Porkfight

Along the same lines as what @Jody_Seal said above:

I've never been to a tournament, even as a spectator, so these may seem like dumb questions, but here goes...

1. Why does a brand new $60-80,000 promo boat need to be present to pull an event?

2. Would a 10-15 year old boat not work or is it because everyone is accustomed to ZO boats?

3. If everyone is skiing behind the same 2001 or whatever Ski Nautique with PP, is it not just as fair as if they were behind a 2014 Prostar with ZO?

4. Do boat manufacturers and speed control companies front most of the money to put these events on?

5. Who will be the first put $$$ into a cable tow system on their ski lake instead of buying a new boat?

Pardon my ignorance as I am new to this aspect of waterskiing, but these are the questions someone on the outside might have.

Tradition may need to relax a bit if we want to grow the sport or at least bring some visibility to it. Maybe "tricking" becomes wakeboarding at some events. Maybe the first ski lake with a cable system charges $25/hr and has to start taking reservations to keep it from getting too crowded. Maybe we come up with some new events in addition to slalom, jumping, and tricking.

I understand that we can't alienate the companies who are bringing us technology to advance the sport, but it seems that as the cost of boats and equipment increases, participation and number of tournaments decreases. The strict adherence to the old, old, old 3-event setup is hindering the sport as well and keeping it locked down into small communities of people who live on narrow 2,000 ft long lakes. Most people outside of these communities (who haven't found BoS) have no idea that tournaments exist, and that they could practice, develop skills, and eventually compete if there were places to do so. That might be exactly what many people actually want, but the sport will die if it can't adapt.

@gator1 said

I'm going to make a big protractor, lay it on the motor box, and video the rope's position as Tim runs 22 up to 38. ZO beep will give me guide ball locations, and I'm going to assume the boat's speed is close enough to 34 mph that it doesn't matter, or at least consistent in its speed variations.

When I posted that angle chart the other day, I was looking into Flag Slalom, which is based entirely off of rope angles. This protractor comes with their flag system.

http://www.propellergraphics.com/flagslalom/images/visual%201.jpg

My apologies for posting that misleading chart from another forum.

Someone mentioned wanting an aerial view and I thought that chart illustrated how the degree of difficulty rises as the rope shortens. Honestly, I didn't really look at the numbers.

@Horton, it could very well be wrong. He has the buoy out at less than 38' from center at the top of the diagram, making what he said about the handle confusing. It does look like he factored in skier reach, if we ignore his commentary.

http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/showthread.php?t=26126&page=2

Speaking of overhead views...

While searching for flag slalom info earlier today, I found this image created by a smart person on the Mastercraft forums. It demonstrates the angles needed for the handle to reach the buoys at varying line lengths.

I rode a 20+ yr old '67 Jobe Open Class until the front binding fell apart mid-carve two years ago. The '13 Radar Senate-C I bought to replace it feels much more aggressive. Lyric, Triumph, or equivalent non-carbon fiber skis from other companies would be a great replacement. Something a little wide would probably be most fun and still turn as well as or better than that old Jobe.

My friend has an '06 or so Connelly F1X that feels very similar to my old Jobe in recreational open water conditions.

I'm a FF with LA County. Any line of duty death is a big deal for us. We lost one of our own just over a week ago to an off-duty incident so we've been a bit more focused on him. He was a good guy and an avid swerver. The families and friends of our brothers in Boston are in our thoughts and prayers.

Our flags are currently at half staff for the victims af the recent Ft. Hood shootings. There is far too much tragedy in the news right now.

Mead doesn't allow permanent courses, but temporary courses are allowed if taken down at the end of the day. There is more detailed info on that in the official regulations.

I got to Lake Mead the day the government shut down.

Nope. Her work schedule is like mine...days off during the week. Finding soneone to go with us is the hard part.

You could say my friends cheat on their wives with us.

I'm Zac, 35 years old, 5'10 165lbs. I live in Southern California and am a firefighter for a large department.

I run marathons, half marathons, mud runs, zombie runs, etc. and do lots of desert and trail motorcycle riding fall through spring.

I've never seen a private ski lake in person and I've never been on a slalom course, but I learned to ski when I was in 4th or 5th grade, skied on open water 3-4 times each summer until I was about 20, then skied my ass off this summer after buying my first new ski in probably 20 years.

I just got back from Henderson NV, where I sat around the pool for four days because the government closed Lake Mead the day we arrived. Is there anything better than four straight days of mid-week skiing on a beautiful glassy desert lake that you have all to yourself with your best friends? Not according to me. Thankfully I didn't pull the trigger on a portable slalom course this year.

Hurry up, Spring.

Beautiful lake!

Realistically, this is what skiing is to me, my family, and my ski buddies. The only buoy I rounded this year said "No Wake" on it.

My favorite trips have been late season house boating excursions to big lakes like Powell and Mead, where we take a boat load of people out and everybody gets a 10-15 minute set on whatever board, ski, or skis are on the boat.

I got pretty frustrated on my Senate-C during my last day trip to Elsinore as the water started getting a bit choppy, so I switched to our new Freeride which I hadn't ridden since June. The imaginary buoys disappeared and it ended up being the most fun I'd had on the water all summer.

Some coworkers and I are going to Lake Mead in a few weeks and we were hoping to get a portable course before then. We are pretty competitive and none have skied a course yet, so it will be ridiculous fun if we can make it happen.