Marco

Keep in mind that getting out of your comfort zone may be necessary to advance and improve. You may be able to easily run 22's with a technique that will not work at 28 or 32. Most of the times I received professional coaching, my skiing went backwards at first, but as I worked at the new concepts, I caught back up and ended up skiing better. You should not expect instantaneous results from coaching sessions, rather expect it to take some time to incorporate the new ideas.ÂÂÂÂ

In this sport, at least at the amature level, results are relative. In the tourney I skied in, there were at least 3 skiers who were dissapointed with their scores in the mid to deep 38's. What I learned last weekend was that satisfaction is relative to expextations. My hope was to make my 32. Anything else was gravy. Of course, all that probably changes at Regionals, Nationals, or the Big Dawg, not to mention pro tournaments, but I am just guessing, never having been there. Words of wisdom from a newbie with no past experience, so take them at face value. I'd like to hear some further perspective from the seasoned tournament veterans on this board. In the meantime, congrats on you and your buddy going for it. I wish I had started tournaments earlier. There seems to be so much more to skiing tourneys than mere ski ability...state of mind, confidence, desire etc... It is what makes this sport so awesome.

No Kiddin! I am waiting for it to post on the AWSA West site to make sure I wasn't dreaming. That 38 set even included a re-ride at 32 when I encountered ducks @ 5 ball. And I had that one in the bag too. Couldn't have wished it any better!

Thank you all for your words of wisdom! I too skied in a tournament for the first time this weekend. I eased up on the pre tourney skiing, but did go to the site for a few practice passes. The water was 85 deg- 10 deg warmer than where I ski, and the practice set kept it from being a surprise on Sat morning. I barely knew anyone at the tournament, and my nerves were in overdrive on the dock. Once I got in the water, I let my brain go blank, gave myself plenty of rope (orange)and my first set I got 4 @ 35, and my second I got 1.5 @ 38. My practice PB is only 2 @ 38, so I was obviously happy with my scores. Not to mention, I met a lot of really good skiers. I am now hooked and can't wait for the next opportunity. I can't believe I waited so long to try it.

It sounds to me like you are describing what I try to do with the thought process of angulating at the hips and keeping level shoulders as your ski releases to the outside. I like your concept of thinking instead about the outside shoulder over the bindings. I'll give it a try tomorrow and see what happens.

A lot of people like the binding back on the Fish, but it is all personal preference. There is no "right or wrong" as to the set up of a ski, it is basically whatever works best for the particular skier. Every adjustment has tradeoffs, and you will know your ski is "dialed in" when any further adjustment you make decreases the performance aspects you are looking for. Not a technical answer I know, but is is the philosophy I use. I will leave the technical discussion to the pro tweakers...JTH, Schnitz, etc.

I love goofin off at the office too! I just screwed my boss out of 2 hours!!! Oh...wait...I am self employed. I gues I'll have to fire myself. How about Jamie with 6 back to back 38's. WOW

Yes, and the dft is stem.

My 68 yellow came out of the box @ 6.969 tips, 2.471, .686 stem. As I said previously, I had problems with my tip coming up on the offside. After doing some tweaking, and talking to Jason Parades, who is now on a Yellow as well, he suggested 6.9820 tips, 2.538, and 0.700 dft stem. He loves it there, but I was having trouble with it biting at the finish, especially on my on side. I took some tip out and now love the way it skis. Almost got a PB on it on Saturday. I am now at 6.928, 2.535, 0.695. It works for me. The deeper fin worked well. Binders are at 29.75.  JTH-Have fun on the new Orange. Im looking forward to your report.

I've had my yellow now for 3 weeks, and am starting to get it dialed. I was initially having trouble with tip rise on my offside, but after some tweaking, it is sking great. It is fast through the turn (compared to my old X5), so I have to be careful not to over turn and bury the tip. It is really user friendly for a fast ski, and seems to me to have a fairly large platform, so even if you are not exactly "on it", it still skis well and doesn't punish you for minor mistakes. I haven't skied on the Monza, so I can't compare to the "fin finicky" attributes between the two, but I would not consider the Fish to be overly finicky with regards to set up.

I just noticed a typo in the settings of my friend who gets into 41 @ 36 mph. The length should have read 6.9820. My Bad.

Try the fin deep! Yesterday I went out at 6.927, 2.530, 0.690, and it felt like a Ferrari! Definately skied better than the stock settings. It was over turning at 2.449, so the deeper fin fixed that and made it hold awesome behind the boat! Try it, you'll like it.

I just heard from a good friend who is getting into 41 @ 36 on a 68 Yellow. He said to go deep with the fin. He is at 2.530, (length 6.820, dtf 7.00), and says it is rippin. Has anyone tried that deep at 34mph? I won't be at the lake until Friday, but I'll give it a try then.

Greetings It sounds like we all have the same addictions. I am 47, have lived in Telluride, CO (snow ski town) since 1979. Was a free skier until 1997 when I went to Ski Paradise in Acapulco, where I discovered Aldegundo's Mezcal, the slalom course, and later bungy jumping. I mmediately got addicted to all 3. With the help of Jason Parades (we'e still good friends) and Will Bush, I ran my first pass ever on the 3rd day. When I got home, sold my Sea Ray and bought a Mastercraft. Went back to Gordons 5 more times, mainly to hear Gordon tell me I looked like a "monkey %#&*ing a football". I wasn't satisfied skiing on a public lake with jet skis and rollers, so in 2002, we built a ski lake an hour away from home. The way I figure it, going to Gordons that first time cost me over $500,000 between the vacations, boats, lake..... Luckily we sold 4 other lots on the lake and paid off the 2nd mortgages.  I now ski on an '01 Malibu LXI, up until now an X5 (just received my Yellow Fish a few days ago) and on a good day get into 38 34mph, but haven't run a 35 yet this season (3 weekends so far). Hopefully the Fish will do the trick. PB is 2 @ 38. A bad back from too many years of bump skiing is slowing me down some. Have a lovely wife of 20 years and a wonderful 16 year old daughter, both like to ski and hang at the lake. Life couldn't be better! (Except for work..I am a general contractor in a very stressful environment, can only get to the lake for long weekends). Marco

JD Thanks for the info. I'll leave it stock for now and probably go for 29.5 on the binders. I've been working at 32 and 35 this spring, so it sounds like 29.5 is the number.  Are you running the stock fin? It looks a little on the thin side, as does the wing. Have you tried it with a Carbon, or will it even fit in the slot?

JD- I just received my 68 yelow today (it's been ordered since early march). The factory fin settings that came with my ski paperwork are different than what you quoted above. The factory settings say 6.872, 0.686, and 2.449 with 9 deg wing. It does not say to whether to use jaws vs tips, but I assume it is tips for consistencys sake. What settings are you using now, and did you keep your bindings at 29.75 or move them back to 29.5? Jodi told me 29.75 was recommended. My calipers are at my lake an hour away, and won't be back down there until Thursday, so I cant verify right now how the fin was set out of the box. Was yours close to factory settings? Can't wait to get on the new stick!