whitecaps

Well maybe not totally. It seems the creation of zero off made non zero off boats not adequate in the minds of serious skiers which provides a mindset (as the OP may or may not have) that he must speed a lot of money.

I blame Zero Off for this.

Tongue height on the vehicle can totally change the loading and unloading aspect of your trailer. Try small increments. But then weight in your tow vehicle changes your tonque height. But then weight in the boat (ie fuel level )changes and thus it affects loading and offloading again in another way. I dont think it is necessarily the trailer manufacuters fault. Certain hull designs and certain ramp angles are more likely to make it difficult to get a boat on and off of trailer.

Very sorry for your loss. What a great man!

With all the talk that goes on about the latest engines ie Ilmor, Pcm, etc, I think this little comparison says alot. Maybe too much is made of the powerplants. Bring back the bubblebutt.

Same here??? I thought it might be because I increased frames per second to 120 vs 60 but I dont know for sure if that had anything to do with it, nor why it should??

Anyone put one on a bubble back ? TSC1? 98 ski nautique? or whatever name you might want to put on it.

I remember reading this thread from several years ago but haven't heard much lately about anyone using a FAE.

Anyone using the Fresh Air Exhaust on their slalom tugs? I'm always looking for ways to get things a little more quiet.

@eleweski, can you tell me what the results might be for treating a lake with gypsum for several years?

 

Curious if anyone is using gypsum in their lakes instead of the forementioned lake dyes? We are using gypsum delivered by the dump truck load. Doesnt create the blue color but seems to stop plant growth.

ZBox is great. Im afraid the whole " must have zero off movement" turned a lot of possible tournament participants into "I'm not interested, thank you". I love the ZBox

 

spill the beans please! Fellow Gt40 owner must know this information.

If I was in the fiberglass business I'd make a custom bow cover for the SN200 OB , I think one could sell a truck load of them.

Deep V rope handle can make it happen for you. Seems to be the ticket to teach deep water slalom starts

I'm certain that most hulls are removed from their molds with imperfections either in the gel coat which would be easily seen or in the laminate which would be harder to see. Most are corrected at that time and at the factory. It is easy to see how an air pocket or void could occur and not be seen at the time during fabrication. I applaud your dealership for finding the imperfection and correcting a blemish that many may not have even seen. Those who say "refuse to accept it "most likely have had more serious flaws in their own hulls that got corrected and they dont even know it. After touring the factory in person to see our Nautique on the assembly line, I'd have no worries. I have also done fiberglass and gelcoat myself on my own boats and I'd have no worries with a repair done correctly- proper repairs are not prone to future problems. Enjoy the boat!

It seems that ZO is afraid that any changes made appear to be done only to emulate the pull of PP, thus as far as ZO is concerned its too much like PP. Sooo... in ZOffs mind, the PP owners would have less desire to "upgrade" to a ZO boat and then negatively affecting sales. Also it seems possible that pressure from manufacturers placed on ZO has stalled this project. It seems obvious that most everyone loves this trick mode pull for slalom yet ZO is not willing to make it happen. They are hoping we all just forget it and accept a pull that is not as nice as PP Z-box.

@DW : my reasoning is based on the properties of a carb delivery of fuel air mixture vs fuel injection. A carb is dependent on a mechanical accelerator pump to deliver whereas a fuel injection system delivers a pre prescribed fuel that is not subject to a mechanical device that has time lapse properties as a result of its design. Most agree that fuel injection systems are more responsive with a more linear power/acceleration curve. I'm no expert so this is solely my own hypothesis. I'm sure it has faults.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems both use gps accelerometers, both map/anticipate the course, both control RPM of engine, both are adjustable as to how the rpm boost is given(pull type). The only difference I see is that zero off contols rpm via the ECM whereas z-box does it via the throttle body on fuel injected in engines.

(I can see that z-box on a carb engine would in fact have a lag time that could be appreciable.) But on fuel injected engines it seems throttle control would be just as instantaneous whether the input is from the throttle body or the Ecm. Thoughts???

Thanks Gloersen, How about question 1. Is there a noticeable, appreciable difference in the two pulls? Seems like if both make approved times then there shouldnt be that much difference.

I own a SN 196 with GT-40 engine and Z-Box latest version. I also ski behind a SN200 with Zero Off. I'm not a short liner as 28 off at 32 mph is where I'm at. My questions 1.- is there an appreciable, noticeable difference between zero off and my z-box? Both systems are gps and mapped to our course, both have same options for pull type settings. My opinion is that I perfer the wake on my SN196 and seem to not be hammered by the pull of zero off. Course times are measured on both systems and are within allowance. 2. Other than the Z-Box not being approved for tournaments, am I hurting my progression by skiing more behing the 196 with z-box?

I'm not sure a carbon/light version will be a bonus. At some point there are diminishing returns on less weight. It seems that a certain amount of mass will maintain inertia and thus more steady speed when an opposing force (skier) is applied. It seems tracking and speed steadiness would be negatively affected with the carbon/lightweight 200. Ideal would be the smallest most least significant wake with the heaviest boat possible, and I think that may already exist.

Fusion head unit in my 98 SN as well. It's very nice! Bluetooth, XM if u like, and zone control for volume. Installed wet sounds amp and 4 wet sounds speakers and sub in kick panel. Love it.

Having owned 2 of the boats mentioned, and presently own the SN. Its a no brainer for getting the SN.

 

Seems to me that having rails going out into the ski area would be a hazard even if they hug the shoreline and lake bottom. And then they might get mucky and inhibit rolling properly. Maybe something like this elevator lift without a seawall just the concrete pilings needed for lift- still need to cut out some shoreline so its recessed and not in the skier/boat path.