gavski

The event exceeded my expectations and was a great success all round. Catch the action here: https://theduelwaterski.com/live/ Hopefully we have done enough to take this event/ format to the next level and bring our beloved sport back out of the sidelines and into the mainstream..

Chemmy Alcott - a former Olympic alpine ski racer, now professional tv presenter..

UPDATE: we are on the Pro Tour Calendar.. 22-24 July 2022 Details to follow and the format is yet to be confirmed…But, it will include the Pro’s shooting out against each other for cash prizes and then elements of past masters, amateurs, Pro-am/ team event..

Here is a roundup video from last years comp:

I believe the Cable Ski Slalom record is 1@44’off…this was set in 2012…no speed control - just a solid 36mph and a cable pulling you down the middle…granted, the skier can pull the cable over, but what you take - it takes back with interest.. Cable skiing is not my bag, I crap myself going round the turns…but shows what is possible with no frills & no fuss consistency…. I still don’t understand how ‘they’ can claim 2.5cm accuracy…in aviation, the best we get is 0.1 Nautical Mile…anything less than that is restricted by the military for obvious reasons and uses. However, a ground based system is another matter.. I am all for constituency..everything else in the sport is ‘standard’ - apart from the conditions..the pull is the missing piece..after all, we all have our ‘list’ of drivers..

Unless it is a ‘drop though’ fin and not an adjustable…would explain the price…

Re: Asher fin…I don’t understand this bit from the the blurb…” Leave the calipers at home. Take out the guesswork and never lose your fin settings! Just swap in a new blade shape and you’re ready to experience new performance characteristics from your ski. The new settings are built into the blade” Is this possible?

@aupatking - I have followed @adamhcaldwell ’s boot recipe to the letter - it is awesome…prior to this, I tried all sorts of work arounds to make the original supershell skiable. One of the mods was to add a power strap - just like on a snow ski boot and now the SS7… From having a boot that I could ski on - the addition of the strap made the boot un-skiable..it created way too much leverage on my shin - which is great in a snow ski boot, not so much in waterskiing… The new SS7 looks cool - but fundamentally still has the same basic flaws..the cuff is too high, the boot sole isn’t flat and the plastic is too ridgid.. The new radar boot, on the other hand, looks very interesting..flat sole, low cuff height, and both rigid & flexible where it needs to be…the only addition I would make is to have the ability to cant the cuff laterally to set it neutral against the lower leg… I have made simple mods to many hardshells that have immeasurably improved their owners skiing..non of which effect safety…the biggest hurdle is taking the leap of faith and trusting that the mods will work - but that’s another issue..

@ColeGiacopuzzi thanks for those numbers - next step, organise a demo from perf ski.. Just curious why this ski appears not to have arrived with great fanfare? Just a more subdued release and reception..time of year, worlds, COVID? I have no doubt it is going to be a great ski.

@ColeGiacopuzzi. I loved the 2016 vapor, especially with @TFIN numbers. Moved away from radar the past 4 seasons - long storey…But, i am very interested in the 2022 vapor - so much so that I am about to take a leap of faith… Do you happen to have the numbers that TFIN sent you? I am assuming it’s for the 67”?

There was a particular batch of a very popular ski in 2017, that had the fin block holes mis-aligned with the fin slot..this resulted i the fin not being perpendicular to the base of the ski.. Defo return it.

http://www.lakesofkaty.org/info.php?pnum=3

Which ever way you look at it - it looks awesome…just spent the day skiing with Jeremy Newby-Ricci and Glenn Campbell. To see the these boys ripping it through 41’ is astonishing..seeing them do it side by side is something EVERYONE needs to watch.. We had a gourmet coffee barista wagon at the comp..he couldn’t keep his eyes off the action, even whilst making the espressos.. There are very few sports that are exciting to watch live…it’s how it’s presented, vibe created, camera angles, live feeds/ replays etc etc that make even the most boring of sports captivating… In some ways, technology has killed off live sports, as it’s all too easy to sit at home and get the same, and arguably better experience. But, new technology has made it easier and more affordable to capture the most incredible camera angles and create a spectacular live event with all the razzmatazz that we love…watching a Bruce Springsteen concert at home is not the same as seeing him live… This is what we are trying to achieve.. @aussiemc - that’s fantastic.

The concept video from last year..

This is Alfie. The British U14 National Champ winning the event… And this is him post win..

@Wish That is the plan..but for now we need to build the hype, create the PROMO and go for sponsors.

This sums it up...The Drama!!

I was one of the event organisers - this has been 2 yrs in the planning. The idea was simple - make a slalom waterskiing competition spectacular to watch and awesome fun to ski. The format can be applied to Pro events, Proams, league & backyard. Also, how many other sports can you have elite men and woman competing with each other on an equal level? The event was a huge success! Nobody died - although my iphone took one for the team and a drone became temporarily MIA at the bottom of the lake as it was taken out by some huge spray. We are now in the process of collecting all the footage - from the development trials last year to the recent competition. We will be making a punchy PROMO video that we can take to sponsors. The aim is for BIG CASH PRIZES.. Note: the aim is not to replace the existing competition format, Pro Tours or other cool competition events out there. This is an addition. However, just like Dual Slalom in alpine skiing, or Dual Mountain Bike Slalom etc - this event is easy to understand by the masses, and is super exciting to watch. We want to draw in crowds and create real excitement in our sport again. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=105895201847343&set=a.107233335046863

https://www.instagram.com/p/CTwcrotIp1O/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Exactly….btw - the pro friend that Mr Preuss is referring to is Jamie Beauchesne….

@Horton - I didn’t say ‘not loading until the wakes and then trying to break the rope’… I said - don’t lock into a static, stack position and then push (lean) against the rope as a means of increasing the load. This just gets you into a lean lock and you can’t move until the load eases - which is after the 2nd wake.. I am now accelerating and rolling the ski flat through the wakes in the shortest possible time and distance. When I say pull - that is the sensation. What I am doing is physically lifting myself out of my acceleration position so that I am coming off the 2nd wake with the ski underneath me and the handle close up to my body with my inside arm bent at 90deg… Getting this is work is no accident and it takes real physical effort - especially when learning it..I have to think pull, because I will just default back to a stacked and drive position, where I can’t move my ski fast enough because of all that load. Slowly it’s becoming less effort as I learn to control the timing and intensity - but the move is still the same..i like the concept of ‘pull through the wakes’…you can call it ‘roll the ski flat at CL’, or ‘move your Mass foreword’, but that isn’t what I am doing…it is however what is now happening as a consequence. You can see what this is the most misunderstood aspect of slalom skiing…

@horton - you are correct about your habit to shoot the ski out in front thru the wakes from your offside to onside - I suffered from the same issue and it was beaten out of me by me by my favourite French coach… This issue manifests itself from setting a strong, but static (more on that later) position out of the turn…as we know, as you approach the wakes, the load from the boat increases until CL.. As you are in a fixed/ static position, the increase in load has to go somewhere… So, one of two things will happen: 1. You will buckle under the load - unlikely as you are strong as an ox… 2. The ski shoots out in front of you - thereby releasing the load…this results in you arriving at the buoy feet first with only one way to make a turn - falling to the inside..blah blah blah.. I have wrestled with various methods to achieve connection off the 2nd wake: Stand up tall at CL flatten the ski at CL Ease up the lean at CL release the feet at CL Engage abs at the 2nd wake Pull feet back at 2nd wake point the tip at the buoy Be super strong at the 2nd wake - waaay too strong at 1st wake Sadly non of these worked as they didn’t address the main issue… being in a strong, static, braced, position. I couldn’t work out how to move from my super stacked position. Hence the ‘wall’ that I had hit - mid 38’off @36..I am am strong enough and have enough ‘band aid’ techniques to run easy 35’s - and when the moon and stars are in alignment, I will get 5/ 6 @38… My Achilles heal - connection off the 2nd wake..but how to you get it, whilst being stacked and strong..why do all the pros look the same off the 2nd wake? They have all worked out how to harness the load in a subtly different way to the rest of us.. Glenn Campbell drew me a diagram of where and how to load through the course…on a scale of 1-10, you want to be approaching the 1st wake at 3…as you progress thru CL, you want to be increasing YOUR power so that you reach level 7 off the 2nd wake..then as you swing up, you progressively reduce the load back to 1 as you reach etc.. Even with this advice, I couldn’t quite work out HOW with what I was doing…then along came Mr Preuss..he provided the how…BAM!!! the rest is history… Caveat…it is all about timing. If I get into my old stacked position and then pull, I am reaching a level 10 at the 2nd wake and it is explosive…if I even have a hint of push (drive though the legs) the power I am able to generate shoots the ski out in front and it’s game over….the key is just time your pull movement, and nothing else, as you approach the 1st wake and continue though CL until the 2nd wake.. No more ‘band aid’ moves - everything else just works. I have been regularly skiing since Mar - so I am conditioned…since working on this move, I have found muscles that I didn’t know existed for water skiing..my quads ache (wtf - I am trying not to push with them), my abs ache, my biceps ache - it feels like the start of the season.. I have a long way to go as I have some seriously ingrained movement pattens..but this move is now becoming more the norm. My mantra before I ski - ‘pull not push’ - I need to turn off my legs…everything else is automatic. As long as you start at a level 3 as you approach the 1st wake and increase to about a level 7 by the 2nd wake you will see a massive difference..ONLY if you don’t push with your feet or just increase your braced position load..that isn’t the same - you will just block anything from moving until it’s too late.. I appreciate that the manner in which the original message had been delivered may have been not to everyone’s taste, but the information is genuine and from a bonafide source..if mr Preuss was still skiing, he would be mixing it with the top big dawgs. Anyway - it works for me..sharing is caring..

@Horton, that is great skiing…..whatever you are doing - keep doing it…it looks exactly like what I have discovered and have been working on…it is very subtle but dramatic change. Shame you pulled the trigger on Mr Preuss..his message was plain and simple.

Enough is enough…. This advice works. What @mrpreuss is referring to is the single most important aspect to short line skiing. Like Horton, I have been reinventing my skiing and this is the secret sauce that I have been looking for..it’s so simple…don’t try it, if you are not interested. When I get the timing right, it feels like I am watching myself ski from above. Trent and Rossi talk about having vision - I now know what they mean. I have been told by many a pro, that once you work out what to do off the 2nd wake, it will unlock your skiing..all pros/ elite skiers do the same move off the 2nd wake…all the rest of us do not.. work out what and how and your skiing will be unlocked.. This worked for me…but it will take a period of hard work to undo my old movement patterns. On the occasion that get it dialled - hallelujah…all the advice that I have ever been given, now makes sense to me thanks to this vital jigsaw piece. Adam Caldwell has found what works for him -sadly, I couldn’t get that to work for me, but I understand exactly what he is trying to achieve. Thank you Mr Preuss.

That is great skiing…now I am interested..how do I get to demo the ski with Nick?