brettmainer

The entire sport is getting older...

@BRY, well said. I agree.

@BRY, I agree that the boat judge does not have the best view of the gates. The far tower really has no view of the gates. Therefore, if the near tower, who clearly has the best view of the gates, makes a definitive ruling, who are the other two to dispute it (assuming that the tower judge is paying attention and knows the rules)? The far tower shouldn't even be consulted for an entrance gate ruling, yet they have equal voting power as the near tower. Video gates solves this problem. That said, I agree with Eleeski. In the grand scheme, it doesn't matter. This is for fun, not for anything else. In my example above, the payout for second place was the same as for first place.

The "majority rules" can be a problem. Two examples, one that went my way, and one that didn't. Last year in a tournament, I went inside of 3 ball on my opener. I had been skiing 36 for a couple of weeks to keep up with the Boys 3 skiers I ski with. Went to a tournament, skied 34 with a 36 edge change on a slow lake behind a soft boat and came up short. Decided to finish the pass to get the rhythm back, but didn't even pull out at the end, knowing I was done. The boat stopped halfway around the island and I was told both towers gave it to me, even though the boat judge called it a correct 'two'. Didn't matter much because I fell at 38 shortly thereafter and ran 2.5@39 the second round and only one score per tournament counts for ratings. The boat judge who could see clearly was overruled by two positions who had obscured views. The other example happened at Regionals 10+ years ago. I was in first place, watching the top seed ski. He was an open skier skiing M2 and a much better skier than me, but hey, maybe I would get lucky. I thought I did when he missed his gates at 35. The near tower took them, but the boat and the far tower (no way the far tower could accurately see) gave them to him, so he got to keep going. He ran 38 and a few at 39 to beat me by 6 buoys. Certainly the best skier won and it would have been cheap for me to win on pulled gates on an easy pass for him, but I was still bummed. Point being, that there are occasions when one of the three positions has a clear view but can be overruled by two positions who don't have nearly as good a vantage point for an accurate call.

I just put my 5.3 promo boat in the water for the first time this weekend. I took my 3rd and 4th sets of the year, and I am only running 32s, trying to get back in shape. The boat feels great, no problems at all with the pull or the gassing. I would have to ski some 38s behind it to say definitively, but so far I think it is great. Drives great too.

Who was the runoff against? Parades, Astry, Gustin, Brown? If Shroeder was there (probably was), who would he have bet on? I don't think he has watched a slalom ride in the last 30yrs he hasn't bet on. Back on topic, Jamie is actually a fairly decent snow skier. Goes down black diamonds and stuff

Full Disclosure: 1. I have been on the Nautique promo team for 16yrs, so there is going to be some bias. 2. Maybe not as much as you'd think, because I haven't always been thrilled w Correct Craft. 3. At various points in the 90s, I skied behind promo Mastercrafts, promo Centurians and promo Malibus (in that order). All of the big 4 boats are great. Really, any nitpicking of any of them has to do with the difference between A+ and A-. Not a B boat in the group. I think if cost were no object, more folks would prefer to own a Nautique than any other brand. Maybe more than all other brands combined. Regarding history, Nautique has never sucked. Anybody my age (44) who spent the late '90s skiing behind the Death Star 190s because the M3-M5 tournament organizers weren't going to give it to themselves, their wives or their kids (hello M1 & M2), remember some bad Mastercraft years. Centurions and Malibus didn't always have the Nautique solidness and quality throughout the 80s, 90s and 00s. For 2016, Nautique is still the best, but not by a landslide. Historically, it is a landslide for Nautique.

Tie between Advil and Little Sumpin's

Commentary for Horton here. I have had bicept issues on and off for a dozen years. When my arms aren't fully warmed up, it does me good to warm up at 28. Almost every time my bicept has acted up its because I went off cold at 32. A few pull-ups or light dumbell curls first and 32 off the dock is fine, but regardless of how you do it, make sure you you arms are warmed up before shortening the rope.

This might be the best part of being on a promo team. Substitute "Sell boat" for Steps 1-5 and go directly to Step 6.

I took my first ride on the N1FT tonight. Background: I have been skiing on the N1XT since June '14. It goes around a lot of buoys, even when I don't feel like I am skiing well. My best tournament score on it is 2.5@39, but seldom (but occasionally) feel like I am crushing 38. Mostly, I feel like I am making a ton of mistakes and the ski is riding tip high, but again, it keeps going around buoys. Sometimes I run 38, but mostly I don't. I always run 35. I thought the N1FT might be magic. My wife bought it for me for my birthday a few days ago after hearing me complain about the XT. Tonight: Caveat (excuses) - I got up at 4:30, worked and drove all day and skied at dusk in a cool, light rain. So, maybe, there was a lot going on that had nothing to do with the ski. That said, I know what the ski felt like, even if things weren't optimal. The ski felt glued to the water through 35, even to the point where I broke forward a couple of times. However, before breaking forward at 4 or 5, I was super early and it felt good. I tried 38 twice and had the tip come way up in the turn and failed to run either pass. All in all, not an improvement (for me, tonight at least) over the XT. I didn't have any "Eureka!" moments on it like when I rode the regular FT for six passes a couple of months ago. I will give it some more tries and have Greg B watch and maybe suggest a fin tweak (I skied at factory settings). At this point, I feel like the Flextail might be a better option for me.

The webcast and the post above show the top 12. Who placed 13-16?

Are they taking the top 12 or the top 16 men to the Saturday semi-final?

Mateo Vargas needs to bring Nationals back to Berkeley. Airport convenient and good hospitals close by for the inevitable jump crashes in the 20mph crosswind. Plus, after everybody's fin set screws rust in place from the saltwater, we won't have to worry about fin adjustments.

Since Horton can't do hand passes, can he put together 40 seconds of toe tricks to stay ahead of Mr Dirt?

I get on the podium as often as not when I go to regionals but couldn't go this year because of work and kids (3). I think that is fairly common for guys my age (43) and is nothing against tournament skiing, I think that there were M2 and M3 skiers in the same boat 20 years ago. The "problem" is the 20-40 crowd. When I skied the 1999 Nationals, there were 80 entrants in M2. How many this year? The "problem" stems from the soaring cost, the lack of TV coverage (ESPN carried the pro tour every week when I was in HS) and the proliferation of wakeboarding during their formative years. With regards to the proper metric for measuring participation, I suggest Horton asks Denny Kidder or Dave Goode about ski sales numbers 1995 vs 2005 vs 2015. That would compensate for the "too bored, disinterested, or busy for tournaments" crowd who still skis and supports the sport regardless of awsa membership.

I was disappointed that my schedule did not allow me to ski regionals this year. There was some good skiing in M3 and I was bummed not to be there. I was shocked to see that Schroeder didn't get 2nd. I thought he had that position reserved ahead of time for all Regional and National tournaments.

Not in an event like that when the guy before you got 4.5.

Not sure the park is deep enough for an air chair.

I would be surprised if an impeller change didn't solve the problem. 2 ski seasons and 174 hours is about the limit for an impeller.

I was looking at my truck display today. 112,000 miles and 2735 hours. 41 miles per hour. Does that mean my 2014 200 that has 300 hours is equivalent to 12,000 miles? Our last club boat was flipped with 3500 hours. Equivalent to 140,000 miles or so at 41miles per hour. I'd say the boat was a bit more used than that, but not by too much. In my opinion, it was more like a 2005 truck with 200,000 miles...quite used but still plenty of life left. Is a boat hour equivalent to 40 miles or maybe 60 miles? What is the general consensus?

So, my 9yr old daughter skied her PB yesterday, obviously due to my excellent coaching. I asked her what she was thinking about when skiing. "Unicorns and Pegasus". Being as my PB was 12 years ago, I am going to try that as well. Can't hurt.

Bernie coached me 25+ years ago at Hortons. Good man and good skier. He was pretty good at keg stands as well. That is sad news. He did an awful lot for our sport and is, I believe, a multiple time National Slalom champion.

How exactly did they try to scam you?

I had both of my factory installed pucks go bad on my '14 promo Nautique within two months of having the boat. Nautique warrantied both and since I replaced them, I have had no problems. Because the puck is integral to the lead wire, I had to fish them out of the bow and re-wire, which required wiggling into a very tight space to cut all of the tie wires and then reinserting myself up under the bow to tie the new wires. Not the most fun afternoon. I am aware of similar issues on a promo Malibu and a promo MC in NorCal this year as well. Made in China means low priced, not top quality.