Mastercrafter

Is there another ZO 91 out there? Mine went to Florida and I kind of miss it. What engine does the Bell Aqua boat have?

ZO holds times to 1/100 every single time. It’s not just in tolerance.. it’s 16.94, 16.95, or 16.96. I can’t recall ever seeing another time in a tournament but I’m sure there’s probably an outlier. 5.7, 6.0, 6.2… doesn’t take a monster engine and prop to keep the boat from slowing down with ZO.

Not exactly sure with Malibu, but with a Prostar , you can unscrew the rear floor section and pivot it up, while leaving the motor box basically in place. …or make your ski partners come help.

Skipping to the bottom.. You need to use an e-controls ECU to run Zero Off so you’re pretty limited there. I put an Ilmor 5.7 in a 1991 Prostar and it was a blast. Perfect Pass works with anything cable-operated and is certainly much easier and cheaper if you just want a decent speed control.

Getting close. Past tournament scores and rankings now viewable, but not updated since the crash. Anxious to get some recent scores in as I'm right on the edge of Level 8 and need some motivation to score a few more buoys. 🫣

I bumped my boots back 1/4” from 29.375 to 29.125 on a 66”. Overturned at the first buoy of the set but settled in quick and I think I’ll stay here. Little more free with more smear though the turn and less grabby as the turn finished. Easy skiing. At stock S/D settings right now and may try .005 more depth, but also going home to cold water.. so maybe next year. Got lots of comments at a tournament this weekend about the ski: … super fast side to side … turns like mad … that ski rips … that thing is a rocket … fix your gates … fix your gates … fix your gates I’ll work on my gates.

Thanks Horton. 66" calls for 29.25 and I may be at 29.375, measuring to the Edge boot underneath the locking lug. I'll check and try moving it if my memory is correct.

@Horton Maybe blowing the tail wasn't the correct thing to say, it's not like happens all the time or really much at all. But I have had it a couple times when I scramble and try to push the ski, when all I need to do is wait another moment for it to come around. I will, though, double check and experiment with boot placement at some point. I an on SD but my hardshell plate doesn't allow me to get the binding exactly where it's supposed to start.

Good review, spot on. The thing I agree with most is how the front of the ski pulls through the turn. That is the thing I felt on the first set and continue to like about it. Pushing on the back of the ski blows the tail or about turns you backwards.

Crickets here after three requests across three years, yet they continue to tout their demo program as easy, fast, etc etc. Marcus Brown got me a demo through Flowpoint Method which I was thankful for.

Seth Stisher's Whip Drill is worth a watch too. No need to turn fast... Long carving turns with a tight line.

This isn't textbook good skiing but here's a pass of mine at -22/34mph from this spring, close to where you're at with speed and length. Notice how all the work/pull/load basically happens from ball into the wakes, as Terry said. The load on the line lightens as I pass go through the wakes, and by the time I'm through the whitewater on the other side, I'm on my turning edge (preturn). The preturn is what bleeds off speed and keeps the line tighter as you initiate and finish a turn. I haven't actually timed this all out, but I think the majority of time skiing is spent in the pre-turn, slowing down and bleeding off speed you generated behind the boat. Speed through the wakes, on edge and in a good body position, is the hurdle we all have to get over. It's the "scary" thing about skiing, but once you learn to trust what's happening, you'll really never think about wakes again. Because you're pulling way outside the whitewater, you're turning with a loose line, and when it comes tight you get stood up and ride a flat ski with no speed through the wakes. Then the vicious cycle starts all over again. Good on you for posting video. Love to see it.

Just ski it. Mine felt fine enough first set and settled in after about 10 passes at 36/-22&-28.

Sad thing is that a new base Prostar MSRP was about $75K in 2021. Not sure if that had a trailer or not, but either way.. the last few years have not been good to us.

Sweet balls of fire. That's terrifying.

Jump is almost perpendicular to the boat guides he had to get through. I’d guess by the time he was about to hit the jump it was too late to score 1, but my time at 9.75 is limited 😂 Scary situation regardless.

8 sets on an X Series now after most the season on Comp, with some R3 sprinkled in here and there. Apparently I like buying ropes. Anyways.. This is, of course, my personal opinion and I may be way off.. maybe @Sedge can validate or debunk what I’m feeling. X is certainly stiffer than Comp, maybe as stiff or stiffer than R3. However, I feel that it has some give to it (like the Comp) until it hits its wall and becomes stiff like the R3. Then it’s super firm, and will support whatever you ask of it. Put another way, the X has some give to it as you finish the turn and begin the load, but as you approach the wakes it feels super solid.. 100% connected the boat. No springy feeling behind the boat, which is great. S-Lines says this rope has good rebound off the second wake, and I get that now. When you change edges, the rope almost seems to recoil, giving you a little extra swing up and out, then stays soft until the turn is done and you’re back in the work zone. It’s an elbow and shoulder saver without skiing a rope that feels soft all the time. I bought one after a recent tournament that used the X series exclusively. Didn’t think about the rope one bit even on the first pass, and that’s what sold me on it. No worry about needing to feel it out and there were no surprises. Your mileage may vary but this will be my go-to rope for a while.

There’s a whole bunch of people I know who I trust to get me safely through the course, but I don’t necessarily want them driving because they can’t resist looking in the mirror, or they just don’t take a good boat path seriously enough or want to improve. Therefore.. I tend to avoid skiing with them. If this took a relatively competent driver and made it so I don’t have to think about what the boat is doing through the course, it’s a giant win for me at least. OR, take your favorite driver and let them watch in the mirror for some coaching, without sacrificing / worrying about the pull. It may not be a perfect dance with the skier and it make take some fun out of it, but if I could use it, I would.

Yup, Surepath. Really awesome training tool and can easily be fitted to any boat. Downside is it doesn’t work with floating courses as the wind can move the course making the data useless.

I don’t see this being much different than Zero Off or Perfect Pass… not that they don’t need liability insurance. Assuming they are not going full steer-by-wire so if it’s fail safe and easily overridden, I’d say even safer than ZO which could full-throttle your boat with no way to slow down… except the safety lanyard we all wear 😂

I’m all for this technology but their video should really have a half decent boat path without boat guides being run over.

I’ll stir the pot and note Asher is no longer a Malibu athlete and didn’t podium 🙃

That’s because the 2024 is so awesome. 😉

I don’t think Malibu currently offers a 6.0, just the 5.3 and 6.2GDI

Anyone follow along with Herbs Cup? You basically have a set amount of time to put up the biggest score. I don't know all the exact format details, but it's fun and different. I'm about as waterski-obsessed as one can get, but admittedly don't watch many tournaments throughout the season. Usually Swiss Pro, Travers GP, and some of Worlds, then just finals and highlights of others. Too hard to stay engaged all day and watching Nate run -35 is about as exciting as watching paint dry. Yes, it's a beautiful pass, but we've seen it 1000 times.