TallSkinnyGuy

@Horton -- Did they let somebody do the demo while skiing naked? Nice pic.

@oldjeep‌ The lake rules state that you cannot obtain the required lake registration sticker for your boat if it has ballast tanks designed for increasing the wake size. I would imagine a ballast tank designed to decrease wake size would be allowed. Regarding what skinut said, the snowskiing analogy is spot on. I snowboarded for 15 years because I found it more fun, but then finally got onto modern shaped skis a few years ago and have only snowboarded once since then. The new skis are so much easier to ski on I found it to be much more fun than it used to be. I think more public lake slalom courses would have a huge impact on increasing interest in slalom skiing. Unfortunately it has been about 20 years since I had access to a slalom course, but I remember that I found open water skiing fun, but course skiing was completely addictive. I borrowed a portable course from a friend for about a month and skied it nearly every day that month (behind a 17-foot tri-hull open bow family boat with a 115 hp outboard). The slalom course gave me so much more "feedback" than open water skiing it just drove me to keep doing it and find ways to improve. I know there are a lot of issues with setting up and maintaining slalom courses on lakes with public access, but this would certainly increase interest in the sport. When I was a kid we always had to watch out for the snow ski patrol when we were jumping because one could get their lift ticket taken for jumping. Now the ski resorts build terrain parks for their visitors. With proper motivation, lakes would put in slalom courses (or allow them to be put in). It's the motivation that is the challenge.

Adding to what dtm was saying above... There is a private community with lake near me that does not allow any boats with ballast tanks on the lake. Also, powered boats have to be under 21.5' in length. There are other specific rules that are specific to reducing wake size of boats on the lake with the stated goal of reducing erosion.

@Wish -- Weren't all tournament ski boat manufacturers using all fiberglass by 1994? I think MC stopped using wood stringers in '83 or so.

I purchased the Connelly V and was influenced heavily by Horton's review: http://www.ballofspray.com/2012-ski-test/574-connelly-v-review

Out of curiosity I walked over there yesterday and stood on the dock to watch and listen for a bit. A young girl had just taken several passes on the ski. When she got back to the dock and was questioned about the ski, she described it by saying it "felt like a senior ski." The questioners then asked if that was a good thing or a bad thing and she responded by saying "it was just different." She didn't seem enthusiastic about it at all. Personally, I thought the ski looked really cool, so that gives it some points in my mind.

Whatever he was on yesterday, that was some of the most impressive skiing I have ever seen. He made -39 look like an opening pass. I was close to the 5 ball of his -41 pass (about 10 yards from Horton) and was amazed at how much easier -41 looked for him compared to his competitors. He looked good going into 5 and I was thinking I was going to get my first opportunity to see someone attempt -43, but in the turn all I could see was a wall of spray and then he was down. He said he just lost the handle. Regardless, it was amazing watching him and the other top skiers. Such incredible athleticism, but sad that so few people appreciate it. With such a small market to sell to it is surprising to me that the ski companies continue investing in developing better and better skis.

Okay, got some more video today. Unfortunately I forgot to tell my inexperienced videographer to zoom in a little, but this video still shows one of the things I do much too frequently. On my on-side turn I will frequently feel off balance and throw my upper body down at the waist as a correction. I can't figure out why. Help would be appreciated. http://youtu.be/Ob5CooNonYs

My first post here, but I have recently been spending a lot of time reading threads in this forum and am stoked that it exists. I have also been looking at various posted videos and advice given and thought I would give it a try myself. I used to ski a lot when in my late teens and early 20s and periodically got a chance to ski a course. I could consistently get -15 at 34 and get around a few balls at -22 at 34 on my early ‘90s Connelly HP. Then there was a 20-year span when I skied a total of about a dozen times. Last summer I got back into it and then purchased a boat last fall. I have improved tremendously over the course of this summer mostly by using Gordon Rathbun’s 12 drills. Gordon helped me realize I was keeping my knees too stiff across the wake and really helped me with improving my body position with the “pulling” drill, especially on my off side. I have been skiing at 30mph and just started trying 32mph. I would ultimately like to get up to 34mph, but 32 feels a lot faster and is going to take some time to get used to. I’m not a gifted athlete and don’t have quick reflexes, but I have pretty good discipline and find that I can improve in sports if I really focus on improving technique. I don’t have access to a course right now but hope to in the future. I’ve been skiing on a Connelly V these last two summers and think it is probably a pretty good choice for getting me back into the sport. However, seeing Overton’s Labor Day prices on the Prophecy is really tempting me to move up to that ski even though I know I don’t need it now. So I have two questions with this post. Can anyone give me some advice on what I should focus on now with my technique, particularly describing some drills to help with the needed areas of improvement? Second, with the expectation that I may never get better than -28 at 34mph regardless of equipment, is it a dumb idea to move from the V to Prophecy – would it hurt me more than help me? http://youtu.be/W649z2t9ywo