Buoyhead69

You guys are bringing it with great advice & amazing insight. So today I got around 5 ball at -28, I was early to 4 got into good position & (in the words of my driver) started patting myself on the back too soon & got too much slack at 5 to see 6 ball- I really thought I'd run it when I turned around 4. So this does make me feel my Quest can get me there. I love spicoli's advice, I've been on jayski's site a bunch last night. Do I buy the book or just spend the $ on the Mentorship Package? Have any of you guys done the Mentorship Package? What do you think jayski? And I love Wish's idea of going nuts & buying a Denali & calipers, how fun would that be? The prudent thing (Chef23) would be to demo an ARC and NRG, what a phenomenal demo program from D3. And yeah Booze you're right I'm sure they're all good skis at that level/price point, each with they're own personality and yes I agree you're commitment-phobic lol. So much good insight, I'm trying to process it, thanks so much. Ever hear of paralysis by analysis?

I'm definitely not under any illusion that a new ski is the answer to me running -28. My gate, pull, position through the wakes (among other things) is the key to me progressing. And yes I love my Quest. Now sunvalleylaw has made me aware of finwhisperer.com & my head has calipers dancing inside; I've never thought I was good enough to worry about fin settings. The main thing is the cracking and fraying at the tip of my Quest & if that's something indicative of other issues with the ski? Every post above is awesome, if I do pull the trigger on a ski I want everyone's opinion. And I am a little shocked ThanBogen that you didn't say buy the Denali, score one for your objectivity/credibility!

Thank you. I've thought about the ARC. The NRG has gotten so much attention I kind of forgot about the ARC. I'm hesitant to deviate too much from the Quest, I skied on a Strada before I bought the Quest & I felt the Quest was quieter and more stable into the ball. That was a long time ago, though, maybe I should re-visit the Vapor. A guy on our lake runs -35 with a Vapor.

I'm on a 67" 2015 Quest 45 right now. I bought it late summer 2015. I ski a lot, 5-6 days/week so this ski may have over 500 sets on it. I noticed it is chipped/frayed toward the tip. This is my 3rd full summer in the course & I'm really happy to say I'm closing in on -28 at 34mph (running -22 pretty much every time and my training loop half the time if good water). Haven't run -28 yet, it's very different for me (my gate, how I pull, the feel of the wake), but today I got to 4 ball & I'm beginning to taste it. You guys have been a big help on a lot of stuff for me in the past so here's another- I've been reading on the forum that most of you guys buy a new ski every year, and there's been a lot of love for the Denali & NRG (however, most of you guys are much better than me). Do I stay with my current Quest 45? Buy a new Quest 45? Buy the NRG or Denali or a Rev 6 (recommended by one of the guys I ski with)? Or spend the $ to do the demo programs? I'm 6'1" 175lbs. Advice please...

I've skied Eden lake, great facility, Arthur is terrific. Harborage is a gated community, so is Miromar. I'd like to rent for the winter & want to make sure they're conducive to course skiing & not overcrowded with wakeboards/wake surfing/tubing etc...

Who has experience chasing buoys at the Harborage or Miromar lakes? We hope to spend some time at both this winter and would like to know if these are good places to ski. Do these lakes get too crowded to provide good water? Is it easy to find a fellow buoyhead to ski a few passes? Am I able to bring a boat & keep it in the water if I rent a house? Are there any other better places to ski? We do like to play tennis, swim, beach etc... for the sake of my marriage it's gotta have a few amenities... How bout Orlando/Winter Haven? Or West Palm? We want warm weather, does Orlando get a little cool? Thanks for any advice!

Thanks so much everyone, today between passes I made adjustments to my adjustable RTP and I must say it made a difference. No issues with the right foot tonight. I love this forum. Thanks @Horton we're lucky this forum.

@bigskieridaho do you use the sized?

Adjustable HO. Though in reality I don't find it too adjustable. I ski a lot (usually 5 days a week), maybe over 3 years of use it needs to be replaced?

Thanks dhofert, do you start with both feet in?

I ski LFF with a Radar Vapor boot on my left foot and an HO RTP (about 3 yrs old) for my right foot. The skin on the sides of my right foot, mainly the heel, is getting torn up. Not so bad that I've stopped skiing, but bad enough where my wife and kids have asked why is my heel red & peeling. As far as I can tell, it's worse after skiing but the weird thing is that my heel isn't even in the RTP. I've tried to notice if I'm sliding around back there & I don't think I am & it's not affecting my skiing. Conditions permitting I'm skiing 33-34mph on a 22 off rope & I've been having a great summer on the course with some good passes at 34mph. So.... has anyone else had similar issues? Should I get a new RTP? I've thought about trying the Radar "hybrid" RTP, does anyone use that & if so can I pop into it easily on a one-legged start? Thanks for any advice!!!

Really really appreciate It guys, Razor you're the man. Very helpful stuff about handle pressure from wake to buoy, thanks bro.

Extremely helpful, incredible, thanks so much. Gotta get way wider on my gate for sure. I think what I like about going 34.2 28 off is it forces me to be 100% on my game, I can't "get away with anything." I look at video of me running 6 at 34 22 off & wonder how the heck I even ran it... I can come a little late into 4 ball (my nemesis) then pull hard & hook 5 & muscle through 6. I actually look better at 28' off because I focus 100% on handle & body position. Then again, I'm only getting 2 balls...

Ok. Yes, incredibly helpful thank you. I meant to add that I noticed when I approached the gate outside 2,4,6 I had pretty good passes but when only even with 2,4,6 I was dead meat. I used a one handed gate a couple times & kinda liked it. Do you use a one handed gate?

Thanks so much, Razor where should I stop pulling? Yesterday I did notice my smoothest passes were where I pulled hard at the ball, stopped pulling as I approached the 1st wake & let the ski edge do the rest of the work.

I will have limited time on the course this year thanks to our new baby boy so here's my game plan; feedback will be appreciated. My PR is 2 balls at 28' off, 34.2mph. I've skied 3 times this year & I'm jumping right into the water at that speed & line length, no warm up, no running all 6 at slower speeds/longer lines. I'm focusing on fundamental form/technique, good gate, proper pull & body position. And... not being stupid & getting hurt. I got a couple good looks at 3 ball yesterday but didn't feel wide enough & I don't want to ski over the ball, turn an ankle or whatever. I will add, to me this is not boring. My goal is to run 28' off at tournament speed & I don't logically see how skiing slower speeds/longer lines will prepare me for the chaos (for me at least, I'm still a bit of a rookie) that occurs at 34.2mph 28' off. Again, I'll have a lot less time on the water than last summer so the "warm up runs" are also a time suck. We have a 2 year old little guy too & I'm looking forward to the days when skiing will make me a great dad instead of a tad bit selfish lol.

I've been meaning to post this for weeks, I didn't see anyone else post about this so I hope I'm not being redundant. Our local Malibu dealer in Michigan does a "polar bear ski" event & he had a new closed bow Txi here in December 3rd. This was the standard model not the Malibu Open version. I skied behind it at 34mph on a 22 off rope in a dry suit, it was very cold, the water was fairly choppy and it was a free ski no buoys. So basically not a great way to test a boat but I was super pumped because info on the new Txi had been so scarce I felt like I broke into Fort Knox. I predict this will be a very popular boat. It looks gorgeous (this was a royal blue & black), spacious seating up front, low profile step to the back deck. To my eyes the pickle fork style front looks great. No carpet just that foam stuff on the floors. Nice cockpit, nice storage. I have a 2012 Txi and the attention to detail/craftsmanship on this boat is clearly superior & far more sophisticated than mine. But most importantly I believe the wake was noticeably softer. I didn't go nuts and get too aggressive because it was super cold & I didn't want to go swimming. But I took a few hard turns and even with bad water I believe the wake was appreciably softer than my 2012. I've skied behind a Nautique on my lake and in FL and to my recollection the 2017 Txi wake was comparable but softer than I remember on the Nautique. I don't go super short line (28 off is where I am currently) so I can't speak to you short line guys but from where I was I loved it. I don't believe it was a "placebo effect" of just being so pumped to be out there that my mind played tricks on me & I perceived it to be better that it really is... but it's certainly possible. Obviously getting into a course on good water would tell the tale via buoy count. But I can't say anything bad about this boat, I was impressed with everything about it & I applaud Malibu for the R&D effort & trying to innovate & make our sport better. Am I going to buy one? I don't think I have the $ for it right now (most important) plus I hesitate to be the 1st one on the block to buy the "latest & greatest" in anything. Something unforeseen might occur & this boat may not pan out (didn't that kind of happen with the redesigned prostar? Seems I've heard complaints of a hard wake & I know someone who regrets buying his). Plus I don't want to have the nicest boat on the lake until I'm running shorter line & it's me not my boat that's holding me back from that!

Quick background: I'm a 47 yo male, 6'1" 175lbs. This is my 2nd season skiing the course. Last year I ended the season skiing 30mph 22' off. This year I ended the season skiing 34mph 22' off. I ran a training loop at 25' off a few times. I ran 4 balls at 28' off a couple times but couldn't get around the 5. I ski every day weather permitting, about 150 days at least a couple sets per day. I bought a D3 Quest 45 67" which I've used last fall & all this season. I ski a lot, I take it pretty seriously, and I'm thrilled with the progress I made this season getting to 34mph but I want continue improving. So my question: With the volume I'm skiing do I need to replace my ski? I ran through 2 radar vapor bindings this season (single boot with RTP) should I switch to hard shell? Is 67" the right length? There's a guy on the lake that frequently adjusts his fin settings and he suggested I try it (I use the stock settings); would that be worthwhile? Or should I just forget about all this and get more reps, keep my hips up & hands low & improve on all those basics that I still struggle with? After all I'm not skiing nearly the speeds & rope lengths as most of you guys so is this equipment stuff just superfluous? Should I just zip it and focus on technique and getting more reps?