Director Darwin

There are a couple of them at Ski Ranch this weekend - Open skiers. Ian Trapp ripped on his. He and T-Moore have some different thoughts on the fin. Stock length and depth. DFT around .750. Start moving the fin back until the tip drops in nicely and you're done. Pretty cool looking ski and it seems to perform well. Can't wait to try one.

No doubt it is good skiing - stated so. I wouldn't say she made it look "easy" but she was in control of the pass.

I watched it several times. Good skiing. But she needs to quicken the one-handed gate process - stays in her glide too long - needs to pull out later. Also, she does a "split-radius" turn at 2 and 4 - that causes the tip rise and delay coming out of 2 and 4. I know because I do the same thing. Its hard to let the ski go out naturally - we feel we have to "kill" speed instead of using it. Otherwise, pretty clean pass.ÂÂÂ

I would guess 38. But who cares? She's cute and she skis. Next question: Can she drive? The only way you could improve this image would be if she were deaf, dumb and owned a liquor store.

I was driving today when 'Dawg ran a really nice 38 in a stiff tailwind. Got 4 @ 39 in the same tailwind. I think the numbers are about right. Going any shallower will negatively impact the width off the 2nd wake. I can see why Rossi runs his a bit shallower and shorter - his style reflects those numbers. Not many of us can replicate what Rossi does on his ski. For most of us, deeper is the name of the game - it protects width and instills patience in the turns. I'm running my 9800SL at 2.460 which is 11/1000th's deeper than stock. Ski feels like its on a rail.ÂÂÂ

My bad - JTH won't be there - I'm still punch drunk from that event. I'm certain he'll be at this year's BBD - and he'll have liners in HIS boots this time!

With you and Whoreton on the dock, I must

Jim - MS sent the file to me. They had my address as lakesOFcottonwood instead of lakesATcottonwood. They're lot owners at my site and send me emails all the time - you would think they would have it correct.  I'll bring an extra G-10 plate w/ me.  There are so many skis and bindings laying around these tournaments (for sale and otherwise) that you'll find something that will work. But let's stay positive - the airlines ALWAYS come thru. Especially since MS won't be working that day!

Talk funny? At least we don't LOOK like we're from Minnesota.http://images.wikia.com/uncyclopedia/images/thumb/8/83/8_ugly_people.jpg/300px-8_ugly_people.jpg

Jim - look forward to meeting you. Haven't seen the running order yet but thanks for the heads-up. I'll be there all day on Friday (doing a Safety Clinic that afternoon on site). As for environment, you won't find a better one - just overlook the fact that MS will be there. As far as a D3, what model/size do you ski on? What bindings do you use? I'll know 90% of the folks there and you'll find many of us willing to assist if need arises. BTW, if you have the ability to e-mail the running order, please send it to me: jdarwin (at) lakesatcottonwood.com Travel safe and get ready for a good time - Louisiana style!ÂÂÂ

One advantage I know of is not allowing the ski to seek an inside edge in your glide. In order to protect the width on the boat, you need to have the ski either flat or edging out. If you let you shoulders fall into the boat, the ski will drop to the inside edge before you are ready to commit to the gate shot. By keeping your shoulders facing downcourse, the ski maintains width and speed in the glide. Or so I'm told.

Couple of issues here. I would avoid aluminum plates for two reasons. 1) if they bend (and they will), they lose a significant portion of their tensile strength. 2) Dual loc adheres to G-10 much better than aluminum. One other issue is cost - G-10 is typically less expensive. The double sided adhesive is less costly but once you have your plate on your ski, it stays there. Dual loc allows you to remove the plate to make minor placement adjustments and/or move the plate from ski to ski. Much more user friendly in that environment. Reflex bonds are a nice ADDITION to the use of dual loc for non-release attachments. I would not use the bonds as my single source for attachment. If you have a releasable system (such as the Reflex) attached to a G-10 plate, the use of Dual Loc is sufficient. No need to add the Reflex Bonds. If you use a 250/400 combination of Dual Loc, it will not release before your Reflex system does. We have two skiers at my site using this setup. This was one of the main reasons my neighbor began this project. He is running a Reflex front / Wiley's rear on a G-10 plate. If you have specific questions about his set up, you can contact him at teammalibu2000 (at) yahoo.com.

We have not employed a Reflex boot on a G-10 plate using dual loc as a release mechanism. Dual loc is a FASTENER - not a predictable release mechanism. If you want to use a Reflex boot, I would suggest using the Reflex release system mounted to a G-10 plate. If you want a "Powershell" type system, I would suggest our G-10 plate w/ Fluid Motion boots. This system would cost less than the Goode Powershells and will last much longer - and the parts are easily replaced if they wear. Many skiers have good experience using dual loc on their plates. It is simply a matter of personal preference and the ability to guage how much and where to use the dual loc.

Jamie told me once that your 1 ball can be "too good" and that creates problems at 2. Have fun - look forward to your report.

Professional coaching? 38 is going down next month!

No - Ski Ranch in Covington, Louisiana.ÂÂÂ

That would be cool. Burn two and bring one to me at the Ranch in two weeks.

MS - you bring up a painful subject for those of us who scheduled (and priced) our tournaments back in November / December time frame. If the price continues to rise, it will have a dramatic impact on tournament revenues. I know some sites are considering a "fuel surcharge" for each entry. At this point, my tournament if full but I would consider going to 2 rounds and lower the price $10 for each event rather than instituting a surcharge. As a side note, by driving my daughter's Honda Civic to Ski Ranch later this month instead of my SS, it will save $60 in fuel costs. That's almost an entry fee! I also see this impacting Nationals. Many of us who are "contributors" (i.e. don't stand a chance at the podium) may pass on this one. This will have a trickle-down impact on Regional tournaments as well.

If anyone has a link to any Trent Finlayson video, let me know. His two-handed gate is awesome to watch - no one does it better.

Fun times are over!

The .80 was arrived at thru trial and error on the DBW version. The mechanical boats will be different as will different hull configurations. Not every boat will be exactly the same but the numbers we arrived at for the DBW Malibu's were starting points. Minimal tuning was required from there to balance out the times.

For 34mph, we started with the following: .80 pregate 17 Ball 1 15 Ball 3 We raised the Ball 1 to 20 and the Ball 3 to 17. Times good. This was an 08 Response LXI.ÂÂÂ

Yes. The issue we had w/ Mike's boat was with lighter skiers >180, the times were dead on. But skiers in the 200-220 range got a slow 1st segment and actual overall. That meant that the boat was smoking the skier in the 2nd segment. By bringing up the 1 and 3 ball numbers, we were able to get good times for the heavier skiers w/o sacrificing the lighter ones. Now were running 7.15 / 16.95 for me and 7.13 / 16.95 for Mike. Still not perfect but were getting close. Like you, I don't want to customize my pull only to find something different at tournaments. The 1 and 3 ball settings I referred to on Kent's site will be used in all Malibu's in this region. There were 4 Malibu's that were used in the beta testing. Chad's, Lucky's, Drew's and one other I can't remember. This is where the settings came from.

Correction: Should have stated 1 Ball and 3 Ball instead of 1st and 2nd segments.