DW

Great idea. IMO feel that direct ski comparisons can offer great value to the purchaser. That does not mean that I think it is an easy task to define the metrics on how to do that and exactly what to compare. . . . .

I would certainly agree that every well executed pass owes a lot to the boat driver. It is hard to get anybody excited to be a great boat driver, it is not where the glory or mostly the reward lies, plus it is all voluntary so someone has to really want to be a good driver. You also have to consider, IMO, that since automobile driving skills are also not valued in this country, that perception will cross over to boat driving. There is a surprisingly small percentage of people in this country that can operate an automobile within 50% of it's capability and that won't change with the entitlement mentality found here. Boat driving is not looked at as a skill that needs to be learned and practiced then executed every pass pulled. Certainly, there are a handful of people that take it seriously and always do their best to provide an excellent pull with them at the wheel. I guess one thing "we" can all do is thank the driver every time a good pull is given, think about how many times you thank your driver for the pull. There also tends to be little training offered or given from the driving side, it is usually, engage speed control and drive straight down the path! Not a lot of time is spent teaching the subleties of how to keep the boat tracking in a straight line when the pull comes from side to side, similar to teaching skid control in an automoble (which is usually thought of as a result of a mistake and should not be done).  Also, we probably all spend a lot more time on the fin compared to the rudder as far as tuning to make the boat track / steer really well, etc. I must say, I'll take a bad boat driver over a bad airline pilot any day! PS: good post, good topic to discuss. Driving or operating any motorized vehicle is close to my heart and I take pride in doing it well (and as fast as possible).

I think the emotion displayed shows the value of a ski test! To everybody that puts in the effort, keep it up, the ski test appears to be one of the most valuable and anticipated reports of the year. Besides, if it were easy, anybody could do it.

Hmm, those Cali morals!!

Questions: What attributes do you evaluate and rate as important on your ski or equipment choices? JTH, you can use your IST category breakdown for the list of attributes. How many ski's do you go through in a season? Why do you use those bindings, what performance, fit, safety elements are important to you? What is your training regiment? Who is your coach, what does he/she focus on to help you the most? What is your diet, do you feel it is important to maximize your performance. What non skiing training do you use? Mental training program? What is your approach to an event when the weather is bad, how much caution do you use? How do you go about getting your sponsorship? Do you have a media package? What PR do you do? As a "pro" water ski athlete, do you think about this aspect of the sport? Do you feel it is important?

Tadd, I very much appreciate the tests. I had the opportunity to participate in 2007 and found it very worthwhile to learn a lot about several different ski options and really appreciated that opportunity. In addition, in the years of not being a participant, the information certainly helped in a ski purchase decision. I certainly look forward to reading about the test, particularly on the web site. Not only that, but for the manufacturers gain, I felt the test itself made me think about buying a ski or upgrading my equipment, thus at least putting a potential ROI on the expenses of the test itself. Roughly a decade ago I felt the same about the annual boat review in WSM. When factual data and real comparisons were done and reported on, I felt the test offered enourmous value in assisting on a boat purchase. The data directly influenced a boat purchase and I never regretted the decision I made. Unfortunately the currrent version of the review does nothing to assist me in making a purchase of a new boat. I only reference that in light of ski testing, a sales pitch for each ski offers no information but a comprehensive review can be of significant value. Thanks for taking on the ski test, and of course thanks to JTH for starting the process and pulling off the first wave of the tests. I hope the event keeps on going, particularly as new and different ski options keep coming from the manufacturers. Great job to all.

The Lithium Ion batteries that will power the Chevy Volt have been sourced. That should make an electric boat one step closer to reality as there will be an enourmous amount of work done to validate them for commerical vehicle use.ÂÂ

MS, If you can keep her from touching ground, your good. Once you touch ground the owner has his say. The ol' QM might just nick the edges!!! On the AWSA approved boats the wording would have to ensure that as the years rolled on, the previously approved boats are grandfathered. There are lots of examples of that particularly in property's and property designations which could be looked at for the boat application.

Another item to consider, in Michigan the water is state owned, the ripraian owner only has land rights. So, if you restrict boats or whatever, that is fine, but if someone can gain access to the water w/o crossing any private property, all bet's are off. So, if you want to chopper the Queen Mary and drop her in, you are golden. You just can't drop anchor because then you can be legally kicked off.

Turtle alert. That is hilarious, unless you are that person, what can the guy in the yellow jacket be thinking.

ski6jones, Combine post 6 and 3 and you have the most compelling reason of all. The person that risked the capital established a set of rules to protect the investment. IMO, a totally logical and expected thing to do. One particular reason, if damaged, he would most likely be the one investing the most time, sweat and capital to repair the lake.

Nature always wins.

I heard that OPEC is targeting $75 / barrel. They plan on cutting production to get to that. Interesting side comment was that Asia and particularly China will be the key to consumption and ultimate price, no longer the USA. At $75/barrel the estimate was just under $3/gallon here in the USA. Seems to me that is probably the price that will just keep us hooked on OPEC oil.

I don't think throwing the Detroit three under the bus is justified. If you look across each segment, several of the Detroit three actually outperform the European or Asian competitors. GM actually makes more vehicles that get over 30 mpg than any other manufacturer. In addition, Toyota and Nissan have invested significantly in big pickup trucks thinking that they could enter that lucrative market. You need to realize a manufacturer only builds what customers want, that is what drives the market. In the USA, due to inexpensive fuel, large vehicles were in high demand and now are back in demand. In Europe, with higher fuel prices, displacement taxes and more confined spaces drove the need for smaller vehicles. More properly stated, a fuel price spike caused people to reconsider what type of vehicle they needed or actually wanted. The USA has long passed the plateau of purchasing what is needed and moved to purchasing what is wanted, hence a huge lifestyle and leisure industry. Nobody needs an Escalade (Cadillac SUV) but GM could not build enough to meet demand for a long time or a $50k ski boat for that matter. The Russian economy is moving to where they are purchasing many a luxury item, Hummer's are huge sellers in Russia. What propels our vehicles will be determined by supply and demand. While oil is in large supply and cheap, it will be the leader for what ends up being used as the fuel for propulsion. This battle played out about 100 years ago, steam v. electricity v. IC engines. The IC engine won that battle because it was more efficient at that time and currently still is. Not to say it won't change because it certainly looks like it will.

That's cool. I had a friend who built a sub, I don't remember what powered it.

I minor technical issue, which might not be quite so minor when you are the soaking wet person standing in the boat, is electrical shock. The electrical power needed will probably require a battery that has an output that won't be human (wet) freindly. We all probably want that one solved before hopping in the boat!

Interesting thought, certainly some issues to work out. The transition from out of water to in water on the "other" fin might cause some interesting ski handling issues. Setting up two fins would certainly be more fun that one, and would offer the opportunity for off side and on side fin settings. Manufacturing and fin block manufacture would be a little more challenging.

I certainly think it is a great idea to try to update what powers our vehicles. The big issue with changing over to some other power source will be cost. Besides the R&D requirements to develop a reliable electric propelled boat will certainly take time, effort and money. The current GM small block that powers pretty much the entire tourney and wakeboard boat industry is actually pretty darn cheap. Along with all that cheap gasolene that JTH provides us with, it is a tall order to push through a changeover. Not that I am implying that we should not consider it or try it, but I certainly don't think there is a good business case for it at this time. We won't change until gas prices get to roughly $5/gal. in my estimate. Heck, the F150 and the Silverado are going to be the top two selling vehicles in the USA this year even after a major gas price scare. There are several electric car clubs in the US, my brother-in-law has attended some meetings in Seattle. There should certainly be some relatively cheap mule boats available on the market for someone who wants to try, a 91-95 MC 190 would make a great test boat and a pretty cool project.

JT, Happy belated 40th Birthday! Don't fret, you too will end up with CRS, that comes with age. Congrats on making it that far. Don't fear, there is still hope even if the bones creak a bit more getting out of bed. The supreme ruler makes it to another decade of wisdom, may you impart that on your minions on this site.

Ski boat manufacturers. The engineering guys, some insight on the challenges of designing a boat with the best wake across numerous line lengths, prop design and selection, power plant requirements and choices, the challenges of satisfying the wakeboard demand and the ski demand, how do they balance what this group wants v. the masses, what compromises are needed for a company in a relatively small industry.

TW, Explanation not required.

I believe that the gentleman on the left is actually the first recipient of a double arm transplant. It occured in France and he is a farmer that lost both arms in a farming accident.

Might have gotten just a little bit tougher for the boat manufacturers to sell those new boats, particularly on credit. Hard to get a credit line for a hobby these days let alone a house. Hope the economy turns around sooner rather than later.

Eric, To recreate your old boat, get an old small blade area prop or if you really want to go extreme, take a four blade and cut two blades off! Won't matter too much how much hp or torque you have, it will be like an old '69 Camaro big block on skinny bias ply's.

There are many controllers that have learing software. As an example, the turbocharged Ecotec controller learns the environment upon start up and a short learning cycle, then will offer a better boost control algorithm than a purely open loop controller. To get there from here, though, will take some hard work, time and money.