Director Darwin

Eric - great job! THAT'S how the slalom tests should be graded. We can all understand numbers and which attribute best suits our particular style. Hopefully, the tests this year will revert back to how we did them the first two years. Folks seemed to get a lot out of the grading system.

I like watching the pre race shows on F1 - the girls walking around the track are fabulous! At least in F1, they have to turn RIGHT and LEFT.

"Neckcar" racing? For real? Good grief, John, I let you out of my sight for a year and you develop juvenile tendencies. If I'm in the mood for a good nap on a Sunday afternoon, I turn on Neckcar or golf - 5 minutes later I'm dead to the world!

I'm worse at golf - if you can believe!

Just a little sarcasm on my part - no harm , no foul. The fact that I'm not spending the weekend in Covington, LA. hungover and having to listen to Horton berate me about my skiing over the PA to all in attendance, I'm feeling pretty good! (I hope I run my opener in practice today)

I stand corrected - and insulted!/vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-tongue-out.gif

A friend of mine has a D3 Tightline that his g/f used to learn to slalom / course. Very forgiving yet turns well. The ski is in great condition and could probably be bought cheap. I would recommend any of the D3 customs. The X5 may be too much and the RC(X) certainly is. The Tightline was a ladies version of the X5 - a bit softer.

Got the e-mail also - rats! I was looking forward to seeing the MS/JTH dual of the A1's. Don't know when we'll all get together again.

MS - you need to get Mrs. MS on one! After last weekend, she'll be kicking your butt in no time!

We've kept the PP switch in the boat and when working on 35/38, we install the rope switch to aid in training. I've found that slowing the boat only makes it more difficult to gain width at the buoy. The 1/2 meter the switch provides is perfect when you're working on 35 and 38.

Scot - good(e) points! I guess one question would be "how many skis have these top skiers gone thru this year?". I doubt you would get an honest answer. But, the main point of my post was Ben's ability to pull a ski off the shelf and win the event - another example that it's the skier - not the ski.

Kent is up here at Cottonwood - waiting for the "all clear" to return. We're rained out until probably Thursday - doesn't leave much prep time before the BBD. Hope to see you guys down there.

Clarification: Ben won the Men's Master's event on Sunday.

A couple of things I found interesting coming out of the Pro Tour stop in NC: Nick Parsons broke his ski (again). Ben Favret's ski broke too. Both Goodes (surprising!) Ben jumped on an off the shelf Prophecy and proceeded to win the event! That's impressive.

Chet was doing what? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of/vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-yell.gif. ZO can't be "fooled" into anything. It only reacts to the skier's input and once that input ends, so does ZO's reaction. Trying his approach would have the opposite affect on what he's trying to acheive. Geez, you would think a guy like Chet would know that but maybe I'm giving him too much credit.

When going to hardshells, you want to start a bit further back than stock for rubber bindings. I've been on that ski and on those bindings - start at 30".

Nor did I check your spelling? Chcked?

And to think I approved MS as an assistant driver at my clinic last year! /vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-surprised.gif  What was I thinking?

C'mon down! I'll let you ride it before you buy it! Dawg watched me on it last night - said the ski looked good. I'll get your take on Friday.

SC - I'm running the blue Intuition Denali liners that Chad's using. I think they are thinner that the black ones and yet are very comfortable and durable. Jager was the only source I found but possibly someone knows a better one.ÂÂÂ

OK - first two sets on the Prophecy tonight. I was fortunate to have numbers from Jones to start with. 68" w/ bindings 29 5/8". Fin 6.750 / 2.510 / .770 / 8 deg wing. First pass was not pretty. This ski does not like to be pushed. Once I settled down and didn't move around on the ski and let it do what it wants to do, it flowed thur the turns. My onside is as good (if not better) than my Goode 9600. The offside is the best of any ski I've ever been on if you carry some speed into the buoy. If you slow too much going into the ball, it falls over too hard. It doesn't have the same glide characteristics as the Goode and therefore, my gate was difficult to get correct timing at first. Finally figured it out. It is not quick out of the ball like my Goode but flows better and allows me to get into position. Although, it does create great angle and if I'm late it responds by allowing me to pull longer and carry the speed on thru the turn without overturning. My 2 ball turns at 35 (offside) were the best I've ever had. In fact, I was too early for 3 ball and had difficulty being patient because I've never been in that situation in the past. Overall, a great ride and compared to Goode at twice the price, there is no comparison. This is no F1 - believe me, I couldn't ride the F1. I ran deep 35's my first set which is what I typically do on my Goode off the dock so the buoy count is not any lower and I feel could be more consistent on the Connelly. I think 35's will be more consistent due to the offside turns once I get a few more sets on the ski. Another set tomorrow night.

Funny you should mention that. I just pulled out a box of new "Gladiator" buoys for our tournament this weekend. Out of a total of 12, only 8 would inflate enough to smooth out before expanding beyond spec. I'm not sure why Overton's changed suppliers but these buoys are junk. The ones from Miami Ski Nautique are nice but they fade too quickly and are prone to puncture. I'll try the skier to skier buoys next season.

68" Prof - me and Dawg too fat for the 67". Arriving tomorrow - mount up and ride tomorrow night. Dawg's coming over to watch and provide feedback.

MS - there is skiing after the conclusion of the tournaments both days so some of us can get "dialed in". I'll have the Prophecy tomorrow.

Watched my neighbor ski the A-1 last night. The main thing I noticed is that the ski needs tip to turn. If you ride the tail of the ski thru the turn, it makes a big carving bus turn. If you get on the front too much without carrying speed, it bites hard. You have to ride the middle of this ski to make it work. The few times he was on the middle, the ski finished w/ speed and caught great angle. Another trait I noticed was that it protects the angle you achieve out of the ball but it is difficult to create any additional angle if you need it. Especially, if you are slightly back on the ski. I can see why this ski works well for Asher and his ilk. Those who are tall on the ski at the buoy will benefit. Those that move around on the ski or flow from back to front at the ball, will suffer. The ski looked quick enough but did not seem to have the speed across that his orange Fisher does. I'm not certain I will even try this ski. The fact that I tend to be back on the ski at the ball does not lend well to this ski's attributes. I can see where it would work well for guys like MS. He tends to be tall and slightly forward on the ski at the buoy. ÂÂÂ