DW

88 fastest single car lap, JTH you should be getting pumped for mid February. You'll be screaming and bouncing off the ceiling by the end and after the case of AMP energy drinks you'll consume, no more Bud! Gear rule coming, so things will change a bit for the race.

One would think that this vote is in Chicago.

Agreed, the bindings are probably 50-70% foot weight, not ski weight. The lightweight ski will reduce polar moment of inertia (swinging a light barbell vs. a heavy one), so that would be the principle advantage of a lightweight ski.

Sandbaggers!

I am not sure the actual value is the issue, it's more of "what do you get for the $3500" that is the issue. I have a few toys (snowmobile for one) that gets a lot less use than my ski, but I certainly would not expect to pay as much for the ski as the sled. Interesting comparison, how much has the price of a boat risen compared to a ski, say over the last 20 years?

Actually you would be a French baker, and everybody would be thin!

Before we had it, everybody thought data acquisition would not be that valuable in racing, now there is not a single team that can live without it. Much of what you end up using is not what you expect going in. I agree, that this application is very cost sensitive and that is a critical element.

Nope, remember the French run the show. The French government told the organizers there were credible terrorist threats (and reading the stuff on the links there certainly were), 12 people killed by terrorists in a week, so they pulled the plug. They could not really make any other decision, way too much risk. I would be willing to bet the insurance company might have had something to say about the race. The organizers are already planning the 2009 edition of the race, announcement in late February. I will be at the 24 hour on Thurs/Fri and looking like I am off to the Laughlin SCORE race on Saturday. The new DP's will be running, several of them showing up from Riley, Coyote and Lola.

John, Correct, we do not need GPS to get what we are looking for. Given the fact that the course is a fixed set of points (balls and gates) the ski path will pretty easily define close to where the balls are. We would be basically superimposing the course on the path data. The GPS does make that step much easier and potentially more accurate. You would also not necessarily know which direction in the course the data represents w/o GPS signal or some substitute.

There was a remarkable increase in security at the 2002 Daytona event. Lots of air power constantly flying over to guard the area. It was pretty cool to watch.

Not that it is a big deal to those on this forum, but terrorism ended the Dakar Rally before it started. Instead of running through Northern Morocco right now, I am bag home in the USA (without 2 bags that were lost thanks to the airlines, one on the way and one on the return) lamenting the fact that I will get no race fix for a while. The Dakar rally is the first sporting event to get cancelled by a terrorist threat, it was made directly at the rally by Al-Queda #2 leader, so the organizers had to cancel the rally. Four French tourists and 8 military guards have been killed since December 24 in terrorist attacks in Mauritania. A written threat was then posted on the Al Queda website, denouncing "the cross" and the infidels and the focus of the ruling elite on the rally. Several of the race teams focus solely on the Dakar rally, it is the main race program for several manufacturers and the level of investment for this rally is staggering. Many teams spend several millions for this event, Mauritania was poised to benefit to the tune of $30 million Euros, etc... Sad day indeed. Might be some food for thought on making sure we can keep them from entering the USA and causing similar disruptions.

Yes, called canting in the snow ski world. Most snow ski bindings have a provision to cant the boots to roperly align your legs with the ski. Before that, hence the idea of using the washers, was to put plastic shims under the bindings to do the same thing. As Chuck mentioned, I did it to get a more natural stance on the ski and even out the on/off side turns. If you try it, you will need to get longer screws to attach the plate. I think for hardsells, I would cant the boot on the plate itself.

15" of snow in Michigan overnight! Lake is frozen, skates and sleds.

Trying to think positively, the HANS is now mandatory for all drivers in many series because of, particularly one of them, but actually 4 fatal accidents. There has not been one since with a HANS. In open wheel racing, moving the drivers legs behind the centerline of the front axle pretty much eliminated lower leg injuries. What is the device or innovation for waterskiing that will reduce or eliminate the lower leg injuries. That is what we need to focus on going forward.

I am always amazed at posts like that, IMO if you can't say it face to face, don't post it. A couple of comments to think about in no way incriminating the ski in question because I have no experience with one. Perhaps we should also realize where in the product segment most of the skiers on these forums reside, the very upper end, high performance area of the product mix. At that end of the spectrum, when the product is used at it's extreme's sometimes failures will occur. Sometimes those failures are related to the manufacturing of the product, but the reality is the failure rate on a high end ski will be higher than that of the average ski. It is in all other product lines. That is not an excuse for a defective product, but I certainly can't imagine any company that is passionate about thier product intentionally sending out something defective. I certainly don't condone sending out a defective product, but I also realize what I am getting in to when I strap on the ski and push it to the limit. What positive items can come from this incident: What caused the injury and how could it have been prevented assuming the ski broke? Should we mandate a binding plate to force bindings to stay together? Has the company been able to analyze the broken ski to determine root cause? If not, why not? Would a change in binding type have prevented the injury?ÂÂÂÂ

Just to add that other element to switching skis, mentioned by Ham, is ski to ski variability. You can certainly be on one ski and switch to the identical ski and not do well at all. So, how does one factor that in to the equation of when to buy a ski. Similar thing happens in other industries, many racers have their "favorite" car or motorcycle and they are actually all a little different. It becomes a real bummer when that favorite is destroyed in some manner and can't be reproduced. That gets to the quality control aspect of building skis. I also agree with Ham, my experience is that when a ski goes (the definition being when I notice a difference or think I notice a difference) it seems to deteriorate pretty quickly.

Dartfish is a really good tool, but it does require a separate operator to assist. We use it frequently in my line of work and it does help out. I got an interesting lead on some data aq. stuff at a recent trade show, more to come on that when we get something to share.

What's more interesting, driver musical chairs in F1 or skier's jumping brands, Stepneygate or Dr. Jim, Williams fuel temperature or Big Dawg rope length? Jayski devotes a whole webiste on Nascar rumors and gossip!

Intersting subject. Here is a little quiz, free ski behind three different boats then decide it you can or can't feel the difference. The wakes on the boats are all different and I think it makes a difference but might not show up in buoy count, as the skier will adjust to the given wake. Once skiing through the course and focusing on that aspect the wake difference seems to disappear. If you look at pictures, the skier cutting through the wake, the ski gets totally airborne. That is not a good thing to make the best wake crossing possible. Certainly, the pull has just as much effect as the difference in wakes so it all matters, just how much is the question.

That was a very nice boat, skied superb. My wife really liked it.

When Flint has better rock stations than Detroit, it's pretty bad. The reason XM was invented. Last time I checked, Walgreens in Mooresville was all sold out of the JV album (I am only repeating JTH's use of the music format). Did see an 8 track player in a restaurant in Baja earlier this year.

JTH, I don't agree with your thought that good / bad sides would swap. IMO a skier is by body geometry going to be able to have one side be better than the other and style and technique can't change that, only minimize it. Pure and simple, if you look at the ability to angle the ski relative to your hips, it will be much easier to do that by not crossing your legs. The technique only serves to reduce the body's limitations to twist or rotate in the less favorable direction.

John, When you go to Mooresville or Charlotte I can set you up with all "them" NASCAR country stations. BTW they have the John Boy and Billy show too. Thier version of rock is Lynard Skynard and Jazz just doesn't exist.

That is why I was thinking of using an accelerometer, it will keep up and have good fidelity. Add the GPS element for positioning. Might be able to input the balls as targets.

Don't underestimate your ability to use the data. A simple overlay of two runs will allow you to easily see what makes one run better than another or more specifically what section either improves or hurts any particular pass.