GaryJanzig

Attach a rope to the rudder end, and cover the connection with duct tape to streamline it. Check out Ron Tanis' youtube channel. He shows you how to change out the cable. You won't need to change the clamp block unless you have play in the rudder. Another youtube channel Clu Engineer changes out a cable on a 1997-1999 Ski Nautique.

I will try them out. I rotate 4 ropes. I know I have to replace one of them.

The newer software on Perfect Pass locks in quicker, but on an older boat it helps to know the base line rpm for each speed, and throttle it up as if you are driving manually. Not as easy as Zero off, but not bad. I had to drive a newer boat once where the zero off was not working(waiting on a part). The new boats are not designed to be driven manually. It was tough pulling a slalom skier for the one day we had to. I upgraded to the 9.2 and Zbox and it is pretty easy to lock in, and I usually get split times within +- .02 seconds of actual.

I entered a few tournaments back in the 90's when I would have been in Men 1,2. My ski site is 73 miles from home so I only got out on the weekends. I felt I just did not get enough water time to be competitive. I did not have much vacation time back then so I skipped tournaments because I was losing too much water time. I was at several clinics at Dave's Pond in Edinboro PA during the mid 200's. Andy Mapple, Emma Shears, and Daniel Kennedy(April Coble's coach at the time) came up for some clinics. I was able to get into mid 32 off at 36MPH at the time. One of the club members who was the driver, Ed, asked why I never entered tournaments. I told him I did not think I was good enough for tournaments. He told me I would not make it to nationals at the time, but you would still be good at the local level. I tried it the next year, and qualified for my first Regionals in slalom and tricks. I almost did not go because a trip to Minnesota was expensive for me at the time. I ended up going. The Regionals were on the lakes where my cousin was an owner. Another cousin who also lived in Minneapolis talked me into coming up and let me stay at her place. I have skied in 3-4 regionals, and 1 nationals(2021). I can't make it to Regionals this year because of work(no vacation time allowed the last two days of the month). but plan to do some local tournaments in OH and PA.

We don't need ESPN anymore. With youtube, and TWBC we have what we need. I will have the webcasts playing while I am doing other stuff around the house during the dead of winter. My friends and family got to watch me ski at my first Nationals last summer. Got to see my Minnesota cousins there too.

I had a 2000 O'Brien Mapple Signature Model Slalom with the Contact bindings. Still my favorite ski of all time. Skied on it for 8 seasons until it started to delaminate, and the bindings fell apart. Best ski for 36 MPH.

Supercharging makes more sense than turbo charging. Turbo chargers get too hot for a boat. If I had to repower my boat today I would put in the PCM ZZ5(5.3 L). Smaller displacement, lighter weight, more power.

@MDB1056 It was the only spot the State of Pennsylvania would let us put it. The lake is private, but the state still owns the water. The course is used during early morning hours so we also did not want it in people's back yards. It is still pretty sheltered in its location. It is in a spot where the traffic can circle around it. The lake has a counter clockwise traffic pattern. The only bad wind direction is if it is coming out of the north. I ski on another lake where the course is placed in the northwest corner of the lake. It gets more wind that makes it unskiable verses the course on my lake.

On Lake Latonka we have an Accufloat course. We attach the buoys to mason string using brass dog leash clips(most have held up 15+ years) to attach them to the eyebolts on the arms. We use the Orange buoys from Overton's and the bullet shaped yellow solid foam gates. I made the attachment eyes out of 1/2'' 3 strand rope and did an eye splice at one end and an end knot at the top of the buoy(yellow bullet shaped foam). The mason string holds up pretty well, but will break off if snagged by a tuber, jet ski etc. without ripping the course to pieces. We all keep spares in our boats. In the Fall we submerge the course by swapping out the buoys with plastic jugs(anti-freeze/washer fluid) which are half full of water at the gates, and 3/4 full out at the skier buoys. We are able to use landmarks on shore to find the course in the spring. I go out in my canoe, and my friend goes out in his rowboat. We have custom made grappling hooks(all edges are smooth) to find and swap out buoys on the course. It takes about an hour to sink, slightly longer to bring it up. Using the brass clips we can sink it and bring it back up with no tools required. I zip tied brass dog leash clips to the jugs we use as sub buoys for the winter. If you have more people helping you, could probably sink it and bring it up faster. We use a ratchet cable(come-along) at one end attached to a couple of loops on the anchor line at one end to adjust the tension to keep it straight. The cable and pipes are about 6 feet down from the water line on the buoys. The course has been there since the early 1990's with a small number of repairs over the decades. The lake is 2 miles long and a half mile wide. The course is out in the middle.

If you have a downhill ski facility near where you live it is cheaper than water skiing.

@klindy I looked at buying a new boat over the years, but I could not justify the expense. My boat still runs like a Swiss watch. The only thing wrong with it is that it is obsolete since it does not have ZeroOff. When the time comes I will repower and retrofit ZeroOff. I could pay for that in 3-4 years. I can't pay cash for a boat, and I can't justify taking out a 10-15 year loan on a depreciating asset. There is a small group of enthusiasts at tournaments like myself, but out on most lakes there are very few.

I think water skiing is dying a slow death. It will always be around in some form, but it is getting too expensive for the average person to afford(especially competition, 100K for new boats etc.) On my lake the skiers over the years have been selling their homes and moving elsewhere or leaving the sport. On a lake of 600 homes I think there are only 10 of us who use the slalom course regularly, and I am the only one that does tournaments. My boat is the oldest of the ones that use the course on a regular basis. The people moving in are very wealthy. Some paying 500K+ for a property, tearing down the home and building a new one. Pontoon boats make up the majority of the new boats. There are quite a few surf boats on the lake. Fortunately most don't get used much. I have offered to teach many of the new people ski. There has been very little interest. Most of the people have 200k+ surf boats and they still pull tubes around most of the time. I see a few people riding combos and an occasional open water slalom skier, but fewer each year. The skiing crowd on the lake has become less friendly also. Some will never give a pull, or hop boats to drive or spot. The trend I am seeing is the interest in the sport is dying. There is a woman I spoke with at a tournament. She said she and her husband are the only skiers left on their lake, and it is a private ski lake designed for a course. The rest of the residents are not skiers since the rest of moved away.

I have a 1994 Ski Nautique with Perfect Pass Stargazer 3 event 9.2 with the ZBox. I have the paddle wheel left over from an earlier version. It runs off of GPS entirely now. It will really bring your boat back to life. I am replacing the remaining Airguide speedometer with a Faria GPS from skiboatpartsonline.com. I use that for manual driving when pulling barefooters. Trick skiing on Perfect Pass is what sold me on it years ago. Get the newest version, you will love it!

8 hours 10 minutes of daylight in Ohio yesterday.

I would get the waterline cover if it was my boat. Red is one of the colors that will oxidize faster so keep it waxed too. Boats are not getting any cheaper. Maybe having both in place may keep the boat cooler.

I have a Connelly Neo Vest which is about 12 years old. It USCG approved. I looked at getting one of those thin comp vests, but not legal in PA. The only exception is a barefoot suit or a wetsuit or comp vest while trick skiing. My brother pointed out I was the only one who did not have a comp vest at nationals(Men 4 slalom). If you go to the nationals webcast day 5 lake 1 and fast forward to 2:53:01 I am on the starting dock. I have an older vest than that one, but the one I am wearing is much lighter than the previous. It is a little more than twice the thickness of the comp vests, and not much heavier. I like having the padding on those bad crashes. I was considering a thin comp vest for trick skiing, but they are more money than I am willing to pay for a vest. I saw an O'Neill USGC approved comp vest at Barts which looked interesting.

Unless you have huge hands a 12'' handle will work for most people.

I knew she was a legend in the sport, but had no idea how many titles she won.

I had never tricked behind the new Ski Nautique until I skied behind at nationals. I guessed and put it at 25% ballast, Fortunately it worked. I ski between 18.9-19.2 MPH.

I have not ruled out putting a new engine and zero off in my '94 Ski Nautique if I can't get parts to rebuild the 351 PCM engine. I have Stargazer 3 event 9.2 with Zbox and it works pretty good for an old boat. Friends of mine have a '99 Ski Nautique in Arizona and it is a favorite boat of the skiers there, and there are a few newer boats. I would refit a ''97-'99 if I had one. Mine is still running good. I have been tracking the course times since I adjusted the background settings and I am averaging +- .02 on every split which is pretty good for an old boat like mine on from the samples I have taken so far.

You should not have to recalibrate your setting unless something happens where your baselines get erased. When I first got Perfect pass in 2008, the first version of Stargazer I wrote down the baselines, since I had to drive the boat through the course to time it for the baselines. If you have them written down you can enter them in manually if needed. I burned a half tank of gas getting it first set up in 2008. I now have Stargazer 3 event 9.2 with Zbox. You can drive in the open water and the software finds the baselines. Unless your course times are off you should not need to change the baselines.

Anyone tried marine gauges from Autometer.com? They have a real nice GPS speedometer. Skiboatpartsonline.com has a good selection of replacement gauges too.

Check out the Lordstown Motors Endurance electric pickup truck. The motors are in the hubs of the wheels. If those motors(150 HP each) could be modified where they could be attached end to end you could use 2 for 300 HP or 3 for 450 HP. https://www.lordstownmotors.com/ Aside from the cooling you could fit most of the batteries under the engine cover. The rest distributed around the rest of the boat to balance the weight so the boat rides correctly.

The Smarte Jacks worked great. If you get them get two pair of them. I was able to pull the lift out without getting wet. I sat in my canoe while using a socket wrench to extend the wheels. I had a rope harness I made attached to the lift while the water was still warm. I was able to pull it out with the electric winch we use on the docks.

I have a Stay Dry from Wileys. Not as comfortable as my last one from Eagle Sports(no longer available), but if a seal goes bad they can reseal it. So far it appears to be more durable than the Eagle sports. It is the baggy type. I wear a t shirt, sweatshirt and sweat pants underneath. Pretty good freedom of movement. I wear a regular nylon 4 buckle ski over it since it is lighter than the neovest.