auskier

@Tuney - please explain? How can Rossi be 'way off' on anything to do with slalom?

I liked the feel to it. The timing of the pull is pretty accurate however with the Zbx at 11 it felt like it was hitting me too hard off the second wake into the ball. With it on 5 it has softened it up a lot, but may have been too much. what boat are you using?

Had another set behind 'the box' last night. with Zbx setting on 5 it felt a LOT better (I ski A2), if anything a little too soft, so I think we will up it to 7 or 8 and see how it feelts. On the boat we were using, 07 LXI with monsoon, it was overshooting by 2-3km at multiple speeds and taking longer to settle than what ZO does. We ended up taking a 100-200 RPM out of the baselines which did improve it. If you are on a short site with a 1:1 gear box and higher power motor it might be needed to help it settle quicker.

it will depend on boat to boat and how good you can adjust it to feel. My first pass behind it was a 16.07 with split times no greater than .01 off actual. BUT, it felt pretty firm. Will hopefully get a few more sets behind it this week and play with the Zbx setting. We have put it back to 5 - from 11 to feel out the difference and will likely have work back from there. - this is behind an lxi with monsoon.

@jackski I think you might want to look into your thought that electric boats pollute more. Its not quite true. For example, a tesla roadster with 100% coal generated power, equates to less CO2 released than a toyota prius going the same distance. Plus the noise, no carbon monoxide and torque benefits make it a clear win. The way we use ski boats (stop-34/36 mph-stop) would make the benefits greater than an electric car. http://www.stanford.edu/group/greendorm/participate/cee124/TeslaReading.pdf

who can honestly say they ski like jamie B? from the options given, i picked Rossi. I have always loved his style. First time I had seen him ski was at Moomba in 2003? maybe 04. The way he pulled out and let go with one hand and then turned in for the gates with perfect control and line was amazing to watch... At this time there were only a few of the early 'west coasters' such as himself, marcus, JB and whisper who were doing it.

i skied Z box last night for the first time. 07 LXi with 340 monsoon with factory settings. I normally ski A2 behind a malibu or CC. Similar to what JTH said, to me it felt more agressive. From second wake to ball it felt INSANELY fast and I was struggling with it. It would then shut down and give you nothing out of the ball, so I was getting in deep easily. Going to B2 felt more like ZO A2 and gave me similar line control and feel at the ball which i like about A2. Is anyone else with a 1:1 trans playing with the settings, as suggested in the users guide?

is this for a novelty thing or are you seriously planning on adding waterskis to your snow quiver? They would not last 1 run, let alone one day. why not some reverse camber 110mm+ proper pow skis? http://k2skis.com/skis/twin-tips/obsethed

looks fat. or at least mid fat.

Up for sure. I spent the best part of the last 2 seasons going nowhere. went up a size on a new ski this season, best decision I have ever made in regards to equipment.

As someone who has worked in waterski retail in Australia for 5+ years (selling radar products), I can assure you @Ryno that retailers and distributors understand the current status of the dollar. I believe the warranty coverage for Radar products given to Australian customers to be excellent, and arguably better than any other brand sold in Aus. Even in cases where the user, not the product has been at fault replacements have been given. You should also be able to get the strada boots cheaper than the price you have mentioned. For many products, it is now not worth purchasing from online stores from the US once you include the cost of shipping. With excellent warranty coverage, I believe its now a no brainer.

no one knows what Jeff's black ski is. Its like 'the Stig' of waterskiing... Ive heard its got a similar construction to a warp.

"Moomba is 50% crap shoot and 50% balls out slalom" I want to get this on the back of my officials shirt this year! What do ya say Jody? haha

still a lot of negative nancy's on this topic... People probably had this same debate when cars first appeared. Why would you have a car that can run out of gas when you can have a horse?

I very much trust the source I heard it from. I was surprised to hear how far along the development is, and isnt 'just a concept'... If I have heard about it, my guess is that there is a few people on here with a much better idea than me (maybe even seen/skied it), but would not be willing/able to tell. The BIG problem in bringing such technology to market will getting the OEM's legal departments onside to agree to it. Heard about the guy who set the cruise control on his winnebago and went to make coffee?

soon we will not only have speed control, but also steering control. it exists...

I am a podiatrist, so I should know a thing or two about feet :P I am very much a believer of the use of orthotics in boots. Having your foot in a more neutral position, I think, will help your skiing in a few different ways; injury prevention and technique. Your ankle and knee joints basically become more aligned and in a more stable position, and less likely to develop strains and soreness. I cant see them preventing injury during a fall obviously. I see the basic reason for orthotics from a technique perspective to relate to your hips and ability to move your centre of mass. The way we have to stand on a ski internally rotates and adducts the femur and tibia, reducing the available movement of your hips by rotating them forward. To understand what I mean, standing up, roll your feet out watching your kneecap. It will turn out. This flows onto your femur, basically allowing you to 'keep your hips up' and be more mobile. I think the way Rossi skis minimises this restriction very well.

@skiinxs could you give any more details regarding this pole setup, or point me in the direction of who the tech controller/club/promo guy is who owns it please? thanks.

even if it was powered with 100% coal generated electricity, it would still be 'greener' than a gas powered boat. for power used, the emissions to generate enough kWh's is less than running a gas engine for the same amount of time. not to mention safer as a wakesurf boat with no CO and other nasties to breathe in.

there are a few setups used with an elevated position. I much prefer the angle at an observer seat level. This was the footage from 07 worlds. For hands its ok, for toes, it could be difficult. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQY_J4Cg8hw&feature=related

In my opinion, at 4 foot, things will start to feel fast. A lake I spent a lot of time skiing on years ago was not much more than waist deep at the turn balls. While it made the wake non existent, it made the water feel fast. Down south in warm water, you may get away with that sort of depth, but not in MT (a lake that freezes over in winter isnt right IMO, and far too cold a place to WATER ski). 5-7 foot is ideal depth I think. Without knowing a thing about MT wind and weather (other than its cold) here is my 2c... I am certainly no expert on wind, but when building a wall of trees and berm to shelter from prevailing wind, it can make it worse where you dont want it to be - on the lake itself. A good analogy is an aircraft wing. It accelerates over one side of the wing to create lift. With a straight wall of trees and dirt, this MAY act like a wing and result in the wind flowing back down over the trees onto lake faster and harder than the actual wind speed in the first place. I believe you want to disrupt the flow. The berm and trees approach works well most of the time if tall enough, however I would add Another row of spaced out trees 30-50 yards or so behind the lake to help disrupt and slow the flow of wind before it hits the berm and lakeside trees to help it flow over the lake. Hope this makes sense.

@Phil2360 your name is your postcode.. 'google is your friend'. Funny thing is, you could take a similar photo of Bruce skiing today and it would still look the same!

good find @Phil2360 , im not so sure about the term 'figure skiing' though! haha im guessing you are around Inverell?

The AA (Asian-Australasian) region holds championships every 2 years. '06 was in Australia, 08' was also at the same site as '12 in korea, on lake Uiam.

'12 will be a big year for korea hosting the AAO's in Chuncheon City. On the topic of korea, did your hear about Kim Jong Il running 43 off on his first ever slalom set with a hot time?