Cnewbert

@Stevie Boy" I think we can all agree that Regina is RFF and likely knows what is the correct hand position on the handle:

@BraceMaker, that sounds like a good plan. Hopefully I myself will have need of it before too much longer. I will say again, though, I'm surprised factory schematics are not readily available that would save any trailer measuring.

@jimski, I suggested something similar a couple of posts before yours. Except I suggested just bending them flat against the bottom where they pose no harm nor any chance of impaling a skier, but still might make good anchor points for a new set of buoys. Of course if they are so rusted they break when bending flat, then it might be best just to break them all off.

I’m curious about the discussion of where to position the lift bunks to avoid long term damage to an improperly supported hull. Wouldn’t either (or both!) the manufacturer or dealer readily provide that information?

1/2” rebar? Just bend it 90° flat against the bottom. Slide a 6’ length of maybe 3/4” ID pipe over it. With that much leverage it should bend like butter quick, easy and very cheap. It would be a fraction the effort of cutting it no matter what you use. And you could still use the still firmly anchored but no longer sticking straight up rebar as buoy anchor points right at the point of the bend for the new course.

Looks aren't everything, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That being understood, I find it just plain ugly and would never buy one at any price. But that's just me.

Oh, to be young again! I surfed my way through college at the U of Hawaii. No college team or anything like that. In fact, the surfing atmosphere was hostile, sometimes violent at least until (and unless) you got accepted at your favorite break. And even then it was only marginally civil. Seeing the camaraderie, support and fun atmosphere of the college water ski scene sure makes me see what might have been in a different time and place. I think growing the sport might be a simple matter of exposing kids to what they are missing out on!

I think your price is already very competitive compared to the asking prices for similar boats on SIA. But then, many of those boats have been for sale for months and apparently haven't sold yet, which says a lot about how realistic those asking prices are. I think the 2020 Prostars with the 6.0L engine may drive the price for 5.7s down a bit.

I just had my first opportunity to both ski behind and drive a late model PS (‘17). Great in all respects. It sure was easy to drive and track straight, so I’m not quite sure how it can be faulted in that regard. Loved the boat.

@mmskiboat mind you, I never said there was s glut. I was only commenting in a general sense about the benefits to buyers of a glut of any product. It was the OP who suggested there might be a glut of expensive ski boats. I have no idea if this is true or not. I monitor SIA and Only Inboards and I see quite a few late models of the big 3 for $50-$75K. But I don’t know if the numbers I see constitute a glut. I have seen a quite a few price reductions of late suggesting a number of boats aren’t moving. Though price reductions at this time of year are probably to be expected.

The good thing about a glut is that eventually it should result in a buyers’ market, with good deals to be had once the sellers realize there are more boats for sale than buyers to buy them at the prevailing asking prices.

Like most everyone else, I, too, know only what has been made public and haven't I seen any direct evidence in this case. Nevertheless, I can't help but form a personal opinion based on what is known as well as what I can deduce from Nate's public statement. In his statement he says, "Apparently two years ago, certain individuals began a personal attack against me utilizing horrific, fabricated allegations of misconduct to justify their own misbehavior. The allegations were terrible and significant..." If this is true... if Nate is himself the victim of these false and damaging public attacks that have all but destroyed his reputation and caused meaningful financial damage due to loss of sponsorship(s) and loss of future earnings, then why, I have to ask myself, hasn't Nate retaliated with a massive slander lawsuit against these individuals he speaks of? Instead, he says he choose to maintain a low profile in the hopes the attacks would stop and further states it is time to move on without further response. Maybe he plans to sue for all I know, but he makes no suggestion in his statement that he is pursuing -- or planning to pursue -- legal action against these accusers. "Time to move on without further response" says clearly that no such action is being contemplated. Considering the degree to which these allegations already have harmed him, if he is truly innocent I find the absence of an aggressive legal response to recover his loses and clear his name very hard to accept.

Hi y'all, my name is Chris Newbert. I live with my wife, Melanie, in beautiful Reddick, FL, a small town outside of Ocala, known as the Horse Capital of the World. We have a horse farm here with 4 horses and are both avid riders. I'm a retired marine life photographer and author of two coffee table photo books of my work . My first book was selected by the Reagan White House as a Presidential Gift of State and remains the biggest selling and most award winning underwater photo book of all time. My second book was awarded the World Grand Prize for the Best Book of Underwater Photography in Antibes, France. That's what I did when I was gainfully employed. No more. I'm presently 70 years old and first started skiing in my 20s every now and then while living in Kona, Hawaii behind my 16' Boston Whaler with an 80hp Merc. None of us had a clue, nor did we have anyone to learn from, so we basically followed the boat on a long line with split handles, avoiding the ocean whitecaps as best we could. Truth be told, beer drinking was our primary focus for the day, with a little bit of what passed for skiing thrown in for entertainment and laughs. From Kona I moved to Aspen to snow ski and every few years I'd get a chance to water ski somewhere or another. I loved it, such as it was, but my opportunities to ski would be many years apart. Even after moving to Florida 6 years ago I had no idea that anyone even water skied here, as we never once saw anyone skiing on the public lake we'd boat on occasionally. I figured maybe the gators ate anyone who dared try. Little did I know that an hour south was the epicenter of water skiing on the planet. But in very late 2016 I discovered by chance a water ski club not terribly far away and immediately joined. It was the first I ever heard of short line skiing, stack position, slalom courses and so forth. It was a revelation. So 2017 was my first true full season of slalom skiing and I became quickly addicted. Last year at age 69 I tried skiing the course for the first time and was eventually able to get through at 15 off, 30mph maybe 40% of the time, generally ending at the 6 ball with a make it or break it desperation turn. I might make it, but it was not a pretty sight. I realized my lousy technique would forever mire me at this low level, so since then I've backed away from the course in an effort to try and develop some semblance of decent form. That remains a work in progress, but at least I'm trying, a good offside stack remaining my nemesis. I'm currently skiing 3x weekly at 32mph, 22-28 off on a 65" Radar Lithium Vapor. My enthusiasm is such that we're presently trying to sell our Reddick farm and buy a waterfront horse farm on our favorite lake so we can enjoy the best of both worlds without commuting. If we pull that switcheroo off, there will be a Prostar in my future!

@golfguy nice looking boat!

@Golfguy is your Prostar listed on Ski It Again?

#Ed_Johnson, I moved from Kona to Aspen in 1991 after 25 years in Hawaii. So I missed Iniki, barely. Gusts hit 225mph. At least it was fairly fast moving. I can’t even imagine what will be left of the Bahamas with Dorian lingering over it as long as expected at Cat 5 strength.

Subscribed!

I’m looking forward to this. Thank you!

My sincere condolences on your loss.

With all the debate and controversy about the conditions at the recent Worlds and how skiers were being endangered and injured as a result, I got to wondering how often skiers pushing their limits are injured at major 3-event tournaments with good conditions. I have no way of knowing of course, but coincidently a video just showed up on Facebook produced by Flowpoint TV, entitled “Paradise Lost” and featuring Marcus Brown narrating. Marcus of course injured his back very badly in competition to the point where to this day he is not skiing tournaments. The theme of the video concerned how to return waterski tournaments to the national spotlight and popularity they once enjoyed in the mid 80s. Considerable footage was from the Worlds in Mexico in 2015 I believe. Shown on the video were numerous brutal wipeouts in slalom and some horrific looking crashes in jumping. At one point a skier was shown being loaded into an ambulance, not unlike what just occurred in Malaysia. But the difference was the conditions in Mexico looked about perfect. Yet bad crashes and injuries happened anyway, as many or more than what I saw in Malaysia. So I have to wonder whether or not the organizers of the Malaysia Worlds are getting a bad rap for what may well be unfortunate yet inevitable in a sport that is inherently dangerous amplified by athletes going for broke resulting in accidents occurring even when conditions are ideal.

The closet cousins to waterskiing tournaments are alpine skiing competitions. Melted water as opposed to frozen water, pull of a ski boat vs. pull of gravity. Downhill, Super G, Giant Slalom, Slalom in World Cup, Olympics or any other championship are frequently held in far less than optimum conditions, conditions that can change radically throughout the day affecting skiers’ performances in all manner of ways. It’s part of the sport and somehow the cream always rises to the top. World Series games played in swirling wind and mild rain don’t tend to showcase the best players are capable of. Super Bowls, when played in open air stadiums in early February hardly have conditions that optimize athletes’ performances. Golf championships in high winds don’t exactly produce the best scores golfers are capable of. It’s simply the nature of outdoor sport and part of the intrigue.

Great advice from all. Boat trailers are made to tow boats, after all, and towing long distances per se is not an issue provided tow vehicle is appropriately sized and trailer, tires etc. are in good shape. Be sure you check the age of your tires by the embossed date code on each tire. Advice varies widely on when to replace trailer tires, from every 3-4 years to 5-7 and older. If I’m hauling an expensive ski tug I’m going with sooner rather than later. And if I’m going to tow a trailer of any kind regularly for any distances on freeways, I want a tandem axle trailer. They are far more stable in cross winds and much less dramatic if a tire blows. We had a tire blow and completely disintegrate on our tandem axle 4-horse trailer coming back to FL from TX doing about 75mph on I-10 and never knew it until someone passed us honking their horn and pointing. The trailer never even swayed.

Performance Ski is awesome! Beautiful, well-stocked store, plus a great, honest, informed and helpful staff. And their mail order dept. is just as good.

I miss skiing Ocean Pond too, @mjump! Beautiful lake.

This morning on Lake Weir, FL.