Shakeski

Totally awesome!!!

+1 for rough weather in IL. Makes it hard to plan for larger outings. Its mid June already... moving too fast :neutral:

+1 for Goo Gone. Also try Goof-Off.

+1 for 3-event version.

Crisp and Clean... mostly Crisp.

My Dad and I were looking at the same list pretty much at the end of last season. We wound up going with a used 2000 MC PS190. We LOVE this boat! Great ski wakes, one owner boat, under 500 hours and got it for just over 16K. It was garage kept and in near-mint condition. Looks newer than our 08 Wake Setter. The key is just really making sure you are looking around and not settling for something that isn't in your list. With sites like BOS, Ski it Again, Craigslist, etc. it is easier to see whats out there, but the hunt is really exciting and frustrating all at the same time. Whatever you go with, I'm sure you'll find something great. Just a big fan of the Pro Star myself.

65-66

Got out for the first swerve of 2015!!! Fox River, Northern Illinois. 55 degree water, 60 degree air. Awesome!!!

They both have a lot of track and hype... Syndicate team is a group of greats that is hard to beat. Either way, you are going to get a great ski regardless of which one you end up going with!

+1 HO Women's TX

I was trying to decide between the Senate and the HO CX at the end of last season. I was lucky to be able to try both skis behind my own boat for a whole weekend (3 sets). I went with the HO CX. I LOVE THIS SKI! That said, I didn't hate the Senate... It was smooth and very easy to ride. The CX tho had a lot I loved more about it... It turns very easy, it is responsive, the clean edge tech is truly noticeable for what it was designed for (effortless turns). The superlite would the the option I would go with if you can afford it... however it depends on what type of skiing you do. If you are in the course a lot, go for the superlite. If you ski open water, you wont notice a difference worth the money between the CX and the CX superlite. I am a huge fan of HO bindings as well.

;) +1 for my first comment on the boots above... Awesome choice with HO!

HO Attack Boots are really comfy.

Gorgeous boat!

@Than_Bogan thank you! 36 it is.

Hi Ballers, While I am sure there have been many threads around this, I figured I would post this question as my season is a few weeks away from starting up. I am fairly new to slalom and the course, however not new to water sports (been wakeboarding at higher levels for 15 years). At the end of last year I was going through the course at 28mph at 15 off. As I look to progress quickly this season, what should I look to do first... Get the course at 34mph at 15 off (then begin to shorten the line), or get up to 30/32mph and shorten the line (increase speed at 22/28 off)? My ultimate goal is to get all 6 at 35 off at 34mph before I am 30 (I am 24 now). Any chart or advise on this would be greatly appreciated!

HO Freeride is a great ski for this kind of stuff. It is a lot of fun, carves smooth, and really was designed for open water. Plus the HO boots are super comfortable!

The O'Niel Out Law vest is a good balance between thin and protective.

67 all day. I am in the same weight range and went with the CX 67. It has been perfect!

Just got a Stargazer upgrade with new gauge from Miami Ski Nautique website for $689.99 delivered. They ship directly from Perfect Pass. No need for a group buy. It was the way to go! (upgraded a 2000 MC PS190 from the perfect pass 5.0 system). We also have a short set up for the course, but haven't tested the new system on it yet.

I got the Ski-Doc pylon mount (poor man's Wake Eye?.. perhaps). it helps to have the tracking still, but the 170 degree angle is amazing. I actually went with the Ski-Doc over the wake eye after watching @horton 's videos of both. To me, the ski-doc looked like it didnt bounce as much as the wake eye does from line slack (I could be totally wrong on that but it was my take away). The Ski-Doc is only $69.00 delivered. I know that the camera is hands down the way to go... as for the tracking you sill would need a wake eye or a ski-doc (or a homemade ski-doc) to get it right. Like Horton has said, not everyone can have a pro photographer tracking every pass... the ski-doc/wake eye helps with that.

For me, I had the same question. I found that SJCAMs are wayyyyy better than GoPro's for pylon mounting. I just got a SJ5000 wifi and it has 4x zoom options that make the camera perfect for skiing different lengths. Also, the SJCam is 100% compatable with all go pro accs. It works the same (if not better) as a go pro and is 1/4 the price (got mine for $139.00 delivered). The 5000 has the best image quality (1080p HD) and has 170 degree fish eye style lense. The thing is simply amazing! I will be using that on top of a Ski-Doc this season behind my prostar 190 and am excited to see how it helps my progress!

I was the same as you (mostly wakeboarder turned skier) and I noticed a major difference in bindings between HO and Radar. For me, I demoed a HO CX (2014) and a Radar Senate (2014). I liked both skis, but HATED Radar's boots. Being use to wakeboard boots, I wanted something that had a similar feel. The HO Attack boots were exactly that. It is something to keep in mind for sure (not that you can't use different boots on different skis, of course).

@DanE Not new enough for ZO sadly. @MISkier The Servo is on and is working properly (still need to water test) but my Dad was able to make sure it moves freely with the self wind test, which it does. @Steven Haines It seems that issue is somewhere with the gauge/computer as the Servo seems to be working fine according to our testing. @eleeski I fully understand the pain of paddle wheels and paddle wheel placement... have broken upwards of 5 of those things on the Wakesetter due to poor placement. All of these comments are great! After talking with my Dad and the folks from Perfect Pass, it looks like we are going with Star Gazer. Excited to have a GPS system. Does anyone know what the zbox upgrade is/does?