Deke

John, I thought you didn't use a wing.

Skibug and Boarditup, I hear ya both. One thing USA Waterski does for us is make it possible to maintain a course on a public lake. We are able to obtain insurance and satisfy the requirements of the lake management without the expense of finding a private insurer (which may be impossible anyway). Our "club" doesn't even have any tournament skiers but we have to have "active" members. It's a tough sell when nobody participates in any events. But it is necessary and luckily there is a large national organization that can help. I just wish they would allow "supporting" memberships for non-competition skiers.

Why not at least a link to Front Page from here?

Ditto!

What about the batteries used for the Lightning? Here's a link... http://www.lightningcarcompany.co.uk/nanosafe.php

Sure there's RD to change over but most of it would be adapting the boat itself. Electric motors of the size needed for boats have been powering industrial equipment forever. And with the new technology in batteries (10 minute recharge) it is perfect for tournament lakes. Public water would still be a challenge though. Seems like most of the complexity in autos is in extending the range through regenerative braking and efficient chassis and body designs. Boats as we know them would not benefit from this so the application would seem to be relatively straight forward.  Why not a re-power package?

Well MS, I'm glad somebody finally cleared that up. By the time it is all said and done you could probably just buy a new ski when you get there! I have travelled with a hardshell case and thought I was smart by loading it up with other gear. It's easy to go over 50 pounds, trust me.

In snow skiing you have a similar problem. Actually, its really two problems. First, you need to get your footbeds and boot cuff aligned to your leg alignment, which is mostly a comfort/fit thing. Second, and most important though, is to get your knee over the middle of your foot or slightly inside for good geometry. That is done by tilting the boot sole with the wedges to the outsides of your feet. This  may seem counter-intuitive since you think you need to fill the space on the inside, but that actually causes over edging and a lack of stacking. Not sure how all this would work in the water but it does seem like it may help at least for the front foot.  Deke

Bruce, The videos of Karina last week show an incredibly still upper body as well. Every turn of every line length looks the same. Even when she is just slightly off and her tip rises, nothing in the upper body changes. Whatever correction is made does not effect her center or upper body. Like Wim, it all looks so easy and understated. DekeÂÂ

lagdawg, Great analogy. I agree with your comments completely regarding raising the heels and snow ski boots. However, on a waterski it is complicated by the one foot in front of the other stance. Raising the rear heel can actually shift your weight toward the front as long as you are not trying to stand flat footed on the back foot. Sort of the same thing as allowing the rear heel to lift which lets you move your hips forward. What do you think?  Deke

John,  I wonder if your foot is being pushed farther into the front of the boot due to the back of the binding. I have noticed that the back of the boot is relatively stiff and combined with the forward lean, any straightening of the knees will lever your toes deeper into the boot. Rubber bindings aren't as stiff in the back so they don't really give any resistance when your knees straighten. Just a thought... Deke

Funny! Remember Accuski had the "Hammer Mode" that was supposed to simulate Perfect Pass? It all goes full circle... I don't understand why the market leader doesn't "simulate" the technical leader instead of the other way around.

A good idea may be a StarGazer setup database like the fin database. You could list boat, motor, year, SG version, and parameters. Maybe even altitude could be listed since it has quite a effect on response. I would like to believe PP is doing that, but where would they get their data? I'm sure their hands are quite full with newer boats than mine, that's for sure. Deke

1999 Malibu Response LX with PP ver 4.xx !!! Wonder how that stacks up against ZO or SG ? Deke

What is the possibility of going "really" thin but using a steel alloy or spring steel? Would you get the flex you're looking for and comparable weight if you went thin enough? Just thinking...  Deke

Not to hijack the thread, but... Lakewaterjunky, do you know any know fix?

John, My old (ver 4.01b) PP external display goes blank every once in a while. We thought it was a grounding issue and gave it a direct ground to the battery with no results, then just gave up. Over time I realize that it always blanks out when switching the heater on or off (more often turning it off), which probably means it is a voltage thing. Been living with it since '99.  Deke

Brent, PP does get feedback from the skier without the switch. The "program" attempts to maintain rpm, including all of the inputs you mentioned and reacts to a reduction in rpm due to skier's load. If the switch is added, the reaction is delayed until the switch is closed. As far as algorithms are concerned, that is how the correction is made. In otherwords, when the reaction is timed and the rate of the correction and also for how long. This is why different systems have different feel. It is my understanding that the older Accuski was able to apply throttle at a rate based on the rate that rpms were lost, whereas PP only applies throttle at the same rate regardless of how fast rpms were lost. At least this was the case when Accuski was still around. I am not sure what PP does now. Deke

I've lurked on this forum for a long time as a course novice. At the risk of being totally flamed out on my first post, I am going to comment on this. I agree that slower is best for learning the course... But a low end ski? If you have any "sliding sports" background at all you will feel a positive difference with a high end ski. Whether it helps or not, maybe that's the question. I really don't think it will hurt. John, when was the last time you tried to run the course at 15 off?... at 28mph?... on a lower end ski? It's definately all about form but the lower end ski is not going to help you progress any faster. If you've got a good ski, use it! Here's a better question... If you want to learn shortline (eventually), should you bother with 15 or 22 off? Or should you start very slow at 28 off? :-) Deke