Clydesdale

Sorry @scuppers I’m new to the forum and the subject, but yes, my point exactly.

@BraceMaker agreed that would change my personal situation, but not a lot of people have that opportunity. I think activity on our public lakes creates interest and can most broadly give a new generation the bug. 40 years ago when I was starting we inspired one or two new tournament skiers from our lake each year. Compare that to the last 10 years I can count the number of tournament skiers coming from our lake on one hand. Actually 3 fingers, and one of those 3 is my son so one could argue he doesn’t really count because I made him practice every day before he could go tubing. Eventually he grew to love it. ?

lift canopies are nice too-you can leave the cover off without a lot of sun exposure and the boat is 100% ready for a set any time you are!

I’ve done both. After several years in the water I developed gelcoat blisters on my nautique and Boston whaler. Believe it or not if you read the fine print from most boat manufacturers they recommend bottom paint for boats left in the water-even if it’s fresh water. I don’t think my experience happens all the time, but probably more often than you think. I think I remember reading somewhere this effect is related to water temp and water chemistry, so you may be in a safer location in CAN. So... for my current boat I bought a lift and I love it. No water stains to clean with toxic acid, no dings from bouncing off the dock, no gelcoat blisters.

And @SlalomSteve .... welcome to the addiction!

If you’re new to course skiing i’d Recommend wiley’s (Rubber) or if you want to jump right in and spend some money then reflex hard shell. Just my opinion though. MANY good bindings out there and everyone thinks theirs is the best. Kind of like the ford/Chevy question. There ARE pros and cons when comparing rubber vs hard shell and I’m sure others will jump in. Can’t go wrong with wiley’s Or reflex tho....

Access might help, but I don’t think declining access is the reason for declining interest. Tubing is the real enemy. Every hour our kids spend tubing they are not skiing. Not developing skills. Then they reach 18 or so and they walk away from tubing/watersports altogether a “something I did when I was a kid”. Sorry I’m just whining and not offering a solution. I do think most of the ideas posted have merit. But... tubing is pure evil!

I’m usually pretty boring June thru August (ok, go). But when October and 45 degree water comes to the great state of Maine it becomes “nut up or shut up”. A that point there are no other boats left in the water and all the sane people are on the shoreline viewing thru binoculars and smiling with 91 entered into their phone just waiting to hit the last digit..... ☃️☃️☃️

@Brady I envy the multiple boats. Multiple wives not so much. Although if you can keep them in the garage maybe OK. (JOKING before everyone jumps on me!) Maybe they are the same company. If the strategy is to diversify from making beautiful boats then they really nailed it. :D

@Brady I tried to give you an “awesome” and a “disagree” on that last one but I had to pick only one!

did the carbon pro fail, or was it dropped for strategic product portfolio reasons when centurion was purchased by correct craft? Seemed like a great boat. Never drove one, but they looked sharp and (in my novice opinion) skied well....

@Tdub i’m No boat expert, but I am an EE. I like the idea of checking the off current with your ammeter/multimeter provided current draw is low, which it probably is. Safer to test currrent with clamp on ammeter first but most of those are pretty high current devices and won’t give you enough resolution to pick up something small. Based on your symptoms I’m pretty sure you’ll see some current draw. At that point its a question of isolating circuits to find the culprit. If it still happens with the master off then It’s either something that bypasses the master, or perhaps some weird current leaking somewhere before the master. Maybe try to disconnect everything that bypasses the master such as the stereo and bilge suggestions. Do these have individual breakers/fuses? If none of these are causing the draw then you could try to follow the line to the master and look for connection points etc that might be a problem. One finally unlikely scenario is current flow across some surface. This really shouldn’t happen but if for example some conductive grease or fluid was on the surface of your battery, solenoid, or something else that’s always live you could have a small current leaking across. Very unlikely in a late model fresh water boat, but if you rule out other possibilities might be worth looking around for something like that. Just some ideas to think about.

@DanE $150k is incredible. Looks like someone disagrees with my comment about EU manufacturing to support more reasonable prices in Europe. I certainly might be wrong and would be interested to hear their opinion....

Good point @Stefan . Hadn’t really thought that through, but I’m guessing taxes and shipping probably leads to an enormous price difference between ski boats And EU-produced pleasure craft. Is this the case? And if so, I bet there are lots of inboard/outboard buyers that would prefer a ski (or wakeboard) boat but can’t justify the big price diff. Surprises me one of the big 3 haven’t started manufacturing or at least done a collaboration for manufacturing in Europe. I’m sure the cost spreadsheet for that investment is pretty staggering, but if they really want to own the global market long term then time to “nut up, or shut up”.....

@Horton I’ve done some digging and still not sure if a panda is good or bad. Based on the seniority/level of those with triple pandas I’m thinking good? So do I have a single panda? and if so do I need 2 more...or do I need to be 3 times more obnoxious in a single post? ?

Just my opinion-Beauty may be only skin deep but ugly goes clear to the stringers! Having said that.... if it tracks well, has soft wakes, and I can get one for under $40k i’d buy one tomorrow.....

Same problems here and as others have said the radius handle combined with radar vice gloves has Helped. I still feel the pain, but it’s gotten 50% better with these changes. I haven’t tried the the both palms down get up but since several have commented i’ll Give that a try next season. Surprises me something so subtle on the getup would have such an effect though. Getups never really seemed too stressful and holding the handle like that just seems a little awkward. Can someone take a shot at explaining the mechanics of why this is less stressful/more ergonomic? Thanks!

@wilyle of course! Remember all of it! Always appreciated your advice, your jump, your boat, your old equipment, and mostly your mom. Amazing woman that encouraged and supported so many young skiers on the lake.

@Jaypro were really happy with our ez slalom. When we have 3 people in the boat we can deploy in under 30 min, anchor to anchor... when you figure loading stuff in the boat it’s more like an hour. Extraction is actually a little slower for us. Maybe 45 min. Here’s a video of us in action-not instructional but gives you an idea of the process....

@Jaypro We’re in limerick about 90 min from bethel. Course is in whenever the lake isn’t too crazy. Typically we pull the course on Friday and put it back in Sunday night or Monday. After Labor Day it stays in. Lots of work but it’s necessary to keep the natives from getting restless... ?

I’ve had a course in Maine for about 5 years. I called the state five years ago and can confirm that no permit was required (at least then). Warden often on our lake and has seen it several times each year so I believe this is still true.... what lake are you on? Waterskiers in Maine are like white buffalo....

Not sure how this would work for you financially, but maybe consider not bringing the boat and stay at or near a ski school in FL. We’ve been going to Swiss for a number of years and the knowledge gained on the dock interacting with other skiers is incredibly valuable. We’ve made pit stops at other ski schools and never had a bad experience, but I can’t say enough about the stadlbaur’s and their top notch operation.....

Don’t worry about going straight. Just keep it on edge. ?

@HMan66 bought this wide range adapter on eBay. No longer available but I found similar you could use. Connected to a a 3s 2200 lipo from Hobbyking and works great!

Guitar player here. ?. I tend to err on the side of caution rather than push too far and pick up bad habits. When increasing speed I increase by only .3mph at a time and video myself until it looks good. I don’t need absolute perfection, but at least proper position on the ski hips out, shoulders square, rope low... if it looks good and I can nail all 8 passes then time to move up. Take this for what it’s worth. I’m certainly no pro skier and I just made this up myself based on my experience with guitar....