MillerTime38

PP stargazer, enter crew weight and enter speed and forget it. When I was skiing tons of tournaments 2-3 years ago my tourney average was 106 buoys (58k) and podiumed twice at nationals. It works great for this tournament skier

@RazorRoss3 no one said make the rules more "lax". So all the tournaments pre-ZO were lax? So you and I both run 35 off and both times are 16.08 since you ran it behind a boat that cost 40,000 more than the boat I skied behind your score is better and my score is more lax? Sounds like an elitist

@Horton I do not think it is as slippery of a slope as you are stating. Why does everyone think that if PP is used at tournaments all the times will be on the low side of tolerance? It has been a while, but it seemed like a lot of boat times were on the hotter side of tolerance because drivers took pride in being able to get actual times and not being "that guy" that drove on the low side of tolerance.

@Horton I will find out next year what 55K is like and have heard people say that it is a different animal when making the jump between PP and ZO. Agreed that times will have more variance with PP, but lets remember we are talking about class C tournaments here. Not Records or Regionals or Nationals. If a driver cannot get the times close to actual than get another driver in the seat. If someone wants to go ski only class C tourneys with PP because they feel they can inflate their average on the rankings list, I say go for it who really cares. If it helps get more people skiing tournaments and participating than that is the goal, right?

@RazorRoss3 and @Razorskier1 how many more people would host tournaments if they did not have to find a promo boat or a boat that fit into the AWSA requirements? The over regulating from AWSA is what kills the sport. More tournaments = more opportunities to attract new blood into the sport. Why does everyone think ZO is so much more difficult than PP? I have trained behind perfect pass for 10 years and been ranked in the top 15 in M2 a lot of those years and even got on the podium at nationals a couple times. My practice PB with PP is 1/2 buoy better than my tournament PB with ZO and I have WAY more sets behind PP

@RazorRoss3 I guess I don't understand why you would not want the scores to count toward the rankings list. The purpose of allowing PP to pull a class C tournament would be to improve participation at tournaments and get more people attending tournaments which would help grow the sport. the mindset of "It has to be ZO pulling tournaments" is the same mindset that has made this sport exclusive as opposed to inclusive. Could some drivers "cheat" and pull boat times on the slow end of tolerance, sure, but I have also ridden in the boat during a tournament where the driver does not fully engage ZO and ZO chirps the whole way down the lake letting the driver know it needs more throttle. Is this considered cheating? Or what about drivers that will give their buddy a little weave?

@ntx yeah go figure there is a drought in TX until I drive there to get a boat and then it rains for two days. Thanks to @teammalibu for letting me crash at his place and ski a couple sets. We ended up stopping by Warners on the way back east and catching a few rides as well Boat is running great but the skier could use some more practice

@horton I agree everyone should go ski one tournament every year. But don't go ski the tourney for a score, go ski one just to meet all the great people and have fun.

There is definitely something special about running that line length you have been practicing all month on in a tournament to validate all that hard work that went into it. But to say that practice scores don't count I disagree with. I spent 5 years skiing every tournament I could find within reasonable distance (10 a year then regs and nats) and it was a blast. I had access to private water, a lot of good skiers that took the time and patience to help me, and a understanding wife. Now I find myself back on public water spending a lot of time skiing open water with my wife and @mjump family waiting for the Wally's and wind to cooperate. When things do go our way and I get into the course, yes that counts because I guatentee you I can show up on a private lake with perfect conditions and duplicate my performance. (And probably getting the weave if it's not a record). I will still try to ski a couple tournaments a year and go to nationals when they are in FL I would agree with a score does not count unless you run it at nationals because that's when the real pressure is on.....

@Kelvin Absolutely just let me know what days and we can make it happen

@Orlando76 Probably 1 hour and 30 minutes. Use the below.. Absolutely skiing Thanksgiving weekend if the weather cooperates Ocean Pond Campground, US Hwy 90, Sanderson, FL 32087

Just a simple "Thank you" When my wife is driving "Wow you are the best driver ever, lets try it again"

We are getting there, working on putting in a second course. Anyone have a portable course they want to donate or give me a brother in law deal?

@bigtex2011 sounds like you are hitting the Cheetos a little much. I would imagine you would still run your normal 2@38 :D

If you are in the ideal body position at the buoy, yes the turn will take care of itself but the challenge is being in the right body position. This means HIPS UP centered over the ski at the buoy. If you are trying to "ski back to the handle" and your hips are lagging behind it is nearly impossible and you will have to "grab" for the handle. @cragginshred the reason why you are getting "lifted" out of your stack (I would imagine) is because your hips are behind you at the apex of the turn and then you have to make a power move on the back side of the buoy to drive your hips up and as we all know you will never over power a 350 hp boat

For Class C tournaments I think you should be able to use any tournament boat that has cruise control and adjust the tolerance closer to actual. For records they should allow any boat that has the current speed control to pull the event. This may help attract more skiers to class C events that currently ski behind perfect pass and will put less burden on the host to bring in "approved" boats to pull tournaments.

I really focus on not bending my arms and keeping the handle low. A lot of people hear "control the handle" and think they need to "pull" the handle in. As my uncle used to say "Pulling is something you do in a warm shower". If I can keep the handle low and keep my arms straight I get more width and stay more balanced over my ski through the turn.

@Jdarwin going to try out an ARC, are you running #'s similar to the older D3's? I noticed depth on some posts 2.45, I have always been more like 2.515 to 2.52

@OB1 come down to Jacksonville and ski with @mjump and I on some public water. Ocean Pond in Osceola national park. If we can get in the course we do, if not there is always a long shore line to get in some turns. At least it's a good workout and the beer tastes good after

@OB could not disagree more. Not only does the club deserve the extra money for doing all the work to host an event you can just show up and ski at then bail....every lake skis different and if people spend all that money to travel [including airfare] they deserve a chance to get 4 passes to get a feel for the water. The more people like you the merrier in my opinion, makes it easier for me to get in practice rides :)

@eleeski Flip flops and socks?

@skidawg you would be surprised what you will do when there is no buoys to turn...... On a side note, I have been skiing public water the last 2 months thanks to @mjump and I have been really surprised how much it has helped me in the course. To put into context when I skied private water for 7 years I was running deep 38 and on a rare occasion get into 39 and I took nearly a year off after relocating to Jacksonville. Honestly I was a ski snob. A few weeks ago we got in the course and I scrapped through a 32, due to wind and rain we had almost two weeks of open water skiing and next time in the course I am crushing 32 again and knocking on the door @ 35 (58K).. I think the key to open water skiing is intensity and don't stop turning after 6 turns. We find some calm water and I start at 28 off and make as many turns until I get tired usually around 16 - 20 then drop shorten to 32 make 12-15 turns and then drop shorten to 35 and usually get 8-10 turns. Once in a while shorten to 38 and just try to put together a couple smooth turns. I am excited about waterskiing again and that's all that really matters

@mark_Matis things have changed. In my experience last 7-8 years with M2 I would say 40% of qualified skiers attended

In-tow does make a great product but that's because she learned from the best. Formerly known as Rainbow ski lines #whitey

@MS people fish in Minnesota not waterski