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I broke my wrist when I hit a buoy and fell forward. If you wrist or forearm was close to the center connection. the same instantaneous wrist break could happen before the handle moves away. Edit: That T-Design might be more dangerous than a convention handle. I won't want that T being dragged over me in a fall because it might hook a neck or an arm or the back of your head with the end of the handle. The conventional rope bridle would shield you from getting hooked by the handle in some falls. The web is filler is the best.

I wonder what brand skis the Fin Block will match the inserts on the ski. I found they aren't all the same. My history is ancient so the wood Mach1 was the best if had as of the 70's. Like all skis at the time it mostly turned one way and not the other. LeRoy Burnett set the world record on a Mach1 so I got one. It was good choice for a few years.

Just sayin I wish I could ski as well as you do. I know that ship has sailed.

I was focusing on the observers experience. If the Pro Slalom events were run at 30 or 32 mph it wouldn't be close to the same experience. Like in most sports its the speed that makes it exciting to an audience that isn't personally related to a competitor. When I was watching the archive video on youtube of a Nationals a couple of years ago. The announcers didn't even show up for some of the 32 and 30mph divisions.

Relax - no one is water skiing in Minnesota til May 2024. and @scoke More important . . Who is the skier with the highest visibility on this forum and often posts videos of himself skiing when reviewing new skis ?? Its @Horton When my videos look as good as his, I will post a video. With his superb skills and several decades of age difference that well never happen. But I will keep having fun working on ways to ski better by any and every means possible until I can't. That will include following @AdamCord advise to ignore everyone who says your crazy for modifying the shape of your skis.

No one wants to watch a video of an M9 skier ski unless its his brother. 32mph just doesn't deliver a great example of good slalom skiing because of the slushy response from the ski. Like racing on a road track with low tire pressure. For the participants, exciting competition doesn't depend on the speed, but spectator value drops with the boat speed.

@DW Does anyone know if the white fibers closest to the bottom ski surface in this D3 ski are structural ? A more theoretical question . . If an edge tuning strategy damages the tensile strength of 20% of the carbon fiber between the fin and rear foot, is that going to make any difference for a 165# M9 skier ? Freddy Winter broke his D3 (on WTBC) behind his rear foot but the forces he creates on the ski are a high multiple by comparison and also has had a high multiple of flex events. EDIT Drilled an inspection hole adjacent to the fin block and 1" from the edge of the ski using a countersink bit. The bottom of the ski is made of 1.5mm black resin and 1.5mm of the white fiber you see in photo above. I looked at it 5" ahead of tail. I can't know if there is a different layup further ahead on the ski where there would be more stress.

My Original top T-Factor Lace shock cord is 4mm or 5/32 shock cord This is one of the offerings for 5/32 cord on Amazon (small than the cord you ordered) The 3/16" cord in your post above may not fit in the clips https://www.amazon.com/Elastic-Bungee-TuNan-Stretch-String/dp/B09Z96WPK5/ref=asc_df_B09Z96WPK5/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598284616471&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8833876847335650002&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9019689&hvtargid=pla-1676239219615&mcid=71ee253c472a3c3a946832d675ea9fd2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5o-l38_HgwMVJ2FHAR2fygBeEAQYASABEgLbBvD_BwE&th=1

Measure them with your Micrometer to get the size. I have bought them in bulk lengths on ebay where good quality marine outfits have all sizes of shock cord listed. Amazon probably as well. I wondered about the quality, but the shock cord I have bought seems as good as original.

Your partner's system would be marketable and the timing element that would a great addition. Skiing wide enough is only part of the equation. A question about your partners device. At short line the rope is always blown back by the wind when the skier is wide and the rope a slightly slack. (look at the photo of the skier about 5 post up from this post) How does the device know where the skier is when the rope is angled back an arbitrary amount. Used 1" OD PVC pipe. Don't know what its called there is a PCV elbow that has screw holes in one direction. Screwed that to the carpeted face of the side pockets about 2" above the floor. Then PVC pipe up to a few inches below the side deck of the boat. The blue float fits snug on the pvc. I have used tape markers as well, but I wanted something that would show in the videos. I don't care for wide angle video so I needed to have some height on the markers to get them in the video frame.

In don't know what your are talking about. Last week I said its your dedicated attention that makes BOS great. Was I not supposed to address your comments about modifying bevel sizes ??

The method of adding material I described above has allowed me to make it better and worse, then better again 20 times on the same ski. Just have to stop screwing around when it happens to be better a week before your most important tournament. I can see that method wouldn't give you right shapes on a Denali ski because of the larger radius bevels. What I am doing with the D3 is just a learning experiment. It's on deck to be used as ski for weekend guests.

You can't flat sand the bottom of a D3 ski to substantially reduce the size of the bevel because the coating thickness before you get to the fiber is negligible. Here is how to reduce the size of a bevel on a modern ski. (You drew a sketch trying to figure that out) 1. spray a high quality resin or industrial paint on the bottom, the bevel and the side wall. 3 or 4 double coats over a few days is substantial. 2. Block sand the bottom all the way down to the original ski coating. 3. Block sand the sidewall all the way down to the original ski coating. This increases the dimension of side wall and widens the flat area on the bottom of the ski . . thus a smaller bevel. With good technique, the uniformity of thickness from 10 coats of spray material can be very good. so the finished result has good precision in appearance and function. For performance tuning, you then reshape the sharp edges that have been created at the bottom and top edge of the radius bevel. I couldn't get the Dupont Epoxy paint to spray any longer so I used a high quality automotive caliper paint. Very durable and the coats dry fast.

Here's another way to keep your head into skiing through the winter. Install a 37.5 foot width guide in your boat. This idea was borrowed from the OffCourse official method of calibrating OffCourse. This is one of my ski partners skiing behind my boat at 35off 34mph. The blue floaty stick is permanently mounted in my boat so you have some idea of your width when Free Skiing when your course isn't available. The floaty stick is permanently installed for 35off because that's my starting length when free skiing. Needed something that would bend over because the rope gets dragged over this spot every time the skier pulls out to stop at the end of a pass. For flexibility, the floaty slips over a 1" PVC pipe that is fastened to the boat's side pocket near the floor. Needed the height of the floaty stick so it's high enough to show in the video like below. Tape on the deck works too, but it doesn't show in your videos if you prefer a normal focal length view of the skier. If you are free skiing at 35 off, you can glance at the boat to see if the blue marker is in line with the pylon. If not you're skiing too narrow. The camera is pylon mounted so in this photo the camera, the blue floaty and the real ball are exactly in line. I used a trig calculator to locate the blue floaty, so I didn't need the boat in a big yard to lay it out as suggested by the OffCourse manual.

Speaking of Winter While working on the D3 today, I was reminded that I have always enjoyed the craftsmanship dimension of working the edges of skis. Its January in Minnesota and I am doing something I love to do. I can't test anything until spring but that doesn't take away the fun of perfecting methods of tuning skis without degrading their factory new look. Not a fan of Bondo. Your Kids It would be a huge challenge to modify skis for your kids, if you were expecting good performance. I did that once for my son before he had become a good slalom skier. It was sort of a waste of time because the ski didn't work. It also depends on the 60-100 pound difference. Is that a 20% difference in weight or a 70% difference in weight.

@scoke @ral @DW I have a new KD ski and you missed the context. I sidelined the D3 years ago and said this was a HOBBY experiment. Had no hopes or intention to have the modified D3 as the ski I would use.

Exactly, If I hadn't left his book at our cabin, I was going to quote some of his points on this. Whether its body structure or habits from 12 years old I always had to make changes to stock skis for them to work well for me. And it was often the same problem on every ski. I didn't try too hard to adapt to the skis, because my work arounds always seem to work very well.

This is my last post on this thread that had become to long. Thanks everyone for feed back. A few months ago @Horton looked out his window and said this feature doesn't exist on the Titanium. Of course he had to be right and I had to be wrong. End of discussion. That is why I have been careful to illustrate this feature on the KD Titanium @ForrestGump asked "What is going to be better with the sharper bevels? What are the expected results?" I was hoping no one would ask . . . Even on the best modern skis, for many non-pro skiers, as the rope shortens they progressively get more slack to the point they can't complete the pass. It appears to me they only have one mode for executing turns . . . which is to follow the natural arc the ski provides when they execute their turn. The don't fully engage the tip to complete the turn in a hurry and they have no other aggressive technique to avoid skiing down course when they need to be skiing cross course. From my experience with this bevel modification, the sweet spot for finishing turns isn't limited to using more tip pressure. It widens the sweet spot so the ski will complete the turn in a hurry with less dependency on skiers exact balance over the ski. The desire result is to be able to come into a ball fast and late and then backside the ball without tip pressure and never see slack. EDIT: Disclaimer I don't recommend anyone act on this. I tested 100's of variations of this on four skis over three years. I had heat-lamps in a paint booth working all summer most of the time to try variations. If the near identical feature on the KD Titanium was deliberately done for a reason, I wouldn't expect their rational would have anything parallels to what I experienced.

Got nothing else. When your on some un-named spectrum you really suck on the stuff you don't care about.

For fun, I was looking at my 66" KD Titanium this morning. They have implemented the same "TUNE" on the Titanium as I implemented on my Kidder and HO skis and the same Tune as I plan to implement on my D3. . The flat spot KD imposed on the ski creates a sharper bottom edge on the bevel on each side that slightly flattens the lateral flow of water off the bottom edges of the ski. Before you examine your KD, look closely under a single point light source. The actual transitions are softer than the sketch above. Before you decide it doesn't exist look at 9 5/8 DFT where it is most visible. It fades 4" in both direction from 9 5/8 DFT. . . . Like with fin adjustments, this small thing makes a big difference and can't be replicated with fin adjustments or binding placement. The actual final tune is settled after testing several iterations to control how sharp or soft the bottom edges of the bevel are and where flattening starts and stops on the ski. On the D3, I will be able to cut and restore without limits by recoating the area with sprayed resin.

Thanks . . Ill look for that DVD. You mention Andy Mapple . . . my inspiration for the changes I make to my skis is from a side-by-side video of Andy Mapple and Nate Smith on the their initial setup and turn toward the gate. On that setup, Mapple's ski was very "tail happy". In that video he moderated his speed on the setup by transferring weight back multiple times braking with his tip very high multiple times. When he had too much speed at his most difficult rope lengths, his ski would snap to a very aggressive angle with his weight biased to the back. By accident I modified a kidder ski that was also very tail happy. It would hold good angle at the finish of a turn with the tip engaged, but with too much speed it would also initiate a very aggressive angle (backside the ball) with weight shifted back a little. That characteristic helped me ski rope lengths consistently when all but a few national level Men 3 guys were skiing into the rope waiting for their tips to engage. As a fun project, I am going to try that same tune on my D3 that is collecting dust.

@Horton said . . . "I'm a little negative on this project . . . I really don't want somebody without experience to read this and think they should go attempt it and then destroy their gear" ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ No Worries . . . There is no information I could post on this forum that could be considered a "How To" on wrecking your ski. I may wreck the D3 ski I am working on, but it won't be structural damage because the functional modifications to the bevel area are accomplished by shaping material that is added, not by shaping the existing coatings or structural layers of the ski. I only need to clean off the outer coating of the D3 ski for bonding because D3 skis have a highly soluble finish. and "Don't try this at home" if I use the sprayable resin I used in the past, it can be dangerous if not handled carefully. In one instance I didn't have access to my vented spray booth and I ended up in the hospital for 2 days with low blood oxygen and an incredible headache. My wife thinks I had permanent brain damage 🙂 One push back. In a recent poll on BOS I believe it was concluded that the ski itself is the most important part of the SKI-FIN-BINDING assembly. If the properties of the ski can't be improved, why are there new versions of the best skis every year? Thanks to the couple of contributors that answered my question about the thickness of materials outside of the fiber. This topic should be closed.

First, You know nothing about what I can do. Second, Focusing on technique and personal performance using a ski that doesn't work for you guarantees mediocrity. One way or the other you have to find or build the best ski for you by any means if you want to be your best and maybe become one the best skiers in your club, state, region or country. Third, "Proven Performance Envelopes" don't begin to touch the infinite number of possibilities that will continue to be tested and incorporated into future skis. Of course the new skis are superior to the old skis, but ski designers all of whom are skiers will always push that progress forward. The D3 EVO is a good modern ski that doesn't work for me. Other modern ski work great. I know I can make the D3 EVO work better for me and that's what I do for fun. I might even learn something that will help me improve my current favorite modern ski.

I can thicken the outer coating enouph with a durable resin that bonds well to stay away from the carbon fiber. Unlike most of the old edge shaping practices I am making the bevel smaller rather than larger/rounder like Dave Saucier and Carl Roberge would do on their skis. and it all happens in the back 18" of the ski.

How thick is the fiber layup in the bottom and sidewalls of the current slalom skis ? I have a D3 EVO that I want to sacrifice to bevel tuning to see if the tuning methods I used in the 80's do anything useful on a modern ski. In the 80's I turned HO, Kidder, and EP skis into skis where I would consistently complete 35off 34mph in Men3 tournaments before that was common even in the Men3 Nationals. Without the bevel tuning I wouldn't have been competitive on any of those skis. With the modified bevel profile placed 4th and 2nd in Men3 Nationals practicing short summer seasons in Minnesota. I did the same type of tuning my age14 son's 63" fiberglass HO and he ran 4 at 28off 36mph in his second tournament. Because of the ski size he had to test the ski during the process. At the time I would restore edge material on the skis by spraying and baking several coats of 2 part Dupont Automotive Epoxy on the edges where I was removing material, so in most cases I wasn't tuning past the outer resin coat on those skis. I could fail and repeat edge tuning endlessly by always replacing the material I had removed. My initial work on the D3 would get to the first layers of fiber, but probably wouldn't need to go much deeper. Any idea of how thick the outer coating is before seeing fiber ? The question "why bother" when there are so many great skis ? ITS A HOBBY and it would take a few weeks in the winter months for the initial bevel makeover before on the water testing. This is my son on the 63" HO ski he helped me tune. 4 @28off 36mph at second tournament. Theresa Wright driver. Paul Chapin boat timer