Jmoski

@BeMorrNH - that is the drawback to the direct drive ski boat, rear seat is useless with the rope on the pylon. Most I have been able to squeeze in my 196 while skiing is 3 adults & one kid: (driver, two on the loveseat) and a small kid the floor on one side. My boat only has a rear lift ring in the back, which is designed for vertical load - so I personally wouldn't tow off it.

@BeMorrNH - sweet ride, not your typical wrangler jeep - yeah, your clearly all set - my bad.

FYI - a few thoughts on your tow vehicle. The late 80's early 90's ski boats should be a little under or at your max tow capacity. If you are going to do a fair amount trailering, towing at the max will kick the crap out of your Jeep. Another thing to consider is the Jeep has a short wheel base, which is problematic in emergency situations as your more likely to jack knife your rig and lose control, so make sure you take it nice and easy. Hopefully the trailer that comes with the boat you buy has brakes, and they are in good working order. My friend bought an 1986 MC boat last summer, no brakes on the trailer. Do you have a tow hitch receiver on the Jeep that's bolted to the frame? FYI - when I look up your vehicle specs it says your tow capacity is 2k? Where are you getting the 3500 from?

Hi, As you know Winni is a really big lake. That, in combination with all of the idiots in their 40' power boats racing around in the Broads can cause for really rough conditions that frankly you just want to avoid in a true ski boat. So just stay in the calmer regions of the lake and be smart about it and you will be ok. As for the ski nautique that pulled the handle out of your hands - the boat has the power to do so, but a good driver will throttle up properly to pull you up without taking your arms out of their sockets! My friend bought an 86 Mastercraft that works really well for skiing. It's not my 2006 SN, but we run the course all the time with it. He retrofitted it to have PerfectPass Stargazer GPS based speed control - which is really handy. Of interest, his older MC hull does cut through rollers more easily that my newer SN. My first boat was a v drive (engine in the rear) super sport nautique, which handled the waves better, had open seating (ski pylon is behind the rear seat) but as the poster above points out was not great for slalom as the wake will be monstrous in comparison. As for the tow vehicle, will you be able to tow a 80's vintage ski boat, yes as they should be under the max tow rating of your vehicle. BUT... anytime you tow at the max your going to kick the crap out of the tow rig. Also, the Jeep has a very short wheel base, so if you need to make abrupt maneuvers to avoid an accident - I worry you could jack knife your rig and lose control. Another point of concern is the trailers that come with that vintage boat might not have brakes, or if they do they probably don't work anymore - which again is back on the point of the wear & tear this will put on your jeep. Hope this helps.

You will lose the boat in the divorce settlement

If it was last week you could have skied with me on nearby Moose Pond in Bridgton. Alas my two week vacation already ran its course, no pun intended... There is a ski school/outfit in Naples on the south end of Long Lake that you could use, bummer is the only course I know about is on the North end (11 miles away - hence the name). There might be a course on brandy pond though which is connected to the south end of the lake.

The Connelly Carbon V would be comparable to the Radar Senate - both are designed as 34 Mph skiis. I would try find a friend or a shop with demos to try them out first and see which one you like better.

A friend of mine switched from an old Concept to an Alloy Senate - the difference was night and day, he is so happy now on the Senate.

So when skiing this morning I paid closer attention to how I start: I suck my rear foot under my butt, knees bent with my chest over my knees, when the boat goes I push back to hold that athletic stance until the ski planes. I'm lighter than you (175lbs) but I am up well before my 196 has planed.

There are several threads on deep water starts with good advice - let me know if you can't find them via search or just scrolling through recent posts. In regards to which matters most, I would rank it in priority order of: skier technique, driver technique, and lastly the boat (assuming the boat has ample hp). Don't get me wrong, driver and boat do make a noticeable difference - especially if you haven't quite got it going. When you start do you have both feet in the bindings or are you dragging the back foot? If the rope attachment point on the boat your currently running is at the back - that's definitely making it harder as when the boat rears up on take off, the back will actually drop down for a moment - hence you deal with more drag (from the slight downward pull) and for a longer time. In regards to driving - try putting the boat in gear (just barely moving) for a few seconds and then hit the throttle - stay with the more gentle throttle up though. Dropping the hammer with a powerful boat is a sure fire way to pull something. Hope this helps

A few thoughts on starting with both feet in: 1. Before the boat goes, lean to the left if your LFF - or right if your RFF. The boat will straighten you out naturally on take off. This will eliminate the wobbling from trying to maintain a dead neutral vertical position. 2. Suck your rear foot under your butt - this helps get the ski at a 30 degree angle to the surface and will rise up easier 3. As others said keep your chest over the front knee, and when the boat goes I push a bit and hold that position until the ski planes. By pushing forward a bit with the front foot you in effect create a pocket by diverting the water around you which reduces drag. Often times my starts feel almost effortless - of course that could be because my wife is an awesome driver... I started dragging as a teen, once I switched in my late 30's I never went back! Good luck.

Once boat manufacturers come out with all electric versions, that will give you the open seating you desire in a ski boat! With an electric boat the weight is now in the batteries which can be evenly laid out across the bottom the the boat. The motors are small in comparison yet incredibly powerful. The new Tesla is faster or comparable 0-60 to Porsches & Ferraris. Correct Craft had a prototype boat the eNautique, not sure when it will materialize for sale. Ski pylon still needs to be behind the drivers seat though as skier will waggle the back from the pull if its in the rear like vdrive boats. The 200v wake is okay at shorter line lengths, but it not great at 15 & 22 off. My friend had one I would hands down rather ski the older direct drives on the lake.

@LeonL - IMHO I think the 3 science observations above actually supports skiers experience of cold water feeling faster... The key is surface tension and not the friction between the ski & the water. The greater the surface tension, the higher pressure the skier can exert against the water without it "giving way" which is what happens when you apply enough force to redirect it - or in other words breaking the tension as you carve up that wall of water. Colder water --> higher water tension --> Higher pressure --> faster cross course speed!

I've always used Moose Juice binding lube which you can still buy from a few places online.

In New Hampshire my ski buddies could only get a temporary use permit for certain days at certain hours, so it has to dropped in and then pulled every time. Before they got the permit someone called the marine patrol on us and they made us pull it - so be thankful you don't need a permit for day use!

You can buy for like $20 a 7 pin round connection tester, this is any easy way to eliminate the truck end of things being the issue.

7 pin round on both the trailer & tow vehicle, or is there an 4/5 flat to 7 pin round adapter in play? Sometimes the adapters wear out. If not then it's definitely a connection issue - if you lived close by I would help you trouble shoot it with a multimeter....

one other thought, if you are connecting a trailer side 5 pin connector into a 4 pin receiver on the tow vehicle - that's the issue... Everything else will work, just not the reverse lockout.

I assume you have disk brakes on the trailer, sounds like the electrical connection to the reverse solenoid is loose/bad or you have a bad ground (this is what locks out the master cylinder from activating when you back up). This is the 5th pin on your 5 pin flat trailer harness. That will be connected to the reverse lights on the tow vehicle. When you back up a hill there is more pressure applied to master cylinder hence its a problem if the reverse solenoid is not working correctly. Some actuators have a hole to insert a pin to physically lock out the master cylinder from activating in a pinch...

Have someone capture on video the removal of the oil filter and the possible discovery of the extra o-ring...

Two thoughts: 1. the reason some of us are concerned is for those with older boats PCM explicitly states "synthetic oil is not recommended" and "use of improper oil may void your warranty". It sure would be nice if PCM would officially revise their position for older engines like my 2006. Likewise on transmission fluid as you can't buy certified dex 3 anymore, only dex 6, which guess what --- is synthetic! I agree both synthetic versions are superior, but they contradict manufacturer specs. 2. Why is okay to run a heavier weight oil (15-50) than what the engine is designed for? Just my two cents...

Agree with other posters that with a crew it can be done in 20 minutes - we have a system down where one person drives the party boat with the course components, the 2nd person rigs the balls and the sections who hands to the 1st person whose connecting the sections to the main line as you back up in a straight line. Our record is 15 minutes to drop it in.

As a fellow LFF course newbie I have been struggling with my gate turn in as well. My problem is generating enough speed so I am earlier at ball one. I am wide on the boat and gliding when I initiate my turn in. Last week I watched YouTube videos of Chris Parish (two handed gate) and Whitney McClintock (one handed gate) at 1/4 speed, and then tried to replicate both approaches and found Whitney's one handed gate helped me generate a much better cross course angle that immediately helped!

Hey guys, Just thought I'd mention how easy the upgrade to the GPS Stargazer 9.0 with the z box was on my 2006 limited 196. I had to swap out the gauge as well since it was on the fritz, took about 2 hours all in. Basically plug & play - biggest hassle was pulling of the dash and the kick plate.

Mom always said: "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"