooting. That resulted in the largest growth spurt the organized sport had seen. 

[Stevie Boy]

Yes off the wall but. I  can't get away from the feeling that the very people who provide ski boats are partially responsible for the decline, in waterskiing, promoting boats specifically designed for Wake Boarding, Wake Surfing, HUGE Party Boats if that's what you can call them.

Yes commercially viable and they are in the business of making money, but I  can't help feeling it hasn't helped our sport, waterski ing can be a hard discipline and takes time to achieve some level of competence, other activities can be achieved in a shorter time period.

Human nature to take the easy option.

Sad if we lose another Boat option, in saying that when a enquiry made on a Malibu the dealer said he did not want to sell to new customer, only to existing customers, because he did not want to deal with warranty  and simple issues created by new customers, basically he wanted to sell a boat but offer very little support.

I  will probably get thrown a few Pandas, but I  am OK with that,

What I have written is one man's opinion, right or wrong

 

[DW]

If new boat numbers in the range of 15 - 50 new boats per manufacturer across three manufacturers is even remotely accurate this sport is in a lot more trouble than people realize.  Thank goodness there are 3 event champions at the upper levels of these companies.

[unksskis]

Off topic, but the promo programs killed the dealers’ interest and relationships with water skiers, and then once the manufacturers trimmed or cut promo programs, the current arrangements and expectations are not sustainable. Governing bodies signing exclusive contracts don’t help either. 

[Horton]

@DW

Nautique built about 100  between the 200 and the Ski last year. MC built roughly double that.

[slow]

So 350 total. Not much of a market. $35 million  One NFL QB

[Slaloman]

19 hours ago, UWSkier said:

That might be a localized phenomenon I reckon.  I split my time between Arizona and Wisconsin and in both places I ski, slalom is alive and well.  6 years ago when I got to Arizona, there were maybe 2-3 boats on the public lake I go to that were slalom skiers.  That's at least doubled since.  It's a small crew, but they're still out there, including a couple newer Nautiques and ProStars.

In Wisconsin, both in the northwoods and in the southern lake country between Madison and Milwaukee, morning slalom is thriving.

I know this site is mostly focused on private lake crews turning buoys and shortening the rope, but there are thousands of us out there who ALSO or ONLY open water slalom, and my family has skiers as young as 10 and as old as 75 going out in the morning together.  In our Malibu.

Interesting, yes, I am exclusively open water now skiing now. I thought being here in NC, where I can ski 6 months, slalom skiing would take off but as stated not the case. Thanks for sharing it is alive and well where you go.

[Zman]

20 hours ago, jcwaterskiparadise said:

Bring back the enthusiam and you will bring back boat sales. Probably, but price are an issue, sorry. New boats are out of budget for the middle class, period. Every year it's becoming more and more difficult to be part of the sport, no wonder why they sell so few boats...

Agree. I agreed with @Dano except for the price part.  As a 'kid' a few years out of college, I was able to afford a new ski boat, costing in the lower teens in the early 80s.

Today, I suspect few people a few years out of college can afford a brand new ski boat costing 6 figures.

[Zman]

19 hours ago, Ski_Dad said:

I sure hope this is not true - i love the Malibu brand.

Ditto!  Maybe my 2016 Txi will soon be a classic.

[jpwhit]

26 minutes ago, Slaloman said:

Interesting, yes, I am exclusively open water now skiing now. I thought being here in NC, where I can ski 6 months, slalom skiing would take off but as stated not the case. Thanks for sharing it is alive and well where you go.

There are 2 ski clubs, Panther Lake, and Lake Magnolia, in addition to Coble Ski School all within 30 minutes of you. As well as a very thriving community of slalom skiers at both Kerr Lake and Lake Gaston. Just for kicks, I started writing down a list of people I know in the area that are active slalom skiers. I came up with about 50, without much trouble. If you're judging by how many people you see at lakes like Harris, Jordan, or Fall's lake, then I understand your view. But all those lakes are way too crowded, so the slalom skiing community mostly ignores them. 

If you want to get connected with more slalom enthusiast in the area, send me a PM. 

I'll be contrarian in this thread. I think slalom skiing is a niche sport now because there are so many other recreational options for people, but I don't believe its on it's death bed. I do agree that tournament skiing faces a lot of challenges. But I think that recreational slalom course skiing will continue, and I know way more people doing in now than 10 years ago. I've introduced and taught at least 10 under 25 folks in the last couple of years that are now passionate about course skiing. I think there is a big enough market that'll it be a viable business for someone to continue making ski boats well into the future. 

 

[Zman]

16 hours ago, jcamp said:

If all of the above is true (and I hope it is not), I just want to say thanks to Dennis Kelly. He worked his tail off keeping Malibu in the water ski game for as long as they were and has been a huge support of the sport, its athletes and events. Wishing him and his family the best. 

Absolutely! Many kudos to Dennis!  I currently own my 2nd promo Bu.  I am not a promo skier, but Dennis has always been great the few times I had questions or needed something for my Txi.

[Zman]

Maybe my experience is a localized one. But, in my limited tournaments over my 16 years of doing them {in my last year of M7) - if not for Boomers, I do not think any of those tournaments would have even happened.

Tournament TCs? Boomer. Most Judages? Boomers. Safety? Mostly Boomers. It goes on.  The bigger exception, maybe Boat Drivers, but still mostly Boomers.

Does this say something for where we are heading?

[jjackkrash]

21 minutes ago, Zman said:

Maybe my experience is a localized one. But, in my limited tournaments over my 16 years of doing them {in my last year of M7) - if not for Boomers, I do not think any of those tournaments would have even happened.

Tournament TCs? Boomer. Most Judages? Boomers. Safety? Mostly Boomers. It goes on.  The bigger exception, maybe Boat Drivers, but still mostly Boomers.

Does this say something for where we are heading?

The community has to get the kids taking tournament jobs and learning judging skills, etc.  We are putting an emphasis on it so the kids can run college tournaments when they leave the house.  I suspect my boy is going into engineering so he should be able the learn the technical side of the sport.  But it's always been and going to be a few people doing the work so others can enjoy the fun side of things.  

[KRoundy]

While we are all rightly concerned about our sport, I wonder if this issue is less about water skiing and more about the supply and demand of boats in general right now. Remember during the pandemic when everyone wanted RVs of ANY type? Now we have too many boats, campers, ATVs, etc sitting on dealer lots with no buyers. The manufactures of all RV equipment are struggling with demand right now. Dealer lots are FULL of brand new, 2023 build, equipment that nobody wants when interest rates are sky-high. I wonder what is going to fall out on the other side of this cycle for the entire RV industry?

[Horton]

@KRoundy

what you're describing is absolutely true. we've had cyclical ups and downs of supply chain, boat availability, stimulus money, inflation, and now interest rates.

We are at the point of cycle now where dealerships are absolutely loaded to the gills and interest rates are high and demand is down. The extra bad news is cost of manufacturing was up and demand was high when those dealerships purchased those boats at a newly inflated wholesale. 

remember about 2 years ago when there was almost no used ski boats available on ski-it-again and the prices people were getting was just bonkers inflated? it was an extreme seller's market.

This is absolutely not unique to ski boat or boats in general. Same thing is happening in RVs and similar market segments.

[stevezie]

I don't post here often but have followed the forum and have been an avid skier decades.  I dropped out of the tournament skiing scene shortly after college for several reasons.

I think the recreational skiing scene is still alive, but it's diverged significantly from the tournament scene.  From my perspective, the competitive skiing scene has shot itself in the foot over the last 15-20 years.  In the pursuit of perfection and the perfect pull, the group has continued to innovate and invest (speed control, boat design, lake design, etc) without enough for consideration for how it would impact the accessibility of the wider community.  These improvements have come at a significant cost, but the people making the decisions had the resources to afford them.  The low cost skier was effectively cut out in the pursuit of the perfect pull.  

For example, Zero Off was a huge improvement.  However, it's a design that could not be retrofitted to older boats like the previous generations of speed control.  In hind sight, was it wise for the sport to fully standardize on a speed control that literally could not be retrofitted onto older boats?  This was a big part of the divergence between rec skiing and tournament skiing.  It created a huge barrier for rec skiers with an older boat to go into tournament skiing and most just decided to leave tournament skiing behind.  Probably would have been smarter for the wider community to say "Zero Off is great but we aren't standardizing on something that cannot be retrofitted".  I'm sure the boat manufacturers were all happy to adopt it in their short sightedness.  However most companies favor immediate boost over long term stability.

Then there is the move private ski lakes.  In many cases, the people on these lakes want to host a tournament so they can set their scores on their home lake, but they really aren't that keen about having the "riff raff" come to their lake either.  As a public lake skier who tried to come from the outside, it was a relatively cold experience.  Basically got the feeling "you don't deserve to be skiing on my lake.  You're only here because I have to let you in to hold the event".  I'm sure others have had a different experience.  I believe the outcome likely depends mostly on your ability, rather than your character.  

Additional to this are the challenges of putting a course on a public lake.  It would be easier to get congress to agree on immigration than it would to get a permit for a permanent ski course approved in most states.  A significant, and passionate, contingent of the  community left the public lake scene for private lakes leaving the public skiers with less representation and power in numbers.  From my view, the tournament skiing crowd doesn't engage much in the affairs of public lake skiing.  

For us recreational skiers, for the most part we are just as happy using a boat decades old as we would be with the latest and greatest.  Everything the tournament ski crowd demands from their boat just doesn't materially change the rec skiing experience.  Combine that with astronomical prices and why would the average rec skier upgrade their boat?  

Decisions are being made by the select few in the pursuit of perfection without enough consideration for accessibility of the wider ski community.  All this creates a smaller and smaller market for new ski boats.  Obviously just my opinion.

[jhughes]

2 hours ago, Zman said:

Maybe my experience is a localized one. But, in my limited tournaments over my 16 years of doing them {in my last year of M7) - if not for Boomers, I do not think any of those tournaments would have even happened.

Tournament TCs? Boomer. Most Judages? Boomers. Safety? Mostly Boomers. It goes on.  The bigger exception, maybe Boat Drivers, but still mostly Boomers.

Does this say something for where we are heading?

Potentially its on thread but I do think about this as well and I think it's worth pondering. That generation feels like it has been the economic engine behind a lot of the sport, and was also the generation that dug all the lakes and really dove into the tournament thing. I do wonder who will be putting the big money and effort into the sport in the future.

[stevezie]

2 hours ago, Zman said:

Maybe my experience is a localized one. But, in my limited tournaments over my 16 years of doing them {in my last year of M7) - if not for Boomers, I do not think any of those tournaments would have even happened.

Tournament TCs? Boomer. Most Judages? Boomers. Safety? Mostly Boomers. It goes on.  The bigger exception, maybe Boat Drivers, but still mostly Boomers.

Does this say something for where we are heading?

“Ok, we can play together but I pick the game, we play on my court, we use my ball, and I get to make the rules….  I can’t believe no one wants to play with me.  What’s wrong with all of you.”

Please do not take this as a reference to you or to be about you. Just a generalization of the overall situation you have noted. 

[jcamp]

3 hours ago, KRoundy said:

While we are all rightly concerned about our sport, I wonder if this issue is less about water skiing and more about the supply and demand of boats in general right now. Remember during the pandemic when everyone wanted RVs of ANY type? Now we have too many boats, campers, ATVs, etc sitting on dealer lots with no buyers. The manufactures of all RV equipment are struggling with demand right now. Dealer lots are FULL of brand new, 2023 build, equipment that nobody wants when interest rates are sky-high. I wonder what is going to fall out on the other side of this cycle for the entire RV industry?

A good friend of mine is the global president of a major sporting goods (non-watersports) brand that everyone on this forum would recognize. The years of 2020-2021-ish were the best years they've had in decades. Now they are trying to figure out if/how they can survive. 

[Ham_Wallace]

Dennis Kelley put more love and effort into not only Malibu but skiing itself.  He genuinely loves the sport and has invested decades helping boats be perfect. He has always gone above the call of duty to assure that there were 9 boats at the Nationals, 5 boats at the regionals, and if any LOC wanted a boat for a tournament, it was available. for the event. I don't understand the mindset of Malibu.  No one else can do what Dennis can and has done.

   Our sport is dying. The membership decreases as the rule book gets bigger. People don't want competition! They want scores and are scared of single round tournaments. I miss the old formats and the people that I have met and skied against for the past 58 years.  I still love this sport! I always will. 

[Dano]

The tournament scene is one that I myself really enjoy.  The competition, the friendship, the opportunity to ski at different sites, the whole experience has been really fun.  Having said that, I think tournament skiers are a very small percentage of of skiers.  there is more to the sport than just tournaments and it's around those non tournament skiers that you need to create the buzz and excitement.  Not everybody plays pro baseball but there is a lot of baseball fans out there that watch baseball or play baseball without being on an organized team.  What I'm saying is that if you want to invigorate the sport you have to appeal to the masses.  In our sports case, we no longer have masses of skiers to market to, so we now have to search people out as if it's a new sport and introduce people to it again.  Market the sport at the entry level, have youth camps at local lakes, advertisements showing people having a blast throwing big spray while there friends cheer them on.  More videos and coverage of the college tournaments, from what i've seen they know how to have fun at a lake.  I remember seeing the juicy fruit commercials with skiers, throwing big spray, the party on the shore.  Everybody in those commercials was seemingly having the time of their lives. It looked like fun, and I wanted to be a part of it. I even bought an Connelly F44 craze when I was like 14 years old because I thought it had some cool graphics and the catalogue said "lean on the tale and throw a big spray" .  Just take my money once i read that.

[skierjp]

Everyone gets caught up in the price of a NEW boat. I can remember when we thought the world was coming to an end when the price hit 50K. Remember when Goode came out with the first slalom ski that sold for $1000.00? We are now at $2,500. Ski gloves can cost $100! Somehow, someway boating enthusiasts seem to have no problem dropping 350k to 500k for wake boats. When I was at the Ford dealership having my truck serviced the going price for a loaded F250 diesel is 94k and there was a 5K bump on top of that. Back in the day there were skiers that couldn’t afford a brand new boat no different  than now. The buyers that have to have the first year model change or can afford to buy a new boat every year or two are the ones that create the domino effect on the used boat market to make it feasible for others. Trying to put everything in perspective, rent is ridiculous and who would have ever thought that   when buying a house you would bid up from the asking price not down. 
    I think a big reason for the lack of sales for three event boats stems from private lakes where one ski boat may be shared by 20 or  30 homeowners. Also ski clubs and ski schools where you pay a membership, way cheaper than owning a boat! Also what one of the other posters stated, try permitting a course or jump on a public lake. If you do happen to get a permit upkeep on the course is ridiculous. 
   Also, on public lakes you deal with jet skis and wave runners. Good luck trying to get a set in! Kind of crazy but I would like to see a graph of when the jet skis became popular and the downturn of skiing.