Greg Lukin

Air temp in Brisbane is normally in the 30-33degree not sure what that is in F? Water temp? not sure - but warm... Just signed up for my next comp in early Jan - pretty keen for it now

Air temp in Brisbane is normally in the 30-33degree not sure what that is in F? Water temp? not sure - but warm... Just signed up for my next comp in early Jan - pretty keen for it now

Hi all - I know its winter over in the US but its summer here in Oz an I'm loving my slalom atm. Got my OB4 boot working great and feeling great and safe!! such a good product... I entered my first comp ever and skied terrible but managed to meet heaps of cool people and learn a lot - even got my fin adjusted. just this week I have managed to pb twice - now close to running my 36mph pass (got my 34 smooth as it has ever been) - got (4.5 @ 36 this morning) - bring on shortening... one more year and I'll drop to 34 speed for my age. thats all - just thought I'd share that I'm loving it at the moment - learnt heaps from you guys too~!

Got another one... same spot... forgot to think about that - finally got some time to train regularly and now this... sigh

Got another one... same spot... forgot to think about that - finally got some time to train regularly and now this... sigh

Ok. I used alcohol last night to dry it out. Hurt like crazy but seems to dried it out. I'll tape it up fresh each set also. Thanks for the replies and the laugh

does fin settings really matter for longer line skiing?

sorry I just read your injured - maybe come along for a look?

@Brad72 - are you near brisbane? have you thought of competing in the qld waterski series? There is one at Lake Kurwongbah on 24/25 Oct if your keen? Its going to be my first comp actually and there are plenty of others in the lower divisions...come along and try it out!! it will be fun I promise

(coming from a dad to new dads) I love the enthusiasm of dads to be - you think nothing will change that much - LOL it does!! try and figure out how you can skip out for a few hours rather then taking bub!! Ok I'm actually impressed here with the ideas but it does take a lot more preparation... then wait till they want to crawl!! Fatherhood rocks!! enjoy

I've just recently come back from injury - 2 years almost now. I'm just getting my confidence back now. I broke 5 foot bones and pretty much stuffed a joint that will give me pain on and off for god knows how long - maybe for my life. I love skiing - I love social free skiing and slalom skiing. For me the biggest hurdle was if it happend again was being able to run around with my kids and being able to be active daily (I dont have the luxury of being able to ski daily). So I almost gave up the slalom side of it. The only reason I'm still doing it is because I bought myself some releasable bindings - ob4's. So far they have given me the confidence to start pushing myself without fear of doing it again. (It took a long time and plenty of free skiing to get to this) Lessons I learnt - dont get down about it - get working on fixing your body and making yourself light and strong (wish I did this earlier). Also get some gear that you have 100% confidence in. And finally don't put yourself under any pressure to get back to where you were pre injury - it will come - eventually (1.5 seasons for me). good luck!! and dont stop what you love

@schafer maybe we should take it to a printer and see if they can print some out - I ski with Geoff Carrington's dad - he was amazing before his accident. I'd love to get a framed copy!!

I almost got my 34 pass yesterday,,,,loosened my top cuff and boom i felt so much better!! thanks for hearing me out...

no I wont need that info thanks @Than_Bogan. I'll contact OB4 if and when I decide my current boots are a definite no go

@Than_Bogan do you have a photo of both your boots side by side? I want to see the cuff difference between the original and the new one? I think I'm going to try and loosen my top cuff and see how that goes - my foot wont come out even if it is completely undone I think.

To be perfectly honest my technique is terrible (too much weight back - so hard to change). I use to think I went ok as a social skier and then went ok when I started in the course - I got to 34mph straight up and was nudging a few balls at 36. Then I had my accident which screwed my foot and my confidence. Finally 18 months later and I can ski (and walk) without pain. I use to play top grade squash and trained 3 times a week which kept me fit. Now I've put on 10kgs, have little fitness and a hardshell boot to get use to. My head said why can't you get back to where you were!! honestly its my lack of form and fitness more so than the boots. But I'm not enjoying my skiing atm - first time ever - I live for it normally. I think my expectations where too high. We are coming into the warmer months now so I really wanted to be entering into my first comp with some form. I'll still enter the comp and just suck a bit- hopefully improve a fair bit over the summer. Now its time to go back to basics- get my stack, get fitness back, lose weight. The rubber boots are something I'll do for now to try and make my skiing more normal**. Once I get back to fitness I'll probably try the hardshells again. Now I'm off for a workout, baby steps....

Hi guys, I'm running the front hard shell on the ob4 system with rtp rear atm. I went from rubber to hardshells and I just can't get use to them. I tried my old rubber boots yesterday and wow - almost back to where I think I should be... but I really need the safety of the ob4 system. So what are my options? I see a few have used stradas - any other suggestions? Any help would be much appreciated. cheers

nothing wrong with struggling to run 22 off - some of the best people I know struggle to run 22 off - like me!! lol- :D

Wow It's on here... I've got an OB4 front system and my thoughts as a fairly novice skier compared to most on here is the following. 1 - I bought these as I wanted the safest binding possible - My foot is screwed somewhat following a fall 18 months ago. The fact is OB4 is the safest system (well in my experience and research - my wife is an experienced skier and physio who also did the research with me and also concluded that the OB4 system would be the safest - **she was alarmed at the number of injuries in this sport - also she wanted to do a research masters on this topic but alas there is no data on waterskiing related injuries as the sport is a minority - would LOVE to get some stats on injury rates etc - it could make this sport so much safer and advance it beyond our dreams) 2 - The rubber - yes mine fell apart - the fix was Gorilla glue - It seems to be working - yes I was annoyed that I had to fix my own expensive binding. But I now know that I may need to tweak with this system since its in its early stages of development 3 - I have now realized this product is probably not ready for the masses to be honest - there are some issues with the rubber and the ability to know exactly what tension is set is not perfect. Saying that - with my injury I would still buy this system over and over. It's not far from being ready. 4. Overall I think we should really support this company - my experience has been very good from a customer service point and the make of them is quality - but just be aware you may need to play with them from time to time and you really need to keep up the maintenance. If your thinking of buying them for safety reason that may prolong your skiing - DO IT - they are a great product.

seems very slow for your build? try a free ski at 49 and do as @Than_Bogan suggested.

@Than_Bogan - yes thats correct...

Better late than never - After a pre-release I have now screwed in the spring a half turn. think/hope I'm on setting M Weight - 230 but coming down - aiming for 210 in 6 weeks or so 22 off skiing at 34 atm 0.2755 - front binding only I'm hoping as I lose weight my skiing will progress and hence will be able to stay on the same setting.

Mine is doing it too - going to try a few options. got a few weeks to try and fix it now after a pre release twinged my groin (my fault as I had the tension set to loose)...

Greg here from Australia - Brisbane. Skied since I was 6 with my family at a local lake with limited membership - so very lucky to have a spot there - not many private lakes here in Oz, and not many lakes that they allow boats on. Just when I started skiing reasonably well the insurance issues kicked in here and my club didn't continue to do competitive skiing. So I have been just a social skier/footer. Got into the course again recently and broke my foot bad - 18months later and I'm trying to get back to where I was before summer hits. I've always wanted to go in a comp so this is the year for me - I'm training with a good crew and one retired ex "pro" from time to time which has helped - got a family now so its more about a couple of sets then back to social skiing for the rest of the day with family and friends and kids. First comp for me will be on 24/25 Oct - hoping to be at 36mph by then and by states into 22 off. currently getting my body back into shape after putting on weight. the boat is a custom ski boat 6L pcm with ZO - not the smallest wake but certainly fine for me at my rope lengths.