brettmainer

“Undecided” should be one of the choices when asking what brand of boat I will buy next. If everyone has already made up their mind, boat companies could save some money by eliminating their advertising and marketing departments.

Yes

Both water and snow skiing are best performed with level head and shoulders and a quiet upper body.

@JoelHowley, please don’t give @Horton such good coaching. Just tell him to pull longer.

@Horton, don’t over complicate it. You should pull 10’ longer.

I’ve seen this list before, but it just struck me how surprising it is that Tgas has not run it again in the last 13 years. Obviously it wasn’t a fluke, because he has multiple world championship wins. Kind of surprising.

Rumor has it that the Western Regionals will be back at Bell Acqua. I hope so. Hopefully @dirt will be out on parole by then and ski with us.

10-15 lbs. I’ve lost almost 6 buoys in the last few years as I have gone from high 170s to low 190s in weight. That is likely the cause of me being more on the back foot, plowing water instead of accelerating.

My top scores are only down 4 buoys, but my real average is down almost 6. I could also stand to be more connected off the second wake, but most of that is probably a function of not having the proper position and acceleration through the centerline.

I miss 35 a lot recently and I haven’t run 38 in two years. I need to get my strength to weight ratio back to where it was or better, as proper technique is hard when I am behind the pendulum and not getting any swing.

It would be awesome if @Not_The_Pug and the Grubbs could make Bell Acqua happen again next year. 3 lake site, 10 minutes from the airport and as central as can be in the Western Region. It would be nice to have Nationals back in picturesque Rio Linda again someday as well.

11 in 3 states, CA, TX and FLSurprisingly, only 3 lakes in tournaments, but I only skied in 4 tournaments

Very disappointed to see the Syndicate Dufus is not one of the options. Optimized to create big spray for unathletic middle aged men with beer bellies. That would be more my speed.

If you want to surf, go to the ocean. Surfing behind a boat is kind of fun, but not the same as feeling the ocean under your feet.

@buoyboy1, I am with you on the runners high. I was a sprinter in high school and still run a bit to stay in (poor) shape. I have never felt anything but the discomfort of plodding stride after stride. I have, however, felt the perfect swing while skiing. THAT is a high!

It has been several years since I had that feeling. For two years now I feel I have been dragging from buoy to buoy. Good thing that the feeling it is addictive and I keep striving for it. It is what will get me in the gym this winter. I hope to feel it again next year.

@prk, interesting post. I agree, kind of, but the “yes or no, have your run it list” is attractively binary.

 

Discounting Nate, who has proven he can run 41 anywhere, anytime, day or night (yes I know it was a little slow), there are two skiers, Freddy and Will, who can run it at any time and who have done so often in big time tournaments. Detrick and Sacha can do it and have done it (and have run 4+ many times), but seem to have health issues. If you have run 4+ many times, 6 is right there.

 

Factoring age and height, it does seem like Joel Howley is next. Skiers like multi time world champ Tgas and former WR holder CP have age working against them to be consistent runners of 41. There is a reason you don’t see any 40+ athletes at the top of the game in any major sports.

 

I think Ryan Canepa could also run 41 if he dedicated himself to Crossfit for 6 months this winter.

Ski wider, which means finishing your turn and getting and maintaining stack through the second wake. You might have to cut the Lilly pads back to ski wider, as they are a similar impediment to skiing wide as was the rip rap at Scotty’s in Chico back in the day.

I will side with @rockdog, I believe Joel Howley will run 41 at Shortline this weekend. If not, soon.

Love the condensed highlights. Really, that's all ESPN Hot Tuesday Nights (or Wednesday, or whatever) were, except with a little more editing. Back before internet, we would watch it 4 days later not knowing the results and it was just as riveting, but more time efficient, than live.

@Not_The_Pug, I'm not sure you can count to six without Stephanie's help, and since she wasn't driving... Probably why there were so may 4.5s and 5 this weekend.

There wouldn’t be any easy opponents, but that is definitely a tough draw for a top seed.

Florida in the ‘50s looks like a lot of fun! I wish Masterline made double handles. Much more ergonomic, would solve my elbow problems.

Getting closer to the right ballpark this time. FWIW (not much given the inflation in recent years), I sold my similar 2014 with 400hrs in 2015 for $43k.

He might have the release setting a little too tight. That is the epitome of “one foot comes out, one stays in, and bad things are happening”. Seems like he is ok? , but that looked like an ankle or knee wrecker.

I have a wicked case of golf elbow this year and listened to the Spraymakers podcast about the same. Ordered a Radar anti roll handle. It was cheap looking and 7” short! Fine for practice, but what kind of quality control is that? Radar skis and customer support are first rate, but it seems like their handles are made in China with no adult supervision.

@Horton and @Mateo_Vargas should have redone their regionals runoff first set on the new radar.