chrislandy

The womens jump is interesting, since 2013 even with the WR increasing slightly, the top 5 average has plateaued and the mean & btm 5 average has reduced significantly 

Eric, db isn't everything(although -1db is a fair amount of energy at the levels our boats kick out), it's the frequencies too and where they are coming from.

Where are you taking the measurements from and just with a sound level meter? I'd try recording the sound and analyse the frequencies.

The soundproofing is pretty dire in the cockpit so things like decadence and adding addition linings to the dog box will help with the driver / observer experience and help to knock out some the the lower boomy sounds.

thats the one 👍

I'm trying to give the kid some idea of how long it's going to take to learn new tricks, a friend told me there was a book once that gave a half guideline to how many falls to learn each trick.

So to the many trickers out there, anybody willing to give any guidance?

@Horton @buechsr

My point was, that we are in a silo'd market whether its skis / foils / surf boards / boats etc... 

When compared to other boats, they are overpriced for what you get. Even taking the base model of what I linked to, you get a 7ft longer boat than a GS25, a boat you can put a tender on the back off to pickup, surf and foil all day behind (seen it done) and with 14000lb dry weight kicks a massive wake. Then you can cook diner, eat, entertain, shower, sh*t, then sleep aboard.

Another example is wake foil kit, LF / HL etc you won't find "decent" kit below $2k, come out of the silo and look at surf/wing foils and they are literally half the price - pretty much the same foil shapes, board sizes, leg lengths etc... aimed at a different market. 

Because it's a silo'd market, we only see what is presented to us and for competitions, what is allowed to tow us so the prices can be set by market demand. If dealers and lenders are going to offer 30yr loans on surf boats, and regulations don't curtail their use, they will keep going up as that is the expected trajectory.

I also think, the another of the biggest drivers in boat costs is the 2-3yr old boat market. If the manufacturers slashed the prices, they screw the last few years buyers who will most likely be this or next years customers and sink the market completely for years to come with thousands of boats in massive negative equity, unable to refinance, unable to sell on. As I see it, the only way they could realistically reduce the boat prices is to maintain the boat price and let inflation catch up, that way the boat depreciate correctly and customers aren't left holding tens of thousands of  debt on an asset worth nothing.#

An example of this is going on right now with Tesla slashing their retail prices, which may get them a few sales now, but has sunk the used market completely.

I'm going to differ, and say it depends on your glassing experience, personally I've used polyester resin fixing exhausts as it matches the materials already used and you can get a mechanical and chemical bond to the original materials whereas epoxy is only a mechanical bond.

Prep is the most important, sand off the glossy finish around the main tubes to get down to the actual fibreglass. (use work gloves,  googles, cover all skin and wear a mask, fibreglass dust is nasty stuff and will screw your lungs and make your skin itch for days)

key with 240 / 320, vacuum the surface and then clean down with distilled alcohol.  

Using CSM (chopped strand mat) rip into small sections no greater than 2" for fixing the tube ends, or strips to the right size for fixing tube rub through, keep a torn edge rather than cut.

Reactivate the polyester surface using acetone and let evaporate off.

Mix polyester resin (1.5x weight of csm) and thinly brush onto surface, working it into the surface using  stippling action. Add a layer of CSM and wet out with resin quite thickly, wait for a minute for the resin to dissolve the csm binder, then stipple with the end of the brush from centre outwards to work out any air bubbles and move the fibres around, add another layer and repeat for 3-4 layers minimum. Keep working it, bubbles will look like a lighter part.

Until you have got a rhythm going, work on one end / section at a time, calculate the catalyst based on the temperature and a 20-30min working time. Clean brushes for re-use using a pot of acetone before the resin goes off.

7 hours ago, Spencer_Shultz said:

We made sure that wherever you are on top of a ski, you have 8’ of water underneath you. 

That feels like a lot! Most man made lakes I've skied on have been quite shallow in the course (4-5ft)

Anyone who doesn't think the prices are nuts, is nuts themselves.

If the manufacturers are not operating on huge profits (not dealers, the manufacturers) then they are doing it wrong. In the video, it says (paraphrased) "If the boats are twice as big, then it costs twice as much to build", complete hogwash and shows the misunderstanding, lack of knowledge or naivety of the interviewer/ee. 

For context, different market, same thing though.

For example, 300k you can get a new 32ft Haines cruiser, max 26mph, 6 berth (double in bow), kitchen, lounge, sundeck, head, shower, etc... Haines 32 Offshore | 10m | 2024 - Berkshire | Boats and Outboards 

10x the boat, materials, technology than a base model 300k "surf" boat and you can guarantee they are making a decent profit with very low volume production  

IMO its a much better release as it will release in any direction rather than just over the front

Sounds to me that you're just having trouble transitioning from free skiing to timed course skiing. i.e. the balls come up very quickly and you're panicking / rushing.

If you're position is reasonable free skiing, then I'd try skiing the course (not trying to get the outer buoys) but concentrating on the timing for cut, transition, turn and getting your turns in approximately the same location each side while not getting slack. Then once you've got the timing you'll find the balls come easier.

Don't concentrate on the entry gates, if you get them great, if not, keep going.

Don't try to just get through speeds, work on position and timing at lower speeds first. 

@Horton nothing an angle grinder and some fibreglass can't fix...

40F and the kids are still skiing

I thought it might be, I couldn't find the ring and latch separately either.

I'm going to try braising some filler material onto the latch and filling the ring groove with metal epoxy putty to hopefully see it though until I can find a replacement 

Is this throttle wear normal? 1600hrs on a 2015 prostar. The lock doesn't work pushing forwards. Is the groove from wear or was it designed with a groove and its worn more?

that was my next option, I do like the horn to work though (even if it is a little peep!)

Anyone know where it is? Mines stopped working and I've got a boat check tomorrow. Got power at the switch and the fuse hasn't tripped.

I've looked under the dash on both sides with no luck.

8 hours ago, Ski_Dad said:

what happened to Nate?

apparently a clash with his pilots test (according to the commentary) 

There are few and far between unfortunately, especially in the UK. Maybe Steve at Oxford?

I've seen the HO plate one someones ski at the club, yes the boot is a lot better seated (along the base and the toe hoop) thus the lesser forward pressure (I deduce)

the replays have been put up now

On 9/8/2023 at 2:54 AM, Horton said:

I don't think my boot moves side to side. 

I would NEVER use a Reflex without lots of "forward pressure". By forward pressure I assume you mean the release is driving the boot into the front hoop.

Somehow the HO system does not require a lot of forward pressure. I assume it is witchcraft.

Bit of a late reply, but I presume it is because the reflex toe loop only has 3 small contact points and uses a different boot. The HO / Edge boot is a different material and stiffness, plus the toe hoop is wider with a single long contact patch that extends the full width and height of the toe.

From my playing with these and other releases over the past few years, the reflex setup needs a lot more forward pressure to keep things in place, a lot more than when setup on a snow ski whereas by increasing the location/contact area on the toe you can reduce the forwards pressure.

looks like a bastardised and repowered tristar!

1 hour ago, RAWSki said:

@MISkier if a lake is only 16' at it's center/deepest spot does it make the bill not enforceable ? 😉

my reading says that on a lake less than 20ft deep, its banned 

32 minutes ago, VONMAN said:

 Electric powered ski boat can't come close to gas engine boat in power for a gallon of gas, price of investment, time and distance on the water, performance, and ease of re-powering (adding gas to the tank). A boat is always working/under load from parasitic drag of the water. The affect we are seeing in the electric truck market when towing. So when a battery package can be designed to weight 800 lbs lighter and be charged in less then 15 minutes and have a run time of at least 2 hours under full load, you would have a ski boat.

Yet, again, looking outside the US, gas/petrol is one of the most expensive fuels to run.

Parasitic drag imo is just a load case and an electric motor can provide it's full torque (easily outmatching the prop/boat/drag) until the motors max rpm/torque is achieved.

The 2 hour full load thing is an unrealistic KPI. A ski boat at a ski school if running slalom sets, will only be under load for 6-8mins of a 15-20min set  (about half the set) allowing for drop and instruction time and uses no power on "idle" and minimal power under in gear idle throttle. Most that I've seen have a 15min slot over 1.5-2 hours to refuel/WC break so that battery only has to be large enough to do 1hr (80%-20% drop) and the charger able to recharge that 1hr sized battery in 12-15mins.

Same goes for a 6-8 set evening at the lake, similar time driving/skiing, but you'd be starting from 100% rather than 80% and could go lower than 20% and have 20 odd hours to charge back up again for the next evening, or 8-10hrs if doing morning / evening sets

17 hours ago, Horton said:

let me rephrase my first post. electric boats are absolutely coming. Electric boats in the form factor of a slalom boat have been evaluated and at the moment they are economically and functionally impractical.

I believe it will take US legislative changes and/or US consumer pressure rather than economic. I know the US is the biggest market for these boats, I'm not sure what the market % is to Europe / Asia, but once you come out of the US fuel cost is very different and people already widely use alternative fuels.

For example in Europe, 99% of ski schools and private boat club lake boats run on lpg because of the cost difference yet none of the major boat manufacturers offer a factory fitted LPG system for this market (even though the tech is well developed, proven and the econtrols ECU can drive LPG injectors and I've heard can run petrol and lpg maps as duel fuel) why? Because the in the US it isn't a viable cheaper alternative.

Mastercraft Austria have an option retrofit as electric, so the market is there in certain countries. As I've mentioned in previous topics, I think Hydrogen Fuel Cell will be the answer, or small battery electric with quick and regular charges for ski school use.