oldmanskier

Horton: I was hoping you would give me feedback being as you have had various CP's. Your explanation of details was great and gave me the information I needed in making a decision. I am leaning towards the Carbon Pro 5.7 due to there appears to be better deals on promo's and used ones. From information I have received there does not appear to be a big slalom difference in CP 5.7 and 6.0. Also there is a Centurion dealership in Chattanooga TN (20 miles from house) now. I checked with them and they said they would do service as needed on any CP I bought. I am sure the 6.0 is a blast to drive but I do not pull jump and I am not for sure I want to spend the extra 3 to 6 grand for a 6.0. Thanks to everyone for their comments.

6balls: What do you like about the 6.0 over the 5.7 slalom pull? oldmanskier

I have been reviewing used Carbon Pro and Nautique 200 CB boats for sale. Question: Does anyone have an opinion on the difference in Slalom pull between the PCM 6.0 and PCM 5.7 engines? I know a lot of people are going with the bigger 6.0 engines now mainly for Jump pulls. Are the 6.0 engines better for slalom as well? Oldmanskier.

I went to Atlanta Georgia boat show yesterday. Only one three event ski boat at show. One Mastercraft pro star. I am sure Ray Crenshaw was the reason that boat was there. Thanks to Ray for still supporting ski boats. Malibu, Nautique and Centurion all had many Wake/Surf boats of all sizes and colors. But those companies did not have a single tournament ski boat at the show. Very disappointing to me. A possible positive note: Wake Tractor had several boats there. A very different looking boat with a center drive console and PCM engines. John Dorton (former head guy at Mastercraft a few years ago) was one of the reps at Wake Tractor booth. I had met John a few years earlier when I was skiing at Chet’s place. John is a very nice guy and when I mentioned meeting him at Chet’s he said that they were working on a 3 event Ski Tractor boat. The Ski Tractor would not be a center Drive console and be somewhat more traditional. They were designing it to be a 3 event tournament boat. From my understanding they would have a model that is bare bones for skiing. Boat, engine, Zero off and whatever is needed to be a safe bare bones ski boat. I hope John and company can pull it off. I look forward to seeing the new Ski Tractor in the future. As for Malibu, Nautique and Centurion I would think they could at least make sure one Tournament ski boat from there companies was represented at a large boat show like Atlanta. Oh well, just shows I am old slalom skier longing for the 80’s and 90’s heydays of water skiing. Oldmanskier

No Wake ski club close to Chattanooga Tenn. Lake owned by 10 shareholders (Currently 6 shareholders active skiers). The lake is in a flood plain so no houses or living on the property. Strictly a ski lake. Yearly Memberships offered to non shareholders currently for $2500. Active Shareholders currently pay $1800 yearly. 2012 Mastercraft club boat supplied. Price the same even if club member wants to use their own boat. Currently everyone uses club boat. Club members supply their own gas and pay for any boat repairs due to member negligence (example damaging boat prop). All club members help in labor maintaining property. (Boat oil changes, mowing, slalom/Jump repair, etc). Club expenses covered by $2500/$1800 membership fees: Insurance $5000, taxes $2800, current boat payment ($900), boat insurance($500 est) porta john (?), electric bill(varies), lake maint, slalom course/ jump maint, Boat maint/Repair around $2500 yearly(sometimes more or less). Note: Ski club shareholder/membership dues are adjusted yearly depending on how many members join in a particular year. Expenses are estimated and membership fees are adjusted to meet expenses. If a large unexpected expense occurs (example major boat repair or lake maint issue) an assessment may be charged to current active shareholder/members to cover the expense. We had to do a $600 assessment per shareholder/member last year due to unexpected Boat repairs, lake insurance and property tax increase. I am an active shareholder so I paid $1800 plus a $600 assessment last year for a total of $2400. A member last year paid $2400 plus a $600 assessment last year for a total of $3000. This price seems reasonable to me for access to a private lake, ski course, ski jump and tournament ski boat. oldmanskier

Horton: I just want to say thank you for all the work you do on ballofspray. Best website going for waterskiing in my opinion. My post to ballofspray: I did not intend or recommend for anyone to try my set up. I indicated this in one of my posts. This is the only set up that allows me to ski with my ankle issue. I would never hold anyone responsible for an injury that occurred from the current binding set up I use. If I did that would make me like these lowlifes that sue restaurants for spilling hot coffee in their laps. It is all on me. I agree with you that 99% of the ski world should use commercially researched systems. But none exist for my particular ankle issue at this time. My orthopedic surgeon (two surgeries and counting so far) says my ankle is the worst he has seen and still be able to walk somewhat normally. He does not want me to ski but I am not ready to give it up. I showed my surgeon (he is a snow ski guy) my boot setup. His words were “that should protect your ankle ok but the knee may take a beating”. I still got good knees so we will see. If I do not use this system (only one I have found that immobilizes the front ankle) my skiing days are done. I fully except this risk so I can continue to ski. Your web site for waterskiing is the best and I would not want to be the cause of a law suit against ballofspray. If my post is causing you any kind of issue that might negatively affect ballofspray please remove it ASAP. I fully understand your concerns. Any future posts I do on waterski equipment will be only on current available commercial equipment (none on my homemade endeavors or research). You have a great website and I greatly appreciate all the work you do to keep it going. Hope you are fully recovered from your injury. I really miss your ski reviews. Thanks again for all you do on ballofspray. Please do not ban me from the site. oldmanskier

Not for sure if I still have any on the phone from last summer or not. I will have to check. If not I will get some this coming season and post. Thanks.

Mmosley: Thanks for the invite. Hopefully Bob and I can come up in the spring. Been years since I skied at Whitestone. Whitestone is special to me in that that is the first place I ever qualified for Regionals back in 2000 I think. I saw video the other day of Whitestone. From all the rain we have had it appears you have a lot of flooding. Hope everything stays in place. Bruce, Wish, Liquid d and Fehlindra: Thanks for sharing your trial and error research. My issue is the offside turn. My onside turn is as good on my set up as any boot system I have ever used. I agree the back boot adjustments are the key to getting consistent turns. I have it set up where it is not as tight and flexes to the point I can stand tall on the ski. It also allows my heel to rise somewhat but not to the point my back foot could ever come out. I had thought about cutting the back binding cuff down and after hearing your comments if I decide I want to ski shorter than 28 I may give it a try. My goal last season was to ski complete 28 off passes at 32 mph. It had been so long since I skied complete passes I really enjoyed skiing multiple 28 off/32 mph passes this past summer. I had forgot how addictive the rhythm of a smooth clean pass can be. My goal this season is to ease back into 34 mph and be able to run 28 and possibly 32 off passes at 34. I plan on going to Chet’s a time or two this season to hopefully he can help me achieve this goal. Ed thanks for the ski history details. I love to hear those old stories. I started skiing in 1974 so I know who a lot of the people are you mention. Had no idea Jenner was a water skier at one time. Thanks again to everyone for all your comments, stories and suggestions. Oldmanskier. Uh on second thought my birthday is this Sunday so even oldermanskier.

Thanks for all the great comments and discussion. Bruce and Wish thanks for the encouragement to do what it takes to keep skiing. oldjeep I like the logical way you comment on different discussions. To the point and very informative. Just wanted to give my ski buddy Bob (helped me set up this binding system) and PBT training center Chet Raley and Noah a special thanks for being willing coach me using this set up. I could not make a complete pass on this set up until I skied with Chet & Noah this past June. They got me to running a complete pass the first set I skied and by the end of the week was making back to back passes at 28 off 32 mph using this binding set up. It had been 4 years since I completed a pass due to various surgeries on my ankle/foot and trying to find a binding set up that would keep ankle pain in check enough to ski the course. The rush of completing a pass again after just free skiing for a few years was great. Thanks again for all the great discussion and comments. Makes a dreary, rainy day in Chattanooga TN a lot less boring.

oldjeep: They are an old set of Dalbello Krypton Rampage snow ski boots I got for $25 on ebay. At this time I use snow ski boot liners but I am looking into Intuition liners due to they do not soak up water like regular snow ski boots. The holes in the toes are so I can get to the bolts that attach boots to plate. The boots have been trimmed in back to allow more flex so I can stand upright and not have my knees canted so far forward. Before I did the trimming it was very uncomfortable on the knees. lpskier: They have released every time a took a fall. The dual lock is 250 & 400. It is not coming loose. The release is all with the Fogman releases. I AM NOT SUGGESTING ANYONE USE THIS SET UP. In my case with my ankle the only thing they can do is an ankle replacement or a fusion. If I do that no more skiing. For now this allows me a few more years of skiing. NO boot is 100% safe so we all choose the best option for our individual needs. This set up will never allow me to ski into 38 occasionally like I use to. But it does allow me to keep skiing even if it is only 32 mph at 28 off. I am just an old man that wants to keep skiing as long as possible. Thanks for all the comments.

It is winter, I cannot ski and am very bored. Thought I would share my binding set up which is somewhat unusual. If I did not use this set up I could not even attempt the slalom course due to ankle pain. I call this Hermon Munster (Snow Ski Boots) Fogman setup. I am bone on bone and very arthritic in my left ankle (front). This is the only set up I found that are high enough and stiff enough to keep my ankle locked down enough to let me ski with out to much pain. I can run 28 off at 32 mph in these. Took me a season to get to that in these very stiff boots. I only went to these as a last resort and do not recommend this unless a person needs the ankle very immobile to ski and due to long learning curve at least for me. They are very difficult to do deep water starts and off side turn is very hard to get ski and boots tuned too. I am sure others have tried snow ski boots for water skiing but I have never seen it. The guy I ski with has this set up also due to a very severe foot fracture some years ago. He can run into 35 off at 34 mph on good days. It may rip my leg off but my ankle will be intact. Oldman skier.

This is my Hermon Munster (Snow Ski Boots) Fogman setup. I am bone on bone and very arthritic in my left ankle (front). This is the only set up I found that are high enough and stiff enough to keep my ankle locked down enough to let me ski with out to much pain. I can run 28 off at 32 mph in these. Took me a season to get to that in these very stiff boots. I only went to these as a last resort and do not recommend this unless a person needs the ankle very immobile to ski and due to long learning curve at least for me. They are very difficult to do deep water starts and off side turn is very hard to get ski and boots tuned too. I know this is not the information you wanted but I thought you might like to see the extreme side of what you can do with a Fogman.

oldjeep from other posts I see you do on boats I know you are very knowledgeable about boats and I value your comments. Question/comment: I may be wrong about cable. One response said cable got tight instead of loose when theirs needed replacement. Our boat has 1100 hours on it. How many hours does a steering cable usually last? And yes our boat had a bad leak issue off and on over the years and water did sit in the bilge a lot. Clubs fault (me included) for not draining bilge at end of day. Thanks to everyone for all the comments.

Post revised. I meant to say Do it yourself (DIY)

Our club has a 2012 Mastercraft 197 with 1100 hours. Steering is starting to feel loose. Original steering cable. Is replacing the steering cable a DYI project or do we need to take it back to dealer? NOTE: We have done DYI before for fuel injectors, impellers, fuel pump, replacing coil pack, replaced tracking fin bolt, oil changes, Zero off etc. Thanks.

Our 2012 Mastercraft would not start (990 hours) after we thought it run out of gas. It would turn over but not start. Had a couple of guys in club (one a PCM certified) start trying to figure it out without use of ILmore software. It appeared to be the coil pack or the Main Computer pack. Since coil pack was $150 and Computer was close to $1000 we tried the coil pack first. Lucky for us coil pack was the issue and boat started right up and is still running ok. Hope your issue is this easy and cheap.

I have every ski I have purchased since 1974. Total of 13 skies I need to let go. I thought I was going to make a display for them but we are getting close to retirement and need to down size. No room for display now. The list from old to new (I think): Obrien World Team Comp 64" (Green color) $25.00 EP Comp1 67" (Orange color) $25.00 Jobe Honeycomb 67" (Black) $25.00 Great American World Record 67" with Acusport Dynafoil adjustible wing. $25.00 KD 7000 67" (Black) $25.00 Duvall 68" (Black) $25.00 Connely Rocket 68" (Red) $25.00 HO CDX 20th anniv 70" $50.00 No Fin. HO Truth 70" $50.00 HO Phantom Truth 67.5" $50.00 HO Phantom Carbon 70" $50.00 No Fin GOODE 9500 69" (Very Used lots of holes drilled) $25.00 Fisher Yellow 67.91" With extra fin block, fin and Fisher screws. $300.00 My current ski is a 66" GOODE 9900 WR. Not for sale. If you are interested in any of the above e-mail me at tomjsmothers@aol.com and I will give more ski condition detail and pictures. Note: You will notice the skies got bigger every year because I got bigger over the years.

santangelo: I would like to see and possibly drive your boat when I am in South Florida in June. My e-mail address is tomjsmothers@aol.com Could you send me your e-mail so I could contact you in June about seeing your boat? Is your boat going to be available for sale this year? Thanks.

Do the CP 6.0L engines require premium gas?

santangelo I will be in South Florida the end of June to watch the Big Dawg at Okeeheelee and spending a few days after Big Dawg skiing at Chet's place. Not for sure where you are located in South Florida, but if you are not too far from Okeeheelee I would love to look at your boat and possibly drive if I have not purchased a boat yet. Thanks.

Horton the boat you show at skiitagain is one of the first CP's I liked. I love the color graphics. The issue is I am in Chattanooga Tenn. and the Boat is in Utah. A bit far for me to drive to test drive a boat. If it were closer I would take a look at it. Thanks for taking time to put it in this post for me to look at.

How is the 34 mph 22 off wake on the CP compare to MC, CC and Mboo boats? My old ankle injuries needs to know this. I currently start at 28 off on our club boat due to 22 off wake is very hard. I would love to be able to start at 22 off if possible. How does the 2011CP track compared to the other CP model years? The 2011 I am looking at online looks in really good shape but have no idea how one tracks. As for resale I am not buying the boat to resell. If it is a good boat I will keep it until my oldmanskier body can no longer ski. Being CP's have PCM engines in them it should last a long time. Thanks for all the replies. They have been very helpful.

jayski I sent you an e-mail with questions concerning Obrien Conquer '14 67.5" with one set on it for cheap. Please reply to e-mail when you can. Thanks.

In my young days 34 mph 35 off. Now with all my ankle issues 34 28 off is all I care to run. The Conquer was suppose to have a good off side turn. Which is what I have trouble with due to the special boot I wear on my front ankle to allow skiing without to much pain. Still love to ski even if it is back to back to back 28's. Plus the Conquer's price is good also.

Any one skied on the 2015 Obrien Conquer? If so could you give me your opinion of the ski. Thanks.