HMan66

@Buck I just went through this myself. Picked up a used 2018 Senate Lithium from a member here and swapped over the bindings from my '03 KD. The ski is fast, but stable, and doesn't seem to have any bad habits. Yes, the older high wraps are heavier but what impact that will have? Who knows? @Than_Bogan is right because I felt instantly comfortable on the Senate after skiing on my old KD for so many years.

My creation. About $25 in material and a couple hours of my time. You do have to pull it off to shorten the rope but it just takes a few seconds. I stuck some felt pads in the bottom for a nice fit around the pylon, and I put a piece of pipe insulation under the cap for vibration dampening.

@Clydesdale how did you adapt the lipo for the camera? Genius!

Anyone tried one of these? http://www.e-z-cam.com/

Bob Bense at Superior in Sacramento has a 2015 he’s looking to move quick. It’s on Craigslist.

In that Seth Stisher video, watch it at half speed and look how good his offside turn is. Perfect example of how to let the ski finish the turn. That form will be my goal as my offside is what's keeping me from my first full pass.

@kk2ski the loop for the shock tube wraps around the pylon under the swivel for the rope.

I’ll say whatever I have to if the driver will actually hit it when I say “Hit it!”

I was able to ski with @eleeski today and he had a Masterline 13” radius in 1.062 that was nice so I just ordered one in 1.092. Thanks everyone for all your insight and info!

So I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on a Custom Masterline Radius handle. I'm not sure what size to order and I'd hate to waste $150 getting the wrong size. I currently have an older Masterline that measures 1.03. What size would you recommend for bigger hands? Mine measure 8" from my wrist to the tip of my middle finger and I wear XL gloves. 1.062 seemed a bit small. I found a brush in my garage with a 1.115 diameter handle that felt pretty good so maybe the 1.125 would be the right fit? Thanks!

@vtmecheng I’ve spent a lot of time on rivers and as long as you’re paying attention you should be fine. Not like cabin cruisers plowing along at 15 mph are gonna sneak up on you! Take it slower to keep the nose up. With people in the bow the boat will ‘dunk’ deeper on the downside of a wake but any water you may take in should drain and the bilge will pump it out. I had a Centurion with the turned down style nose and really had to learn how to keep from flooding the boat a few times! Good luck!

I'm 6-2 and 215. Been skiing on an older KD Evolution which was a bit wider in the tip and tail than the 7000 I had been on before that. I tell anyone that's driving to hit it hard. Nail it. Never had any issues. I'll be trying my new-to-me 2018 Radar Senate this weekend so we'll see....

@StackedUp I think you got every possible response! Some great info in this thread. I do agree with @BraceMaker about wanting better wakes as they're easier to cross at slower speeds. I skied (many years ago) behind a 2007-ish Prostar 197 which was supposed to have the best wake ever and I gotta say that at 28 mph that wake was huge. IMO these hulls weren't designed for slalom at 28 mph, but for slalom at 32+ since the wakes just get better with more speed. I'll be skiing behind my '96 PS 190 this weekend at slower speeds (I free ski 36@32 off) to really see what kind of wakes I get. So what are you gonna do? We're dying to know!!

@BraceMaker let's do a little comparison. In 1998 Andy Mapple had the world record with 1@9.75m. In 2017 Nate Smith claimed the world record with 2.5@9.75m. In almost 20 years of upgrades and technology, a world class skier gained a ball and a half. Was it the ski? The boat? The location? The weather? Who knows. Could Nate do it today behind a 96 Prostar or Nautique? Would I like to have a new boat? Of course. But will I spend $90K? Nope. Will my smile be just as big if I get 6 @ 22' off behind my 96 Prostar? Hell yes.

The real advantage? You can buy an older tournament boat for $14k and take what you would have paid for a new boat and put a down payment on the private ski lake house.

I'm really curious about this subject. What would drive someone to sell their lake? Is it expense to run/maintain? Is it residents selling and leaving? Not enough buyers for remaining lots or club member interest? The skigreatlakes.com website doesn't work but there's houses for sale there for $180K. And I was just looking at the ski lakes in Caldwell, Id (possibly moving there in a couple years) and now they're for sale too.

@eleeski I live in Riverside and would be interested if it’s an open offer. Not sure how I’d fare in the course (I definitely want to try, and train to get better), but I can drive ?. I have a ‘96 PS 190 if we need it. Thanks!

You can email Radar and they’ll send you the binding insert dimensions. Then you can measure your current bindings to see if they’ll fit. I just did that to make sure my 2003 KD high wraps would fit on my new-to-me 2018 Radar Senate Lithium.

I've always skied left foot forward, right palm down on the handle. But what @GOODESkier said about the bat reference really makes sense. I'm really awkward on my offside turn so I'm gonna give this a try.

I’m Harold Bessette. 53 years old, currently living in Riverside, CA. I learned to ski when I was around 12 in Kaneohe Bay on the windward side of Oahu behind a 19’ Larson I/O on a set of crappy, white painted wood doubles. When I was 16 I joined the Na Ali’I Waterski Club in Honolulu. We skied in Ke’ehi Lagoon out by the airport. There was a slalom course and a ski jump. I skied mostly behind an old Ski Tique (pre Nautique) owned by a salty old Navy guy that put vodka in his coffee (RIP J. Fred). I was a poor teenager and didn’t have money for a new ski so I was using the single from the wood doubles set. It was junk and the tail would blow out if I pushed it at all. Occasionally I got loaned a Connelly Shortline to use, but it wasn’t “mine” and it was, well, occasional. Mike Suyderhoud had a waterski pro shop in Hawaii Kai at the time and I’d go by there every few weeks to demo slalom skis. I was pretty fond of the O’Brien Competitor at the time. After a few demo’s they realized I wasn’t going to buy anything so the demo’s ended. I moved to Northern California in 1986. I had a boss that had a mini daycruiser and started skiing the Delta, which has 1,100 miles of some of the best open water skiing in the country. As time went on I met more people that had boats and I’d ski behind anything! I’ve skied behind a Hawaiian jet, Howard V drive, numerous tri-hulls, a Bayliner Capri, open bow daycruisers, Marlin Aries Barefooter (Worst crash I’ve ever had. Stuffed the tip into the wake, slammed my head into the water and ended up with a ruptured eardrum and a fractured skull), ‘87 Malibu Skier, ’89 Ski Centurion Falcon, a few mid 90’s Ski Nautiques, ’96 Tige FSLM Comp, ’77 Airborne Low Profile with a Merc 150 O/B (MY first boat), Nautique Super Sport, 2003 Centurion Elite Bowrider (my 2nd boat), ’06 MasterCraft Prostar 197 (2nd worst crash. Out of balance over the 2nd wake and was going over the front but my back foot stuck in the boot. Swore I tore my achilles it hurt so bad. Ended up with a severely swollen ankle for a few weeks. It still swells up from time to time), ’85 MasterCraft Stars and Stripes (probably the best ski wake ever) and my current boat: 1996 MasterCraft ProStar 190. I’ve never had any professional instruction but I’d like to get some and someday make a full pass through the course. I’ve loved waterskiing since the first day I tried it. It’s just one of those things, and I’m sure everyone here knows what I’m talking about since we all suffer from it! I have a 17 year old daughter that I tried to teach to ski. She got up, tilted to one side and faceplanted. That was the end of that. She’s taken to wakeboarding though and I’m happy she enjoys boating and being out on the water. Besides, she’s my 3rd! Through all my years of skiing/boating/houseboating I’ve met nothing but great people along the way! If anyone here lives near Riverside, CA I’m available to do some dawn patrol rips at Lake Perris. My boat, your boat, whatever…lets go!

Bought the 2018 Senate Lithium from @emwheaton. Radar sent me the binding insert layout dimensions and my KD bindings I love so much should fit. Stoked!

I believe the T5 was a re-badged Sport Bowrider (which used to be the Falcon). I had a 2003 Elite Bowrider which has a beam of 100". I skied it at 34 mph and it was pretty good for a bigger boat (21'-6"). I think you'll be dealing with the rooster tail around 22'-28' off. For an all around family ski/wakeboard boat it does a good job especially at the Centurion price point.

@emwheaton isn't the Lithium geared more for the course? Most of my skiing will still be open water.

@Deanoski that's the answer I was looking for. If I can re-use my bindings I can pull the trigger on the 2018 blank. Thanks!