swbca

The physical abuse makes it hard for the best skiers to even practice 43 off. The 41 off skiers take really bad hits even when they are doing everything right. Was watching Nate carrying speed through ball 2 and made it half way to the wake before the rope was tight. It looked painful. Not even Nate can do that forever without back injury. This makes it hard to even practice 43 off every day because really bad hits are just part of it no matter how good your form. I don't think 43 will be run any time soon. Could take more ski development and taller skiers, though there may also be offsetting disadvantages in being taller.

@Horton Maybe sharp is wrong word. If you view the cross section of any ski bevel, there is a transition where the bevel meets the sidewall and a transition where the bevel meets the ski bottom. The D3 evo and ion have a softer transition at the sidewall than the Titanium. My Denali bevel is much larger with a very soft transition to the sidewalls and the ski bottom. The transition to the sidewall on the Titanium is softer at the front binding than behind the rear binding. End to End the 66" Titanium is about 1/8" narrower than the Medium Denali, but the difference in bevels seam to offset the difference in width.

Regarding your question on width: The width of the 66" Titanium at the front inserts is 6.62" measuring with a caliper between the sidewalls at the top edge of bevels. The top edge of the bevel is sharper than most and becomes progressively sharper as you go back on the ski, so near the tail it is nearly a sharp edge between the top edge of the bevel and the sidewall. The sharper top bevel from end to end means the ski doesn't hunt when you have pulled wide before the entry gates.

With an RTP you are more likely to have a fall where only 1 foot is secured to the ski, so that ankle is vulnerable to being broken without the leverage you have with both feet in. That's the reason many skiers switched to full rear boots years ago. Consider a full rear boot that is easier to release. I use the D3 TFactor in the rear and it can be adjusted to release more easily than your Wiley. Also switching to an RTP can be difficult. When I tried an RTP 2 years ago, I often came close to going out the front at the wake because my rear foot was not secured to the ski in the way I had skied for 30 years. I switched back to the rear boot . . T-Factor

@chrislandy 2 years ago I did what you did (removed the hinge screws at the floor) On the 196 the floor is two separate layers of aluminum with a 1/2" space between. I wasn't able to get the screws to align to target the bottom layer of aluminum when putting them back without drilling the holes in the bottom layer of aluminum larger. No big deal and maybe you won't need to do that.

On a Prostar 196 or 197 I found a way to get the dog house and rear floor panel out of the way with no assistance, but its not on the ground. Only takes one frail old skier about 5 minutes. I just replaced the damper plate and relined the doghouse with foil insulation with no assistance. Before you start, cover the rear upholstered deck with a moving pad or a couple of beach towels so the vinyl engine cover and the vinyl deck are not directly dragging on each other with the weight of the dog house. 1. Remove the screws if any that hold down the floor panel 2. Remove the 2 pressure arms that support the dog house when you have opened it. 3. With motor cover opened, straddle the transmission with your feet on the carpeted floor facing the back of the boat. Reach down and grab the leading edge of the floor panel and lift it. If you keep pressure towards the back of the boat as you lift, the doghouse well end up -upside down- on top of the upholstered rear deck. Stuff a folded towel or another spacer between the dog house and back of the rear deck because it feels like it wants to roll backward. ( you may need to pry the floor loose the first time with a 30" piece of 2x4 under the leading edge of the floor section ) When your done, just reverse the process. Probably won't work on other boats with a different rear deck configuration.

IMO It looks like a ski problem contributed to the fall. You were out of position but the ski just quit holding an angle with very little "pull". Some skis have a small sweet spot for holding an angle . . your wight distribution wasn't in the sweet spot. Most most skis wouldn't have just slid away from you with what you were doing. I would look at ski setup . . bindings first then fin.

The Zerk fitting for the ball joint by the rudder is accessibly on a 2004 ProStar by reaching under the fuel tank after removing the rear floor panel. I may need to get a 90 degree adaptor for the gun or a flexible tube. 1. Are there other lube points on the steering components ? 2. If the steering system is smooth and friction free from lock to lock, does normally suggest there isn't a failing cable ?

I have another generic cover I could use . . . Does yours stay in place in a storm ?

Thanks for the photo . . . That product would protect the wood platform and the transom, but it doesn't protect the rear 4 feet of the boat sides. with our boat wound up tight to the top of the lift the sun still comes in the through the rear opeing of the canopy as the sun goes from east to west during the day. I need the rear cover to cover the sides of the boat for the last 4 feet. This photo shows how the canopy protects the sides of the boat except for the last few feet because of the sun coming in from the East and West through the full rear opening in canopy.

Re $8,000 Touchless boat cover. Is there a way to hide it from the wife ? Maybe so. Years ago I replaced our Grey Correct Craft with a Red Master Craft. (Look left . . see the round profile photo under "SWBCA") Without telling her about the new boat, she climbed into it while it was in our covered boat lift. We drove over to a party at a neighbors house in the new boat. When it was time to leave she was standing at the end of the neighbors dock and asked "Where's our boat" ? With all the laughter, she never got around to asking "where did you get the money"

We won’t be able to put a full boat cover on in the summer. We take the boat out at a moments notice several times a day. We bought the boat 3 years ago and the original owner had the same lift/canopy arrangement that we have. He kept the back cleaned up with annual maintenance. I think adding a rear cover that can be removed in a few seconds is the best solution here.

There are several newer lifts on our lake with curtains all the way around that look like a heavy mosquito netting. I don't know what they do to help the boat. Sun, Rain, Pollen ?

We don't use the cover in the summer because the boat is pulled up tight in the boat lift. But it sounds like a good idea to make a cover for the back of the boat. That would also protect the uphostered rear deck which was completely replaced 2 years ago.

Our 2004 ProStar Gel Coat is perfect except where the tail end is exposed to the southern exposure while in our boat lift. This is what it looks like except for the tail end The back 4 feet of the boat from southern Exposure while in the lift I am going to buff this out this weekbut would like a way to preserve if there is any product that would help

Does anyone know the recommended torque on the shaft coupling bolts ? After replacing the damper plate on my boat, I transported the boat before aligning the engine, and left the 7/16 x 1.5" 20-tpi bolts far away by mistake. I picked up the same size bolts/nuts at a hardware store, but they may not be the highest grade. This is for temporary use until I get replacement OEM bolts. extending the concept of friction from clamp force created by automotive wheel lug bolts, when torqued properly there is never any shear on automotive lug bolts with any type of driving including racing. I am certain the same engineering concept applies to the shaft coupling. Is there a recommended torque value here ?

Many pros are doing tail-stands on some (Nate) or all (Whitney) of their turns when they are on their last pass. Doing tail-stands is not part of my fundamentals because I'm not at 41off. So the only way I can save that pass is to do something that I have no occasion to practice on a regular basis. My fundamentals for a solid 35 off are not going save the day. I need to practice going beyond my fundamentals by not throwing the rope in practice after I make a mistake. Being calm in that situation in a tournament would be forfeiting the event.

@Horton None of your comments related to my initial post or any other comments I made. I said nothing in this thread about skiing up to may last possible ball. I was only talking about a pass that I consistently make in good form. But if I make a mistake and am very late and very fast because of an error I should learn how to deal with it consistently when it happens. It OK though. Your irrelevant feedback was free

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@lpskier I'll buy your point on making it up ball by ball. When I had a terrible 1 at 35' off at a nationals, I managed a balls-out turn at 2 that kept me going for the entire pass. Got into 38off with a 4th place. It would have safer if my #2 recovery was more certain, but instead I was forced to do something that I rarely practice . . . just lucky that day. @BrennanKMN I agree its not worth fighting it out on a pass you can't do. I want to improve my recovery from a mistake in a pass where I am already consistent.

You make the case for amateurs to put in the hours on recovery skills. I think that means don't give up on your practice passes when you get behind because its opportunity to build those skills. From the Mid 80's until today there are some men age divisions where making 6@35off is the starting point for placing in a regionals or nationals. If you are a solid 35 off skier but haven't practiced to build your muscle memory for recovering from a mistake you are reducing your chances of doing as well as you hoped or expected. In that case if you blow the first ball at 35 off, you better have the skill to make it up on ball 2. When the skier blows ball one he might be saying to himself . . "Sh** I have do that thing" or its over, but he also knows how to do it. This lesson means something to me because I usually avoid falling in practice because I don't want to waste the time to get back into the next pass. I should change that.

There are 2 listings, if you are on their summer products site. [Not Winter] but they don't respond to inquiries. I figure they have been sold and they havn't taken them down.

Do you recall how you managed coming in late and too fast into an on-side turn in your Personal Best pass ? While skiing in a tournament. When you see this happening in a tournament you probably use a technique that is different than your routine safe turn on the pass before your PB pass. Whatever you do in this pressure situation, you probably figure its a risk but its a risk worth taking to complete the pass. You relieved when your still standing and on your way to the wake after this high risk turn. Some skis will support a hockey stop turn followed by a smooth exit when you are going way to fast by keeping your weight neutral or forward. Others won't Other skis will force you to transition back to finish this turn. Does this bring back a memory that you can describe ?

@The_MS Ski-it-again Listed as 2022 Titanium 66 . . is there a difference between model years ? Is so how to tell the model year for sure ?

Are there any better prices for the Titaneum ? I am interested but List price is $1699