ScottScott

My world doesn't make sense anymore....

To make a change, your skiing will go backwards at first. If you believe in the changes, stick with it....you'll be better in the long run. People are too impatient to actually listen to productive advice because they don't see immediate results.

Look for the next buoy sooner....

Skyview lake water ski club is in Harmony, not far from Winston. I can PM some contact info...

@TEL But....what are you drinking?

My back, and Cheerwine

Florida Ski School /Frank Despoyaux operates on a chain of lakes in the Orlando area. If you find a good time during week with little boat traffic you can ski as long a straight line as you want. Florida Ski School

On the bayliner, experiment with different trims to find the best. When I had a bow rider I/O I usually ran with trim all the way down. A friend that had a small bowrider with outboard, we ran trim about 1/2. Thats about all you can do.. No idea on the XT20

@Horton so it allows a faster correction than a "3"? how much does it drop before making that correction (relative to A,B,C) then does it just go back to set speed or higher then back down in such a way that times would average in tolerance. Point being, that once trick mode is modified to work for tournament slalom, would it still feel the way so many people seem to like it?

Does anyone know specifically what is happening in trick mode? Does it respond immediately (faster than C, which no-one uses?) How much throttle to make the needed correction? When the speed drops, does it just bring it back to the set speed? Will larger/stronger skiers times be in tolerance?

@The_MS What pull is that going to be....? Lock in B2 and take away all user options? I don't think everyone got the same pull with hand driving. You don't get the same pull now from driver to driver boat path, even with sure path etc... Theres a range of acceptable deviation. There has to be a line in that range somewhere.

What does "softer" mean? You want it to react later, and be more gradual to get back to target speed (so you want to still be ABOVE set speed as you approach the ball?) "A" settings are generally considered to be the softest (I think...?) but A allows the largest speed fluctuation. You slow down the boat, but it has to compensate to accomplish the correct average, so a larger speed variation from slowest to fastest. More correction throttle (3) will get back to set speed sooner, but may feel harder, less correction keeps boat speed higher closer to the next ball. Or, are you wanting the boat to know you got in trouble going from 2-3, so give you more time 2-3 but then make up that time from 4-5 or 5-6 after you caught up? C1 seems to have the lease effect (doesn't slow much, then makes that little correction the slowest/gentlest)....but hardly anyone uses C1 (or any of the Cs really.) There's already 9 pull settings (plus the plus settings.) How many do we need? Should they add more? I guess one potential is that since the Cs are little used, maybe they could move the whole scale down so Bs become Cs, As become Bs, then the As allow an even later reaction (larger speed fluctuations....?) Of course then everyone needs an update.

I hit the wrong button..... Actually no, I'll stay with it. I accept that it can make a difference to those running 38/39 or shorter. But since that ain't me....it ain't important.

The open side is nice, but that corner/mount piece isn't a great design. We had ours replaced under warranty also, going to need it again soon. I may go to a metal shop to see what can be re-designed to make that last longer. Putting something down at the end of that slot so the ball sits in different spots helps extend time before it wears out.

The reveal of the '21 coming out from behind the '76 was way cool.....gave me goosebumps.

Aside from a wider ski making pullups a little easier, I'm thinking something more narrow might be good. A ski the sits a little deeper in the water will be better in less than Ideal conditions (plus the salt is going to have the ski sitting higher anyway.) Connelly and D3 are known to ride a little deeper, also Jodi fisher's Wrapped ski is more narrow and does very well in choppier waters, with success in a wide range of skier levels. Wrapped

I'm with @LeonL

Wake on an i/o is different. The v pattern that starts very close to the boat and spreads out from there creating a 1st wake, as you go from outside the wake into center, with a sharp drop off. This has more of an impact when you hit it. A direct drive will have more of a single hump that may be as big, but it's softer when you hit it. There are a number of good boats from early 2000s geared more toward skiing, but with open bow and tower. Some of the Malibu, and the nautique 206 come to mind.

The question is whether thats an abnormal amount or not. How are the times? These speed controls don't keep a constant speed. Thats the basics of the pull settings in ZO. People talk about when it pick you up etc, but the basics of what happens is that A settings let the boat slow down more before it kicks in (then has to go the same amount above the set speed so the timing averages out,) C slows down the least. I dont' know exactly how much speed range you'll find with an A setting, but I would bet its at least 1 mph above and below. It may not do it in a way that we like always, and as mentioned, maybe classic will give a better feel....or zbox.

I like the stars in the sea dek on the bow. 50th anniversary addition has that, I've been thinking of getting one made for ours.

@Clydesdale I'll admit I'm not totally up on the exact specs of those skis. You may be right..... I assumed that since the plain omnis were a more beginner type ski, that they would also be wider, more so than the syndicate omni which is more intermediate.....but can't say that for sure. And...this years lineup vs 2018 could have some variations. Long/short, i think shes on the high side, size wise, for a 67" ski, and while I'm in favor of going slower speeds, she will need more surface area than she has with that ski to go that speed.

I'll disagree a little with the above. I'm a fan of slow speeds that you can make it through the course. Pushing to the next speed for progress, but at that speed you don't need tight turns. For her size, you may want to consider a wider ski till she's going faster tho.

I wouldn't say that there is going to be a lot of improvement with one ski over the other in this case. Learning the course is a struggle. Biggest thing at the slower speeds is that the ski is big enough (overall surface area...ie a wider ski doesn't need to be as long.) MAYBE a larger ski would make things a little easier until the speed is up a little more....The lyric, or one of the plain Omnis would be a little wider and maybe a little better at the slower speeds.

I'm with @slow The tower could have some benefit, as mentioned above....and additional storage for a day on the lake with friends/family would be handy. I would almost consider one for our boat BUT, that prostar looks soooo good without it.