BrennanKMN

Just wait until the boats with touchscreen fully integrated helm controls go belly up. There are going to be a lot of junk boats in 15-20 years when things fail and replacements are unavailable. You can't simply wire in a new switch anymore. The CANbus messaging could be reverse engineered, but there is not money in this market like there is in automobiles so it'll never happen.

I haven't driven a SurePath equipped boat yet. I'd like to, and I agree that it is likely a fantastic training tool. What concerns me is that it might become the next 'ZeroOff' where people are unwilling to train/ski/buy a boat/talk to people without it. I cannot think of many other sports where you can't compete with older gear. Sure you might be at a disadvantage, but it's your choice. Our sport is a little different as it is half community gear and half personal gear. I don't know how to deal with that in cases like this. Those that live and breathe water skiing will do anything to maintain that edge, and that is fair. What sucks is the dedicated amateur skiers get screwed in the process. Those at the top win, those at the bottom don't care and those in the middle get stuck in a hard place. I love seeing the advancement, but sometimes it hurts when that advancement basically requires a large investment maintain any kind of similarity. Or you have to wait it out until 3rd parties try and duplicate it, if they can. Our sport is so small and so niche there are rarely any 3rd parties. According to the 2022 BOS survey 57% of readers spend less than $5,000 a year on skiing. A SurePath system is 50% of that budget alone, not even including the reoccurring costs for 2 SIM cards.

For my lake, we have a short setup that requires a 60-70* turn into the 55's. PP couldn't adjust fast enough so we always got horrible times for the first 1-3 balls. ZO solved that problem instantly. My skiing improved a ton just due the consistency and accuracy that we achieved. If I had a long straight setup into the course that allowed PP to settle out I may have not changed boats, but as someone who doesn't really care about tournaments ZO was one of the best things I have done to improve my skiing. However, my use case is a little different than most. That doesn't even touch on the driver ability. ZO is brainless. Floor the boat once up and forget about it. PP requires a little more finesse and training to get decent times.

The problem is the ECU. You need to have an eControls ECU to work with ZO and you're not going to get an eControls ECU to work on your GT-40 unfortunately. A engine re-power is basically the only option.

Sunk the course last weekend. Was hoping to hold out for another week or two, but nights in the 20's and 15-20 MPH winds for the next month ruined that thought.

Time on the water and professional coaching. (I picked two things...) I gained 6 buoys on my average the year I was able to ski 10-12 sets a week. Now I am lucky to get 2-4 sets a week in. I am also reaching the point where I need more help than I can provide myself. I was able to coach my self through 32 and mid 35, but deep 35 and 38 are proving difficult to master alone. I am eagerly awaiting the GiveGo website updates that allow coaching without an iOS device.

I fill my floating course turn ball buoys with a little water like stated above. Even easier than a garden sprayer is a small hand held basketball pump in a 5 gallon bucket of water. If you submerge the basketball pump in water when pumping it pumps water. Personally, any other means like weights, bungies and what not is just more crap to maintain on a public floating course. It works great on private water, but on public water simplicity is best in my opinion. I use 1/4 poly rope in 5 foot sections with spliced eyes attached to the PVC and the ball with a single zip tie for a buoy leader. Easy to break away, but not a pain to replace. I found bungy line to only last a year or so in a full time water environment. Never once had an issue with my steel mainline or PVC breaking before the rope or zip tie. I use 4 foot sections of 2" PCV capped with air and hose clamped half way out the turn balls pipes for a sub float. Keeps the arms level. I have not had an issue if a ball is lost either, the PVC section just floats down. It can easily be retrieved from the boat guides, walked out and turn ball replaced. Each year when I see the 4-5 other boats that ski my course I hand out replacement buoy lines I have made up and they all carry a few extra balls and zip ties. This year we've replaced 2 balls and 1 ball leader rope. In the winter we just cut the zip ties at each ball and sink the course and buoy leaders for the winter. In the spring I have a rebar grappling hook we drag perpendicular to the course and use that to pull it up. Walk down the mainline and attach buoys as we go. Typically about a 1 hour process.

Not really related to the question, but another aspect is building the sport and access. I know 3 or 4 guys who use the course I run that wouldn't ski a course otherwise. I also know of a few skiers who have become course skiers simply because they had access and exposure to a course. A submersible course is fine and dandy, but it is really limited to only user. Yeah, I replace a few balls a year, but for me that is well worth it. It is a great feeling knowing the course I maintain is something that helps other skiers even when I am not there. Not to mention I have made several friends meeting at the course. When you show up and see another boat skiing, 9 times out of 10 you make a new friend.

@Johnseed Did you go talk to the fisherman nicely? I run a floating course on a public lake and probably 4-5 times out of 10 there is a fisherman or boat in the skiing path. I idle over and chat with them and let them know what the course is for and that I'd like to use it if they don't mind. Most people have no clue what it is and just explaining what we're going to do makes a big difference. Maybe 1 person every year or so is cranky and won't move. I have asked probably 30 people if we could have them move to ski this year and not one said no. Most were super polite and nice. If I had to sit and wait for other boats I'd never ski.

Hard to justify a $150k boat when a $30k used boat does the same thing. (Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Not the same as what you see in tournaments...) I'd enjoy a new boat and I'd enjoy supporting those that support the sport, but it is well out of my price range. Not to mention that I likely never will be willing to spend that kind of money on a depreciating asset. Anything with ZO is fine by me...

The digital image stabilization improved greatly in the Hero10 or newer. The 9 wasn't bad as well. If you're comparing it to anything older than a Hero9 that doesn't have the newer image stabilization or zoom, I would recommend the upgrade. I have mine setup with the GoPro Labs firmware, GPS auto record, custom date/time based file naming, auto power on/off and the 1.3x zoom. I record in 1440 or 4k as well, so I can also digitally zoom in later if needed - although I have yet to find the GoPro too far away at 22 and shorter. Just start the boat, the USB is connected to the boat power and the GoPro turns on and does its thing. Turn the boat off and the GoPro turns off. I set it up to be completely transparent and no work to use otherwise it'd never get used.

Looks really good for a cellphone! What I can say with 100% confidence is the GoPro Hero 10 with the image stabilization is game changing. It is basically hand video, just a little zoomed out, but 4k changes that easily.

I found a good conversation with the seller (assuming not dealer) can go a long way in addition to GOOD pictures. Especially if they're a skier. The last boat I bought I called them, chatted with them and with enough pictures felt it was worth the risk. Sent a $1000.00 check overnight and drove from MN to TX the following weekend to drive it and tow it home. I don't think I'd buy it sight unseen, but unless the thing fell apart on the water I wasn't overly worried. Older more 'family friendly' boats are a different story in my opinion. A lot more opportunity to be duped on those I think. A closed bow ZO 3-event boat has a pretty limited market and most of the people that buy them use them for dedicated reasons and keep them up.

I have been a MasterLine K-Palm Curves user for years. I have been waiting for them to come back into stock for at least a year. Thankfully my existing few pairs were hanging in there while I waited. I jumped on this and ordered 2 new pair right away. Unfortunately, to my surprise, the design has changed significantly. They seem bulkier in the fingers, they bunch up on the palm side under the knuckles when gripping the handle. Hopefully after a few sets and some blisters later they will loosen up. Regardless the Masterline quality is there! Glad to see Masterline gloves are back in stock!

It is a pretty slick solution. The course I am referring to is on a lake that has several skiers so this solution allows any of them to use the course without having to go on the property of the compressor owner.

I know it isn't exactly what you asked, but a small compressor with a regulator and a Belimo valve connected to a WiFi outlet makes for a slick solution. Activate the course (turn on 120v outlet) on my phone and 10m later the course is ready. When I am done deactivate the course (turn off 120v outlet) and the valve changes and air is released.

I am a firm believer in running stock settings until you're stroking -32's. Unless a experienced skier or coach says otherwise I'd keep it stock. 99 times out of 100, form is the root of issues at longer line lengths.

Below is an example. However, for me, I really don't care about 'frame size' I film on 4k 120fps, with 20% zoom and use VLC to analyze my skiing. You could zoom in more on the GoPro, but I prefer the shorten the rope method of zoom. In VLC I can slow the video speed and I can punch in during critical times. Having the extra resolution of the 4k allows me to punch in and maintain detail. Plus I like it wide enough to make out the loop on the pylon. Video for me is merely a teaching tool for myself. Frankly I don't care about how zoomed it is or how pretty it is. It is all about quantity over quality. You can spend a hell of a lot of time trying to get your video setup perfect and learn nothing to improve your skiing, or you can use what you've got and start improving your skiing.

My GoPro Hero 10 with the labs firmware is equivalent to hand filming in my opinion. Plus it is totally automated, start the boat and the GoPro does the rest, 0 user interaction for the entire time.

Your first 3 sentences are what scare the crap out of me as I debate moving to waterfront property. To me, skiing in a course is major driving factor to moving to a waterfront home (maybe the only reason). It is scary to think how fragile the whole permitting/neighbor process is. I have run a course on public water for many years, but it would be easier to walk away knowing I don't live there. Once I move to the course, I am committed. It is nice to know that OffCourse offers an alternative to those situations. While it would be fantastic to have some backup from the regulating bodies, knowing that we have people in the skiing community developing solutions like this is truly amazing.

There is a huge sign on the side of highway 61 commemorating the birthplace of waterskiing. I have skied in Lake Pepin a few times, always fun, but boy does that river water move! Unfortunate that the article included a picture of modern wake surfing and wake boarding rather than a picture of someone actually water skiing.

I've used lime-a-way and a dual action polisher with amazing success for very stubborn water spots. Make sure you wax again after as it strips everything.

Figured that would be the answer. Rather unfortunate more and more boot mounting is becoming 'proprietary'. I guess I learned my lesson buying boots that are molded to the mount... I'll probably end up fabricating my own sequence plate then. I am not spending another $200 for a new boot when this one is a season old and I prefer it to the BOA vector.

I am moving my bindings over to my new C85 from my Vapor and unfortunately they're not playing nice. I am assuming there is a sequence plate that fixes this issue, but is there something for the rear only? I don't have any issues with my front Radar Pulse, it is only the rear Vector that is on a feather frame. In fact is only the rear mounting points too. I was hoping I could just drill new holes, but once I got the front boot placed the rear was too far forward to even drill holes.

Between the rain, the wind and the snow we've had maybe 2 skiable days in April here. Most of the northern half of the state still has ice on the lakes. Thankfully, I was able to get the course in for the season last night, but ran out of daylight to ski with. Hopefully I can make something happen before May... Course went in April 2nd last year, 3 weeks earlier.