KRoundy

Added in the data for the Lake Stevens Water Ski Club. Appears to all work well.

@eddie_roberts_jr - Are you serious!?!?

After skiing yesterday I noticed that I have a small ding on the top edge of my ski. It is a 2015 Radar Senate Lithium. I'm guessing that it is a "rope burn" spot since that is approximately where my rope would hit when getting up. The damage is about an inch long and maybe 1/16 - 1/8th inches wide. It took a small piece of the top of my ski and a small piece of the edge, exposing the fibers underneath. It is right on that seam between the top of the ski and the edge where you can see the two materials glued together. I'm thinking that I should get some expoy / resin, fill in the repair and sand it down. Does that sound appropriate? Should I take it to a ski shop (I live in Seattle so I'm talking about Wiley's) to have them look at it?

@Horton So, a "ski site" could be a public lake? I LOVE the fact that you are including clubs in this. I could see my own local ski club joining in on this effort.

Not blasphemy at all. I think of water skiing as energy management. Something I learned from a pilot years ago and it certainly applies to water skiing. Acceleration and deceleration are all about creating and dumping energy, which is your moving mass at speed. To get to the next ball you create massive amounts of energy (speed) that you then have to get rid of. All that water being thrown in the air is a reflection of the energy being used to do something (slow down). And I agree with you - turning is sort of something that just happens.

That is the best, isn't it!?!? Go Buford go!!!

LOL. Someone at Radar is laughing at us right now.

That white/red looks very good. I'd be very happy to be the second owner/operator of that design. If I were in the market the Bumblebee would be seriously tempting to me right now.

The answer was April 22nd for me this year.

This topic is a favorite with our local patrol for some reason. Multiple members of our club have been "pulled over" for this issue. During a friendly, working-together type meeting with the local police department two summers ago to talk about the lake and our club the police officer in charge of the lake brought this up as one of his "primary concerns" about skiers on the lake. And from what I can tell they continue to pursue it as a hot topic. :( I use my competition vest (a two or three year old Syndicate) as often as I can because it is so superior to the CGA vests. I agree that an early-morning set is less likely to attract attention, but I also don't want to stir up trouble for no reason. Thanks for the suggestions here. I'll go check out those options.

Hey all, I ski on a public lake where we need to use a CGA vest. I currently have a vest that really soaks up the water and gets quite heavy. I'm looking for some suggestions for a vest that won't get me in trouble with the local cops that stays lightweight and won't retain water.

This thread is a no-panda zone? I gotta come up with something good....

I need three friends to join me in going in 25% each on one of these...

@eleeski I think I did not get my point across, which was focused on production costs. A competition ski boat is a very labor-intensive (expensive) machine built with high-ish overhead costs (molds, EPA requirements, NMMA regulations, custom machined parts, etc... expensive). You can't spread those fixed costs over a lot of machines like you can a mass-produced car. IN THAT SENSE, it is more like a low-production sports car. High overhead costs with few machines to carry those costs equals expensive products. The cost hurdles are high, that's all I am saying.

Weird, but OK. I stand corrected. An easy upgrade.

Why do we think a boat in this price range would sell? I'd rather buy a used 200 for that price. Please stop comparing boats to building economy cars. The scale of building 1,000's of cars a week compared to a few hand-built machines is apples and oranges. Those cars are cheap because the overhead costs are spread among so many vehicles. Building a boat is more akin to building a high-end sports car (think Mclaren or Bugatti).

@BroncoMike Great choice! If you think that one is light you should compare it to a Lithium sometime. But that Alloy will be perfect for what you want to do. Go, rip, enjoy! @dhofert ???? I'm pretty sure all Senates come with an adjustable fin.

I wasn't a big fan of all that brown Seadek in the videos, but I spent some time playing on the Nautique boat configurator this morning and you can make it grey which makes a pretty sharp-looking boat IMHO. Just checked my bank account and I recognize that I will NEVER configure my own Nautique, but it is fun to play with all the options. This boat definitely looks unique and will be instantly recognizable. I guess this means that the local Nautique dealer I talked to at the Seattle Boat Show was right that something new was coming soon! :smile:

Wow. Mind blown.

@escmanaze Carbon can be a bit more tricky to repair, but there are techniques available. Boeing developed a "quick composite repair" for the 787 that can patch small areas of damage in an hour. Other types of repairs are available that take further expertise and/or tools. So the aerospace industry has a LOT of experience with carbon fiber repairs at this point and the marine industry can follow their lead. One thing not to forget is that carbon is really, really tough stuff. If done correctly it can be very hard to damage / break - it is a very, very strong material.

I enjoy how customized these boats can be these days. Some of those combinations are... uh... interesting. But there is no mistaking them for anything else.

Just saw the announcement from Connelly on the front page. I had to do a double-take because I bought my ski boat from Nick years ago. The last name is unique and stuck in my brain. Nick - if you are on BoS, welcome to the Connelly team! Congratulations.

If anyone else in the northend would like to join up with a bunch of folks who just like to spend time on the water, check us out at http://www.skilakestevens.org/ We're a friendly bunch and most of us don't bite.

I'm part of the Lake Stevens Water Ski Club if you end up on the Northend / Snohomish County. Hilltop is a good option up here too. We have a submergable course in Lake Stevens, although we mostly free ski during the week and do the course on the weekends. Our club skis a private lake in Eastern WA a few times a year as well. As others have said the season runs from super-cold drysuits-only season in April/May through the awesome months of July - Sept and if you get the drysuit back out, October. Once it freezes we pull the boat and keep it somewhere warm for the winter. The lakes around Seattle are generally cold-fast water, especially early in the season. Hit me up if you end up a north-end guy. Would love to shred the water with ya!

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!