Ed_Obermeier

@6balls wrote "There is no way in holy schmoley that I'm paying these dollars for a rapidly depreciating piece of recreational equipment with little to no performance or useful life advantage over one that costs half as much in the used market." Ditto that. Especially when you can buy a good slightly used few years old model for under $30K plus not have anywhere near that level of depreciation. Example - I bought my '05 RLXI in late '08 for $28K, about $10K less than it sold for new. With the rising price of new DD's and seeing what the used market is bringing these days I'm reasonably confident that 7 years later were I to sell I could still get around $25K in resale without too much issue. Not a bad ROI IMO. Remember, while a high percentage of BOS'ers may be serious tournament skiers it's likely that less than 10% of the full DD market are such. Most of us don't need the latest greatest with ZO etc and as such aren't willing to pay for something that doesn't demonstrably enhance the experience or improve an otherwise unusable competitive advantage. If I were considering going new (not/can't) Gekko and to some extent Centurion are looking more and more viable all the time, especially in a private lake setting (which I don't have). At $50K plus the cold hard fact is that a significant percentage of the target market are priced out of that market. Whether expecting to be able to buy a new boat at what they were going for in 2000 is unrealistic or not, for a growing percentage of the target market it's simply out of range financially.

Ditto what @zito said. I'd take 2. FWIW I've had the opportunity to chat with TW on a couple of occasions by phone. Very nice person, polite in conversation, obviously a very intelligent guy. Even at $60 a pop I'm sure there isn't much profit in building handle guards or he'd be pushing it a lot more. First rate product and the new design looks even more desirable. I've had 3 that I used for several years but they were all made for 12" handles, since I've moved to a 13" I need new ones. Well worth what they cost in my experience.

The day I start worrying about how much gas my boat is using is the day I quit skiing.

I look at that picture and I just can't quit laughing. :>)

@jerrym post a photo please.

Also just because a certain boat didn't get put through the tests doesn't mean it's not a good slalom boat. Probably not worth the investment for a smaller manufacturer i.e. Gekko or Moomba.

@MS my '05 RLXI is still 100% factory upholstery and it still looks great. I try to give it a good cleaning and treatment with 303 Protectant at least a couple times a season and it's never left in the sun for more than a day at a time. Carpet getting kinda nasty though.

Best outboard ski boat I've ever seen/skied is a Tahoe 20' deck boat. Had a 150 Yamaha OB with a Mercury High 5 prop on it. Hole shot and wake were as good as the best inboard and it actually tracked well in the course too. Used the front of the boat to put the ski on (textured fiberglass deck surface, had to put a throw rug down to keep it from being slick), bit more of a drop in to the water but doable. For someone looking for a crossover family boat that skied well this IMO would be the setup. Top end speed obviously sucked with the High 5 prop but otherwise a workable tradeoff.

@oldjeep, Agreed. We don't do a lot of really big lakes so wasn't a consideration in my post. The "big" lakes anywhere close to here (Lake o' the Ozarks i.e.) I wouldn't get on in anything less than about a 26-footer.

A V-drive is a compromise boat, plain and simple. Over the years I've skied behind several, there is not a one I've tried (admittedly haven't tried every V-drive made though) that I'd ski hard behind, too much air time and injury potential. If you're at all serious about progressing in the course a V-drive ain't gonna cut it. Secondly, I respectfully disagree with the statement "...but they are fairly useless for anything else." Depends on the boat. The LXI/TXI as one example makes a pretty good family boat with the roomy open bow and a filler cushion in it. No you can't put 10 - 12 people in it but 5 - 6 is doable for a family wally outing. That's more than plenty of company AFAIC.

FWIW I'd vote for adding a couple more buoys. That or adding buoys on the opposite side per @Jody_Seal's post above. A lot of private sites probably couldn't accommodate another couple balls longer but an opposing course would be relatively simple to do.

Obviously something wrong there. My '05 (bought used) was properly set up by the previous owner and tracks as well as/better than anything else I've driven, never had to touch it. Not brand loyalty, just provable fact. @kstateskier can attest to that and I'd say the same for his '04.

What DW said. Can't say I've ever heard anyone complain that the wake on an '03 - 06 LXI wasn't top notch. Same for the LX and closed bow Response as well.

Still eat it like candy, have for probably 10+ years now. Haven't had any tolerance issues (I always take it with food). I'm reasonably sure my liver is gonna blow out some day though.

2005 Malibu RLXI with SG and around 550 hours if memory serves, runs like a freaking top. The Bu's appear well represented here!

Over the years I've bought several without demoing them. Out of all of them the only ones that didn't really work out FOR ME were the Monza and the Strada. Always did lots of homework before buying in an attempt to make a reasonably thought out decision but being in a position to demo everything out there is just about impossible where I live so you make your best educated guess and roll on with it. Been on every iteration of a Radar made to date. The Strada I just never got comfortable with (unlike 97% of everyone else who has or had one...), to me it was just way different from what came before (MPD/RS1) and what I'd gotten used to. IMO with the Vapor they've gone back to the general philosophy behind the MPD with a bunch of great design and steroids thrown in. I still think there are 2 - 3 other skis out there I could do equally well on, but being absolutely thrilled with my bright green Vapor I have absolutely no interest in finding out any time soon.

I use a Masterline soft one event bag, wrap the bagged ski with a yoga matt and my life jacket. No problems in 9 years but don't travel with it too much. If I had it to do over again though I think I'd go with the Sporttube or similar hardshell case.

With MS Explorer I'm not offered a functional option for uploading photos, haven't been able to upload photo files for awhile now. Otherwise no issues.

Get one of these and use it regularly. http://www.amazon.com/Hygenic-Thera-band-Flexbar-Heavy-Blue/dp/B000X9R7AO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1416180554&sr=8-7&keywords=thera+band+flex+bar Helped me solve my elbow tendonitis issues and way cheaper than PT.

Found this on MSN.com this morning, thought it was interesting since it mentions the potential effect in "...swimmers and boaters...". http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/a-%e2%80%98stupidity%e2%80%99-virus-has-been-discovered/ar-AA7uBAt

If there is some realistically workable method to stabilize the vessel so a driver can hold a straight line through the course, something like this could be a real game changer IMO. Potentially smaller boat (thinking tournament/private sites here) with a 6 cylinder or even a 4-cylinder engine, possibly even electric at some point. Potentially lower cost for the tow rig, lower operating cost etc. Comment from you engineering types here?

Pricing?

The boat I owned previous to my current '05 RLXI, a 2000 Supra Legacy, would cut out and sputter when the fuel level was below about 1/3rd tank when I'd do fairly hard turnarounds to the left. Didn't do it turning right or when the tank had more than 1/3rd tank. We assumed from that it was a fuel pickup issue. Don't recall it backfiring but don't really remember. I'm tending to agree with @oldjeep and @Monkstr6100, sounds like the pickup sucking air. FWIW have never had that issue with my '05. I'm wondering if perhaps the pickup is flopping around loose in the tank? Or if possibly there is debris in the tank (i.e. pieces of plastic from drilling connections into the tank that were never cleaned out on assembly) occasionally blocking the pickup momentarily. I've heard of that as well.

If it has the LT1 it likely has a Powerslot gear reduction tranny too. Will rip your shoulders out if you don't watch it. Sounds like a good find.