DW

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.

The pull profile would change due to line length and probably wind direction. The more I think about it, it seems to me that the parameter that one needs to keep consistent across all boats / skiers is the hysterisis profile. I think, and any other thoughts on this are certainly welcome, that the hysterisis of the system is what makes the pulls feel similar or different. Sounds easy, but I think it is a pretty challenging task to get consistency across all variables. I think the "best" drivers are just really good at controlling that variable, besides, they can anticipate. Obviously it is, or else the ideal speed control would be on the market.

John, No question, the best ski site. I surf for technical information, ways to improve my ability, find great products, comment on ways to help other people progress and learn, or other hopefully mind expanding reasons and of course shop for that 95% off smoking deal on the product of choice or even to provide some humor! I have no interest or time to waste on comments that do not improve the sport, improve my knowledge or provide value. I actually find it embarassing to think that newcomers would review something of that nature and come away with a less than positive mindset on the sport. Keep up the great work and also to all the interesting posters here keep up the exchanges, it is much appreciated.

I am not sure it would necessarily that predictable w/o cruise engaged. You have to add the assumption that each pass is identicle for that to happen, water conditions do not vary and fuel load remains constant. Water conditions alter the surface therefore the surface tension acting on the hull, fuel load will alter the fore/aft weight distribution therefore changing the wetted surface and inconsistent pulls will alter the moment the skier creates on the pylon that will also alter the boat attitude. Granted, these are all small compared to 350 hp and 2500+/- boat wieght, but I think you get the drift. Interesting thought on ZO effect on pull feel, I still think the various differences between boats will create a different feel among various boats. ZO still has to be reactionary to a set of parameters, and can only react to changes from what it thinks it has to do. I would still argue that different boats would change speed at a different rate, thus resulting in a different feel, due to system hysterisis and time lag effects.

CONGRATS! Don't forget F1 on Sunday morning and Nascar in the afternoon, you don't want to have to do all those Honey Do's when the races are on! Imagine cleaning the toilets while #88 is out there winning a race!

I certainly concur on the twitchyness, particularly in rougher water. The 9700 is not as good in rough water as the older 9100, but is a better ski in smoother water and the 9700 has improved my scores.  You might also check on ski-it-again.com as there are numerous used skis on that site.

Pretty close to stock works well for me. I have moved the fin a bit and not found a great improvement. I am still fiddling to try to reduce a bit of offside tip rise, any ideas? Skiep, what prompted you to take out length and add depth?

IMO a very high performance ski, has great acceleration across course. Hard to beat for pure performance and buoy count. 9700 is a great performance ski, have not skied the 95 or 9600 version. Difficult ski to mount bindings due to no inserts to allow easy installation of inserts for rubber boots. Industrial velcro attachment technique is favored for this ski. Quality level is not as good as several other brands currently on the market.

We have also had good luck with Reward on a 110 acre lake. 2,4D also works and is used in many states to treat Milfoil. As mentioned, good luck.

I have had some luck with Copper Sulphate even though it is not the best rated chemical treatment for Milfoil.