TallSkinnyGuy

I was skiing at 32 mph today and ran the course a few times at 15 off. You're right that at 15 off the rooster tail isn't too bad when skiing through it rather than just standing in it, but I foresee 22 off in my future this summer and started thinking about making it through that 2' tall rooster tail, which is the reason behind my post. You're also right that the boat seems to be quite sensitive to balance. But I've only noticed that it affects the spray -- haven't noticed any change in the rooster tail due to balance.

I ski 15 off behind my '97 MC 190, a friend's '98 Ski Nautique, another friend's '81 Nautique and another friend's '80s Malibu Skier. My boat and the '98 Nautique are great to ski behind. The '81 Nautique has a firm wake but not much rooster tail. The only boat I can currently ski behind in a course is the Malibu Skier (it's on a private community lake). That Malibu Skier has a huge rooster tail that feels like someone is blasting a fire hose at my shins at 15 off. I haven't yet tried 22 off, but the rooster tail is even bigger there and will probably hit up to my thighs if I stand directly behind the boat. I can't image it being very nice to ski through. Is this huge rooster tail common with this boat? Are there ways to reduce it? I would love to give my friend some ideas to reduce the rooster tail and make course skiing more pleasant for all of us.

Due to the California drought some people are experimenting with trying to run their boats on various surfaces.

@Bruce_Butterfield Did you design your roof to be the proper pitch to absorb wakes and not create any rebound?

Unless you are already committed to double boots, why don't you just start with a Rear Toe Piece and keep it simple? You can get a RTP on a plate for $30 or so IIRC.

I researched this issue last year and found that Greenball Towmasters were widely recommended (and available at Costco, which is where I got mine). It seemed to also be widely recommended to never use tires on your trailer except for trailer-specific tires. Apparently the trailer tires are designed quite differently than auto tires (not for comfort or traction but rather for vertical support). Get some Towmasters, always keep them inflated to the max air pressure shown on the tire and keep them out of the sun (indoors or with wheel covers) and they'll last a good while.

@gregy -- That 205 ad is fishy. MC didn't use the LT1 engine until '93 (maybe the guy just doesn't know that actual year of his boat -- but if he is the original owner as stated you would think that he would). Also, he posted 90 hours in the form and then stated "under 200 hours" in the ad. Yes, I realize that 90 is less than 200, but you would think he would state the same hours in the ad as in the form. But then, an early '90s boat with under 200 hours is suspect regardless.

Well, Wish is clearly more of an authority on this subject than I am since my experience with the Supra is almost two decades ago and I only skied behind the Supra around a dozen times or so. I do like the '98 Nautique I get to ski behind, no question about that.

With open-toe boots the fit will probably depend mostly on the width and shape of your foot. When I was getting a new ski a couple years ago I tried the Connelly Sidewinder first and it just felt terrible on my foot (I have a narrow foot with a high arch and instep) and then I tried their Talon binding, which I think is pretty similar to the Vector. I wear a size 12 shoe but got the Talon binding recommended for size 10-11 shoe wearers. Because my foot is narrow I was swimming in the binding of the recommended size but the smaller size felt great and my toes just stick out a little more.

Congratulations! My boys are 6 and 8 and I'm also having trouble getting them interested in progressing. Both of them will only ski on the boom and seem completely satisfied with that -- and then they just want to get on the tube. I don't want to shame them by showing them pics and videos of younger kids skiing 'behind' the boat, but I haven't yet figured out how to motivate them.

Why not just keep your Supra? Something you don't like about it that you think will be that much better in the Nautique? I've skied behind both at 15 off and slower speeds and I don't remember the Nautique being so dramatically different that I would feel it would be worth the switching costs. Granted, I skied behind the Supra back in the '90s so my memory could be failing me. I now ski regularly behind a friend's '98 Ski Nautique and my own '97 Mastercraft 190 and find the wakes pretty similar at 15 off. The Nautique does pull me out and up to speed a lot faster, though. Seems like I remember the Supra wake being relatively small and quite soft. I remember really liking that wake.

Wake Island near Sacramento used to be two ski lakes and the current owner modified one of the ski lakes to be half cable park and now half "aqua park" (one of those elaborate floating obstacle courses that my kids would absolutely love). I stopped by the place to check it out about a year ago on a warm Saturday afternoon and the cable park was quite busy but there no activity on the ski lake. When I was there the wind was moderately strong but the ski lake was pristine, protected by a tall berm and lots of tall trees. I don't have experience with private ski lakes, but this one looks like a really fun place to bring family and friends. Not sure I could convince my wife to go for the $2K membership fee, but am wondering if anyone else is using this site and if you like it. If you are a member here, what do you like and dislike about it?

@rodltg2 I started periodically skiing behind a friend's 1980s Malibu Skier this season and it is also like a fire hydrant blasting your shins at 15 off and blasting all the way up to the knees at 28 off. But I would imagine if you pay the price of a 200 you expect to have modern wake perfection.

@gregy I think the 86 had the same hull as the 85 version but had a different deck. Then in 87 they changed both the hull and the deck. I'm not a fan of the 87-90 version of the 190 but I think the 86 has a nice, classic look (though not as much as the 85). I think it is a keeper if in decent running condition.

Yes, that is probably the best solution to keeping the speed in a tighter range, but requires more manual control than I was hoping for with the system.

Update 2: After confirming with Aaron at PP that this could be done, I decided to throw a buoy in the water today and map a virtual course so I could calibrate the GPS Slalom mode. I "marked" this buoy as my entry gate and drove a little further and recorded the exit gate. I then drove "through" my virtual course in either direction and the timing would trigger at my buoyed virtual entry gate and I calibrated multiple speeds. I was hoping the GPS Slalom mode would hold speed better than Simple Slalom mode, which was the reason for doing the calibration. However, while open-water skiing in my newly calibrated GPS mode it kept running fast out of turns -- more so than the Simple Slalom mode. Part of our lake is a narrow canyon where the river feeds into it and you have to make numerous turns. It was weird to have the speed set at 34.2 and seeing it zoom up to 36 or even 37 after coming out of a turn and see that it was asking for "more throttle." It would often take a couple hundred feed for it to settle back down to the proper speed. I emailed Aaron again today about this for suggestions.

My main focus is developing a decent stacked position in my offside. I have actually had the best offside stack I have ever experienced a few times in the last couple days, so I know I can do it but need to be able to do it consistently. Also trying to figure out what technique/style works best for me and then be consistent with that so it gets into my muscle memory and I don't have to think about it so much.

@WIskier I will also most likely be in your situation -- setting up an EZ a few times a week and will be bummed if it takes 30 minutes like many people say. I'm sure experience counts for a lot of your efficiency, but I would love to hear more specifics on your process for setting it up so quickly.

Update: I purchased the 3-event version and installed it in my boat. I then followed the instructions from the PP video on Youtube regarding the Capture method of calibrating the GPS Slalom mode, but the menu was different in my software version than what they showed in the video. So, I emailed tech support at PP and they just got back to me -- they removed the Capture method of calibrating from the latest version of the software. You can now only calibrate the GPS Slalom mode in a course after mapping the course. I guess I'll be using Simple Slalom mode after all (or maybe try RPM mode) until I can get my boat in a course.

I just got back into a course after a 20-year hiatus. You should start slow (I started at 28mph), but you will still likely find that you are not pulling nearly hard enough on your off-side cut. The course will encourage you right away to pull harder out of your turn because those balls come up a lot faster than you think.

I have double Talons and really like them. I tried some other bindings and the Talons were the best for my foot shape of the bindings I tried.

If you decide to go with the Senate class you should consider my Connelly V that I just posted for sale on SIA. Here is Horton's review of it: http://www.ballofspray.com/2012-ski-test/574-connelly-v-review

My Connelly Talon bindings came with a thin foam pad under the bindings and I just replaced the back section with new foam from Michaels, but my ski has a distinct "water mark" under the bindings. So apparently foam pads are not going to keep at least some skis from getting marked.

I have become used to my new Prophecy now and decided to post my V for sale in order to keep the peace with my wife. Here it is on SIA: http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?endless=summer&topic=Search&category=Slalom&postid=32476

I've been doing my research on prop selection for my '97 MC 190 (TBI 350 with 1:1 tranny) -- my main goal is to improve the slalom wake at longer line lengths in the 30-34mph range (softer wake, lower rooster tail). I was planning on going with an OJ XMP 3-blade 13 x 11.5 based mostly on a review someone posted back in 2009 on the MC Team Talk forum (he tried the Acme 541, an OJ 4-blade and the above mentioned 3 blade). I talked on the phone with Eric at OJ and he suggested trying the 4-blade, which was a surprise to me since the aforementioned reviewer really did not like the 4-blade. Has anyone on this forum with the 95-97 MC 190 1:1 tranny experimented with different props? If so, what prop do you feel produces the softest wake and lowest rooster tail?