TallSkinnyGuy

I haven't heard the '94 PS 190 called "way different" than the '91 before. My understanding is that the hull, deck and overall construction was the same for 91-94 and the only significant change was the EFI engine as standard in '94.

The constructions below the Lithium are a bit damper, which can be nice in rougher water. I have skied both PU and PVC cores in rough water and the PU core was clearly "quieter" whereas the PVC core skis can have a bit of a ping to them in choppy water. However, I don't know that this is reason enough to go with a PU core if budget is not an issue. I know that I got used to the pinging feel of the PVC core quickly and didn't really notice it after a few sets.

My wife oohs and ahhhs whenever she sees a yellow boat. She is going to want that boat when we can afford it after 20 years of depreciation.

@Rivvy I have seen recommendations by knowledgeable people on this site that if you are consistently running -28 at 34mph you are probably better off on a high end ski (e.g. Vapor) than a mid-range ski. If you are at an age bracket where your max speed is 32 or less, you would likely get a different recommendation. Based on my research, if I were skiing at your level I would be on the Vapor or one of its competitors.

I snug up the bottom laces pretty tight but leave the cuff laces loose enough that I can fairly easily pop my foot out of the binding without loosening the laces after a set.

I got an "inflamed" eardrum from a fall back when I was a teenager. That was some of the worst pain I have ever felt and the pain continued for days before it healed enough to stop hurting. I have a neoprene headband in my Amazon cart right now.

If you end up skiing a course almost every day you will likely find yourself wanting a new ski every year or so anyway, so my suggestion is to buy a ski that will work well for you up through getting up to max speed if you don't already have access to one (you might let the group here know what the "family member's ski" is that you are currently riding). At that point, if you are athletic and skiing almost every day my guess is that the more knowledgeable people on this forum would say you would be fine on a high end ski.

@Than_Bogan Seems like at your weight you would be right in the sweet spot of what most ski manufacturers would suggest for a 67" ski. Interesting that you don't like going longer than 66" especially since you are also on the tall side and would therefore benefit from a little more fore-aft support from a longer ski. Of course, your skill level is 10x mine, so maybe turning ability is more important at that level than stability. I need all the stability I can get.

Maybe they found it was a little confusing for consumers to have both the CX and TX and consumers wondering which one was right for them (this was essentially the case for me). This appears to be a simpler product offering and more directly competes with the three Radar Senate versions. From my view as a consumer it seems like a good move. The middle Omni is now in my consideration set for my next ski along with the Graphite Senate and Carbon V whereas the CX and TX were not. I'd love to try all three of these skis in three sets on the same day.

I ski right at your level and am the same weight as you (though I am substantially taller). I am currently on a 67" Senate. I have been on the 2012 Connelly V, 2015 Radar Alloy Senate and 2014 Connelly Prophecy -- all 67" skis. I found the Prophecy to be too much for me -- more performance than I needed and not as stable and forgiving as I needed (kinda like your Vice). The V and the Senate are great skis for our level (I'm sure the HO TX and CX should also be in the consideration set, though I've never tried them). If I was more consistent at running my -15/34mph passes I would strongly consider rewarding myself with a 2017 Radar Graphite Senate or Connelly Carbon V.

I recently returned home to California from up a road trip with my family. April to early November is my comfortable ski season here in the Sac area (I don't own a drysuit but do use a full wetsuit for the few weeks at the beginning and end of the season). So on this road trip my family spent a day with my uncle from Spokane fishing on a little lake in the area. We drove past a number of lakes to get to this lake and so I asked my uncle how many lakes were around there. He answered that there are 50 lakes in the area, including big ones like CDA and Pend O'reille. The lake we fished on was about a mile long, near glass the whole time we were there, available to the public, but only a couple fishing boats on it from around 10am-2pm when were there. As we were leaving, a SeaDoo and a stern drive boat started zipping around, but otherwise just fishing boats. I started thinking this might be a nice area to live for a waterskier. However, when I talked to various locals about water sports, they all made it seem like the season is only two or three months long and otherwise too cold or stormy. Anyone know what the real ski season is in the Spokane area for someone who doesn't want to ski in a drysuit?

You mentioned in the original post that you are not throwing up as much spray as with the old ski. I'm not a physics expert or water flow engineer, but my theory is that a wider ski that keeps you up higher in the water will create a smaller spray than a narrower ski that sits deeper in the water (all else being equal). A smaller spray does not mean the ski is not working correctly or that something needs to be adjusted.

I've skied the TSC1 and TSC2 hulls many times at 15 off and 28-34mph. I find the wakes similar to my '97 MC 190 up until 34mph where the SNs are definitely softer. Surprised to hear anyone complain about the TSC wakes.

I had never heard of this before until seeing this ad on Craigslist for an enclosed boat trailer: Enclosed boat trailer Actually a pretty cool idea for someone who has to park the boat outside and wants to protect it well. Anyone ever use one of these? Did it work well?

I have been using the Connelly Talon bindings for the past few seasons -- these appear to be the same as the current Shadow bindings with just a different base plate. Both Radar and HO make bindings similar to the Shadow (Radar Vector and HO xMax). The bindings are very comfortable, but I had to do minor modifications to enable my foot to come out in a fall. I use the supplied bungee laces for the top section but still can't use the top lace loops for the bottom section or my foot struggles to come out. This might not be an issue for a foot with a different shape than mine.

I treat mine with teak oil regularly and my deck never gets slippery. I sand it with 80-grit sandpaper and nothing finer. I think this helps it to feel smooth without getting slippery. I have found that teak oil can make spots slippery if I apply too much and don't wipe off the excess before it dries. If I apply the right amount and wipe off excess then it just treats the wood but doesn't "varnish" it. That's my experience, anyway.

Probably the shorelines causing wake rebound rather than deep water making rollers. I set up my portable in deep water and can only use one spot in my public lake effectively because it has the least steep shorelines.

I just used a cheap ball hand pump and used it under water, so instead of sucking in air it sucked in water when pulling up the handle and squirted that water into the ball when pushing down on the handle. Only took a couple minutes for each ball to fill with enough water to make the ball float at my desired level. You'll obviously have to let some air out first before inserting water. I've been told the water inside makes the balls safer, too, since they will bob down under the water easier when hit with the ski.

@hemlock I literally just ordered it -- I don't expect it to arrive until next week, just before I head out for a 2-week family road trip. So, I won't get to install it and test it until early August.

FYI, I just ordered my upgrade stick for v9 and upgrading from v8.06 was only $50 plus shipping. I don't know if the pricing is different if you are starting from another version because I only asked for the price to upgrade from my version. But, even a small improvement in finding the set speed faster is worth $50 to me.

I was just commenting this morning as one of my ski partners was getting ready on one side of the platform while I was taking off gloves and vest on the other side of the platform -- I was always envious of inboard ski boat owners when I was a kid because (among other things) it was such a pain getting my double boots on while precariously balancing while sitting on the side of the boat. In/out access is a dream with the swim deck on the back.

@dgarland10 For your described skiing plans and level, the Vector and xMax are what I would want to be on. If you get into course skiing later it is easy to upgrade to higher performance (and more expensive) gear. Remember to tighten the upper cuff lace only enough to provide a little additional support, but not so much that you can't easily pull your foot out of the binding. I have friends on both of those bindings and they find them very comfortable and consider them to provide plenty of performance for recreational skiing.

For open water skiing you will likely be very happy with either one (also in the same class is the Connelly V, which is a great ski). Don't overthink it. What bindings are you thinking of getting?

I wouldn't choose a cable mainline unless you planned to leave it in year round. I would think a rope mainline would be much easier to work with (but can't say for sure since I haven't ever installed a metal cable mainline). I wear old ski gloves when installing my EZ Slalom compact course and find that it works best if the glove tip is cut off on the thumb and index finger. Any gloves you wear should fit very well since a fair amount of digit dexterity is required. With three people we install ours in 90' water depth in 30 minutes. I'm sure we could do it faster in shallower water since quite a bit of our install/removal time is lower/raising anchors. Also note that a crosswind will bend your course -- even a light crosswind. It is impossible to get the course tight enough to keep it from bowing in a crosswind. Also note your shoreline where you intend to install the course. Our lake has steep shorelines everywhere except in one spot and that is the only spot we can set up our course and not have to wait 3+ minutes between each pass (wake rebound is a bugger).