Porkfight

Anyone know when we may see the new boat in the lineup on Mastercraft's website? I'm looking forward to "building" it in various color schemes and presenting the images to my better half for approval and shared stoke.

Good to see Tony Klarich here on BOS.

This makes me want to reproduce. That's a great little collage!

I was 10 or 11 the first time I got up on some ancient wooden combos behind my dad's '79 closed bow semi-v with a Mercury 200 V6 on the back. This was a house boating trip to Lake Mead. First, I got up on the homebrew barefoot boom on two, then behind the boat on two, then back to the boom for the single ski, then back behind the boat on the single. That took place in the span of about a half hour, and that was the last time I skied on combos. We never had acces to private lakes or courses. All I knew was that my dad could launch a massive wall of water into the air and I thought that looked cool. For about 10 years, that's what slalom was to me. We would do 3-4 lake/river trips throughout each summer until the boat fell into a state of disrepair and my sister and I started college. Roughly 10 more years went by before I strapped on my dad's early '80s Jobe Open Class and realized how fun skiing was. My dad gave me the "boat" and I had to spend the last 2 years restoring it before it was usable and presentable again. I finished it this year and bought two 2013 model year skis after finding this site and reading for endless hours. So here I am now, addicted to BoS, trying things I read about here roughly once a week on the open water at Lake Elsinore behind the same 70 mph outboard I learned to ski behind 25 years ago or my buddy's Yamaha AR230, neither of which is allowed on Elsinore's slalom course. For the first time in my life, I want a direct drive ski boat so I can ski a course at will. Maybe this summer is when I decided I want to be a skier.

My old ski equipment is the only other ski I've ever had, so I still have it. It's a great starter ski for friends' kids when they come along.

55-60 minutes from driveway to launch ramp at towing speeds, but closer to 90 minutes from launch ramp to driveway. I stay away from the lake on weekends. Traffic on the way home is the price of having nice water until 1-2 pm.

Totally agree as well. Marcus is really good at tapping the more ethereal side of skiing. Sure, he can spit numbers and stats, but he's also making this boat appeal to someone like me, who's never been on a course but appreciates ingenuity, creativity, and machines built with enough passion to incorporate unseen levels of both. The man sold me a Freeride this year too. He couldn't hide his passion for his recent projects if he tried.

I had the basic ingredients for @itch2ski's formula so I mixed up a batch and took it with me to the lake yesterday. Good stuff! It knocked down the baked-on water spots nicely and I will definitely keep a spray bottle full of this stuff with me whenever we head to the lake.

@crashman, amen! I bought a new HO Freeride this year and my girlfriend, who's been wake boarding for at least seven years, can never wait until we take the boat out again to go "skiing." Success.

It's an interesting year to get back into it if you've been away for a decade. I'm happy to see so much momentum in both the sport and recreational aspects. It's also nice being one of only five or six boats on the whole Parker strip of the Colorado River at sunrise. 20 years ago it used to be a race to the early glass. Apparently, wakeboarders and PWCers sleep in.

Maybe... when it's 10 years old.

Shorts and a vest in lower elevations here in SoCal for another month or so, but I want to pick up a UV blocking long-sleeve rash guard this week to use for the rest of the season. I don't much care for skin cancer.

@ejj, I bought a '13 HO Freeride earlier this year and just got a '13 Senate-C, which I will use for the first time on Thursday. I bought them for different purposes but I should be able to compare the two directly soon if you're interested. It'll be open water skiing and I've already removed the wing from the Senate's fin.

I've yet to round a buoy, so 18+ in the course of a year seems reasonably attainable, provided I actually ski on a course.

@MS, it was from an old rathergood.com skit. I thought it was random and funny at the time and have been using it for various things throughout the years.

The wake does look impressive according to the above Instagram video.

I just called, actually. It's only $40 per day but it's restricted to tournament style inboards. Cursed I/O sanger!

@jimbrake - There is. I was at Elsinore on Monday, actually, and looked into it. The whole inlet channel can be rented through California Skier but it seems geared towards events and such, according to the website. They don't list pricing. I need to call them. It would be great if they had an hourly rate or something.

@jimbrake, everyone I ski with, including myself, is a @jalama-like skier. We've never been on a course, and would probably be humbled on our first attempt, but a portable course might be in our future for Lake Mead or Powell trips. At least it will if I have anything to do with it! My friends aren't quite as serious about it as I am. Oddly, my girlfriend's dad has an`88 Sanger TX, It's the only "ski boat" I've ever been behind, but that thing only comes out one week per year to the Parker strip. Compared to my buddy's Yamaha AR230 full of kids, the Sanger has a glorious wake. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of a`67 Senate-C on my doorstep this afternoon.

@Wish, thank you for posting this! My occupation puts me outdoors quite a bit so staying out of the path of UV rays on my days off is a priority.

I'm in the same boat. I must have read every word ever typed about the same skis you named. The Superlite seems a touch more agrgessive than the Senate-C, with the latter being a bit more stable, cheaper, and... ::cough::coolerlooking::cough:: Excuse me. I found a twice ridden`13 Senate-C on Ski-it-again.com and jumped on it. I hope to ride it in the next couple of weeks.

I have a '13 HO Freeride. It's a lot of fun on open water but doesn't make the biggest, cleanest wall of water, if that's what you're looking for. The rails on it send more water out than up. The HO Triumph would also be fun. Radar P6 and Theory are great too, with the P6 being a little wider and less aggressive.