BrennanKMN

Not to be pedantic, but the question wasn't 'will 43 be run soon', it was 'can 43 be run'. Over the next 100+ years of the sport, I bet some progress will be made... All things considered, 10 years is a pretty short time.

If 2.5 has been run, I am sure the rest can be run. That tells me it is physically possible, regarding everything else, I assume it is just a matter of time. It is a frequency thing in my mind. The more times through 41 the more looks at 43. As more and more people get further and further down 41, we'll see more and more progress on 43. There are very few skiers that are getting 'regular;' looks at 43. There are a lot of skiers that are getting 'regular' looks at 41.

Just a few thoughts. 1. If you can pick up your anchors, they're probably not big enough or designed for the bottom surface. 2. If the PCV buoy arms are already bowed, you might need to replace them. Regardless, the current will bow them, so see #3. 3. Add river adapters. They will connect the end of the turn ball arm back to the mainline to ensure everything stays square with the force of the current trying to move the turn ball down river. 4. Is the course straight from a boat guide lane perspective? If you are not straight down that, the turn balls will never be square. Getting the mainline tight and straight is step one before anything turn ball can be addressed. There are others here that are more experienced with courses in rivers, but it is an art. As you tweak and maintain the course over the years you will learn what works and what doesn't work. I used to mess with mine 3-4 times a year trying to keep it nice, now I have it setup where I don't do anything for multiple years. Sounds like you have yours in a pretty difficult situation. Might be best to pull everything but the anchors each fall.

@unksskis You cannot 'watch it just the same'. You need a computer web browser, not a Roku, AppleTV or other Smart TV. I cannot sit on my sofa and click the remote to turn it on...

@ScottScott Couldn't agree more. The reason I don't watch is because it is not available on YouTube or some other app based streaming service. I often watch TWBC coverage of events on TVs around the house as a 'background' thing. It is also a great way to share it to less dedicated skiers to check out and get them to see some impressive skiing. You can't easily share the Maters webcast via text.

Unfortunately, in some areas that is the only way to get access to a course. In that case - limited supply drives prices up. Thankfully I am in an area were I have access to several lakes with courses, even if they're public. Hard to justify that price premium for private water. Frankly, with what I have access to in MN, I don't think I'd pay more than $1,500 a year for private water, not to even think of a per-set fee. I don't care about the newer boat either, that is just paying for something I don't need/want honestly.

SIA66773 Sharp looking boat!

I always wonder what each person's definition of slalom is? Any type of waterskiing? Skiing on a single ski? Skiing a course? Skiing in tournaments? Which is it? Personally, I know 20-25 people that use my course on public water. Not one of them skis in tournaments, and none of them have any interest in it either. We all enjoy skiing the course and chatting at 7am on a Saturday or 5pm Wednesday night and all being on our way 2 hours later. I will agree that recreational slalom is in decline, but that is factors outside of the skiing communities control. Wake boats, social media, and peers all drive what is cool and popular and skiing is not on that list at the moment. Cost isn't a problem, access isn't either. There are plenty of people surfing and wake boarding on more expensive boats all day. The "issue" is they simply don't want to.

I believe it is a fine line in practice. You don't want to reenforce bad habits (or hurt yourself) by trying to constantly squeak out one more ball. Personally, I start my practice sets as if they were a tournament. Ski up the line to my limit. Generally I will 'go for it' for that one last pass. After that I calm back down and focus on consistency and repetition. If I skied all my hardest practice runs scrappy, I'd form scrappy habits. I'd rather miss passes and build up proper technique than try and make 'one more ball' and screw my long term development. In my anecdotal evidence, the more I drill in a pass, the more I am able to get away with when things go sideways. I don't think one can practice true recovery, I believe it is something that just happens. Furthermore, it is something that is more likely to happen successfully on a pass you're seeing frequently.

The water and air are cold in the early and late season in MN. By the time the boat is off the trailer, idled over to the course and the skier is ready it is usually warm enough. I watch it, but not super carefully. We are slower in the cold anyway, takes me awhile to warm up at 40* too! If it was driven like a car I wouldn't care, but I don't drive my car from 600 to 3400RPM. I have a nice 1700RPM neighborhood run to get heat into the oil and circulate things around before hitting the highway or other heavy acceleration.

I never warn it, it would be a good habit to develop. Especially when skiing without a second person in the boat. Both my ski partner and I are similar in that we move the seat quite far forward when actually driving/towing a skier. It would be very difficult to get knocked out of the seat, but certainly not impossible.

As long as it is priced accordingly, has good documentation to backup the parts and work, and has an explanation as to why it was needed I'd consider it. However, I would probably try to find a non-rebuilt one first. Most of the rebuilt boats I have seen had sub 500 hours on them and are 20+ years old. I would generally assume it was a winterization failure from an inexperienced owner on a boat that didn't get much use to begin with.

I can get one after the boats is out of winter storage. It is pretty simple. Just an inline T with a female hose fitting on the T and a ball valve to isolate when not in use. I do have a Nautique that has a ball valve on the thru-hull intake from the factory. When sucking from a bucket I close that. If I was using a garden hose directly I'd probably close it some but keep it cracked to allow excess pressure out. I prefer the bucket method as it never applies too much pressure to the intake and you can easily verify the impeller is working as it has to suck the water out of the bucket. If I was in brackish water needing to flush all the time I'd probably reevaluate. I only use it twice a year.

Makes me think of an old local companies ad slogan (2nd Wind Exercise in MN). "Why buy new when slightly used will do". Unless you're a top level skier (into -39 frequently), once you have a boat with ZO anything else is diminishing returns in my opinion. I'm sure money isn't a concern to some, but that extra $50K+ isn't going to knock more than 1-2 balls off my score at best. $50K buys a lot of coaching, gas, skis, courses, lake access...

Personally I installed a T in the intake line and a ball valve. Connected a hose or connect a short hose a bucket to winterize.

I sure miss my Ramlin. That was the most overbuilt trailer I have ever had.

I'd think around 17k-19k with PP Stargazer.

I have done 7 behind and 2 in before on my old 1997 SN. It was sure riding low heading out to the deeper water with 9 adults and skis on board! The hardest part is finding enough people and trying to keep the ropes untangled!

The lake I have the course at has a median ice out date of April 10th. Something tells me that isn't happening this year. 28 days away and no real warm days in the 15 day forecast. I generally consider it a win if I can ski on or before Easter. We'll see what happens...

I have a few different Nautique logos in both raster and vector format. What are you looking for specifically?

Honestly, if I were you I wouldn't consider a DD. Too many downsides for the casual skier with a family. Get a Vdrive if you can afford it. If it is a true family boat that you want to spend the day on cruising around, going to sand bars, tubing with the kids, a DD will disappoint in every single category other than skiing. A Vdrive will be great in every single category (save budget) and a I/O will be great at everything other than skiing. You're on a website with the hardest of the hard core. We often suggest nothing but the purest ski boat. Try and buy what works best for YOU and your family. If skiing is the priority over everything else, then a DD is great. If you value other aspects of boating, I'd consider an alternative.

I try to do everything myself save for fiberglass. Haven't had a job too big yet thankfully. The few times I've used a 3rd party on both boats and vehicles in the past I have been let down with the results. I'd rather learn and do it myself than pay someone else to do a subpar job. Not to mention just convenience; I can winterize in 60 minutes, taking it to someone else and dealing with all that is more time wasted.

For the few drivers I have brought into the sport here is my path. 1. Have the driver ski. Someone who knows what the line feels like before pull up, not driving straight, distracted, handle pulling at drop all make a huge improvement. A lot of that stuff is 100% easier if you've experienced it first hand. 2. Be sure they are comfortable maneuvering around the course (and in general) slowly, as if to replace a hit ball. If they can't reliably drive slowly how can they retrieve you when you fall and get hurt? Inboards are unique in slow moving situations. 3. Can they pull a skier correctly on a long free ski, if not fix this first. 4. Our lake has a tight turn in and turn out at each end. I have all new drivers do several simulation runs before ever pulling a skier just to get the feel. Same for islands. This also teaches them to be conscious of where the wake/rollers go during drops. 5. Repetition. Lots of 22-32 off easy passes. Don't be the skier who tries to train a new driver by attempting to yank the boat around at your hardest pass. When I get to my harder lines I am not as smooth and fluid as I'd like. I'm doing a disservice to a new driver by being an inconsistent skier when they're first learning. After a bunch of 28's I'd have my other driver take over for my 32/35 runs and the trainee watched at first. 6. More practice. Time in the course. Time with different skiers. Did I mention time. Like every other aspect of this sport, you're not going to improve quickly skiing 1 set a week.

I prefer to use VLC. It allows some really handy features like reviewing in slow motion, zooming in, frame by frame, etc. Plus it is free. It can be a little confusing to navigate, but it is so popular there are lots of great resources a Google search away.

I think Bruce is referring to the 3 treads you made, 1 for raising speed, and 2 threads for lowering the speed.