GaryJanzig

I am going to the Midwest Regionals in Illinois to make my first National qualification official. It is a 6 hour drive from home. I may not get another chance where I am qualified and I can afford the trip.

White is the way to go on the deck and on the running surface. Easier to take care of when it comes to blemishes from everyday use, and keeping it clean. I would like to have the ability to pick a different color for the transom area. The transom area can oxidize fast. Mine would have red and blue striping on the sides. The color scheme John picked makes sense. There is a lot more sun where he is located verses Ohio or Pennsylvania.

My boat is closing on 2200 hours. I usually change a cable every 800 hours, but that is with the boat kept on a lift and I keep a dry bilge. If your boat is kept in the water, you could end up changing it every other year. If the steering starts to feel stiff then it is time to change it. If you wait too long to change the cable after the steering feels stiff you can damage the helm/steering head which is a very expensive repair.

I have the same engine. The engine manual says 89 octane or higher. I use 90-91 octane ethanol free. If I can't get ethanol free, I buy marine Sta-Bil, and have had no problems. If you can't get ethanol free make sure you keep your engine compartment as dry as possible.

My boat calls for 89 octane or higher. 1994 Ski Nautique. I added marine Sta-Bil when I could not find ethanol free. I always pull the plug and open the engine cover when the boat is on the lift between sets to keep the bilge dry. I had no issues with regular gas. Two stations in the area started selling 90 and 91 octane ethanol free which I have switched to. Boat runs great with it. If your boat sits in the water all the time I would look for ethanol free.

The higher the letter A,B,C the sooner the throttle reacts when the system detects load on the boat. The higher the number 1,2,3 the more aggressive the throttle response is. The sooner the throttle hits you, the sooner it will let go of you once the extra load goes away. The + setting makes the throttle response more aggressive on all letter number combinations, and it has the boat running a 10th of a mile per hour above the set speed before entering the course. B2 is the closest setting that feels the most like perfect pass.

I just use Joy, cheap and washes away easy.

I move the fin forward to raise the tip of the ski on my onside, and shorten the length of the fin to raise the tip on my offside. It reduces the amount of contact the ski has with the water. In generic terms as the water gets warmer, move the fin forward to keep the tip up so it won't stall when finishing the turn. The ski rides slightly deeper in the water when it gets warmer so I want to reduce the amount of contact the ski has with the water. As the water gets colder move the fin back to give the ski more contact to make it easier to slow the ski down for the turns. When I got into 28 off and shorter on warm water I was stalling the ski at the end of the turn right before the acceleration starts. I make the adjustment so the ski will slide around easier as the water gets warmer. I also change the boat to C2 in warmer water so the boat responds to my load quicker. I practice on a lake where the course is in 15-22 feet of water, and most of the tournament lakes I ski on around 6 feet deep, so everything rides deeper in the water. I have to make adjustments for that. Since I am left foot forward I sometimes have to stomp on my onside turns to make up time, but I risk stalling the ski at the finish of the turn. You have to be very patient to allow the ski to finish the turn on a zero off boat. If you try to hook your turns, zero off will kick your butt.

I normally ski on B2. The lake I ski on has 10-20 feet deep water where the course is so the water will feel faster. I am a heavier skier. A couple seasons ago I started running into trouble with stalling my ski while finishing my onside turn(ball 1,3,5) at tournaments. I started trying C2 on lakes where the water felt slow and it helped me solve the stalling. I also changed my fin settings.

Autometer.com sells marine GPS based speedometers.

I think they do it that way so you don't have to enter two sets of coordinates for each direction . I would not mind being able to use a magnet at the start gate like in earlier versions.

There is a diagram in the manual that shows you how to do it for each end.

@keithh2oskier I don't think there was a charge, but the postage to get it over the border(Canada) was about $30.

I have a 5-6 hour drive. I plan to contribute once I get everything booked. It will be my first nationals. First time qualified. Would love to see it on video. I'm cheap so I will pack a cooler or two full of food and drinks.

Last winter I got the Zbox, upgraded to 3 event 9.2, and sent my GPS antenna back to Perfect Pass and they updated the firmware. It made a world of difference. Better pull, and the GPS locks in quicker. It even locked in while the boat was in the garage.

When I first started skiing 36 MPH I took a major step backwards. Before deciding to try tournaments in my 20's I went up to 34 MPH and was able to get into 32off. When I bumped my speed up to 36 MPH I could not clear 15 off consistently. I think 36 is harder than a six buoy difference.

I am not crazy about all of the computer screens on a boat. Give me good set of quality analog gauges, and a stereo face with it's own controls, and all other controls with switches. Easier to fix. The only computer and touch screen should be zero off and the computer that controls the engine.

I would make them wider, or add a second pair of bunks. You want to keep the boat's weight on the stringers.

I have 2 2015 Gt's. Great ski!

I dropped 18 pounds last season. I set a personal best at a tournament over Labor Day weekend. I have been watching the pros on TWBC. The common denominator is both the guys and the girls are all very lean and muscular but not bulky.

More than I can afford. If I can get a job where I work from home permanently I will fly to Orlando one weekend per month in the winter. Fly down on a friday night, ski saturday, fly home Sunday... I could afford it since I would be saving 8000 miles per year on my car driving to work.

You could use Aquatraction. Similar to sea deck.

3m restorer and wax should buff out the oxidation and scratches.

boatliftanddock.com recommends taking the wheels off during the summer, and putting them on again at removal.

Boat Lift Helper is useful if you have you lift at a marina or a steep lake bed covered with rocks where rolling/sliding to shore are difficult. Very easy to move around while in the water. My brother had one before he moved to a different house. You will need an air compressor.