Roger

Primarily to compete but I also drive, so the insurance is a factor for me if I get hurt (or hurt someone accidentally).

@Jody_Seal - was that intentional or did you mean "Towed" Water Sports :wink:

@DW - I have no personal experience, but when I owned Mustangs (cars), on the various forums for them, there are many people who will not use RP. I'm sure there are plenty who swear by it as well, but I've never seen people say they will not use any other synthetic oil on those forums.

1. Is the powertrain warranty really voided if a dealer doesn't perform the 25 hour service? No. 2. What did you pay for the 25 hour service? Seems like replacing the serpentine belt that early is a touch overkill? My boat had 26 hours when I bought it (was used at Regionals) and they did the service before I picked it up. 3. Is the heater really electric, versus the Heatercraft style running off the engine cooling system? My boat is being stored at the dealership, otherwise I'd pop the hood and look for myself. No, it runs off the engine like every other boat I had, though it does not put out nearly enough heat. 4. Are fold down platform brackets standard? Mine has them, but just curious if I paid extra, as they're not listed on the build sheet? Not sure, but I think so. 5. Is it hard to add seat heaters? Yes, I was told it can be done, but expensive. 6. Mine is has a 4 blade prop. Since a 3 blade is standard, what package was the 4 blade a part of? Seems like a dumb question, but my dealer doesn't have an answer for me. I'm assuming I'll prefer the 4 blade? 5.7 engine, if that matters. Every 2014 through 2016 I've seen here in South Florida came with a 4 blade.

You link seems broken, here is one that works: Thunderbird Yacht History

I pulled Ivan in our last record tournament at Okeeheelee. He is very even off both sides, easy to know where he is and that makes it easy to drive for him. He ran 1.5@10.25 (I pulled Harold Hintringer in the same round to 2@10.25 for comparison). It was a 16mph cross wind that day and these guys skied like it was calm! I had not met Ivan before he jumped in the water for his round. I kept asking the boat judge "who is this guy, he skies great?" after every pass. When he ran 39 with the same even style as 35 and 38, I knew this was some skier on the line. Very nice guy to talk too as well. I always get feedback from anyone new I pull in a tournament and he was very easy going about the whole thing. He said he liked my driving, but not so much the wind :blush:

@Milford - "I believe it is the main reason waterskiing is not in the Olympics." It may be "A" reason, but I don't think it's the primary reason. There are no powered sports in the Olympics, I believe that is the reason. There is one bicycle race where a motorcycle pulls them up to speed, but then drops them for the actual race. Skydiving was in briefly, and of course an aeroplane took the jumpers to altitude, but the plane was not a part of the actual competition. Our boats are a direct part of what we do.

@MS = yes, Graphite. It was making into everything back then. I still have an old Graphite tennis racket :smile:

@Horton - thanks. Hopefully, they will update their site with the liner info soon.

@Horton - Do you think the liner from the Vapor would work (since I have several)?

@MS - I had a Tech-1. I think it said something like "Honeycomb Technology" on it, very high tech... My first slalom ski.

I think the Fischer #1 started the better looking ski thing...

@LeonL - I agree, "bad decision" not the proper verb. However, I would also say that the boat crew is just that, a crew and should work together. As a driver I always glance at the rope before pulling the next pass (Yes, I have caught both a missed shortening and a double shortening). As a boat judge, I never mind the driver checking the rope and/or asking me if I shortened it. The situation above is one of the reasons I always call in just before pulling the skier up on each pass with the skiers name and rope length (John, 12 meters, etc.). It gives me (and the driver and scorers) one more chance to get it right.

@Horton - Their site says the boot system does not come with a liner. What liner did they send you and what liners will work?

@Mrs_MS - I'm sure that's because you can't drive or judge for a relative (should be ok in a clinic I would think). BTW, some of the best drivers I ski behind are "Just girls"...

@Horton - I have only tried it behind my own boat (2016 MC ProStar with dual pucks), so I can't compare. However, I felt the same things everyone else has reported, seemed slower and I had more space.

@scoke - Interesting to note that the 5.3 single puck of Gloersen shows the same 34.9 speed at the gate that your 5.7 single puck does. While I'm pretty sure the speed at the gate when you had dual pucks was 34.7, I'd stick with the single puck if I were you since you will likely only get the 5.3 boats in tournaments (maybe a 6.2 from time to time).

@jcamp - LOL, I think the guy did a great job!

@Splasheye - Thanks, I have not seen the software (that Jerry uses) and did not know that.

@6balls - The amount the boat (is allowed) to move around varies by driver. IMO that particular clip is too much. Even though the pylon never leaves the boundaries of In Tolerance, I believe that had this been a record setting pass, it would probably have been denied due to cumulative deviation in favor of the skier. It would be interesting to have Jerry run this pass through his software and see the result.

Here is a demo video of .

@A_B - "Are we to bring in Russian drivers for every tournament of importance so you don't get a friend of the skier driving?" I think one of the best compliments I ever got was the first time I drove Master Men at Palm Bay. One of the skiers was John Shealy who I ski with regularly at Okeeheelee. Gordon West was Chief driver. Someone asked Gordon how my boat path looked to which he responded "His boat path is fine, what I really liked is that it didn't change when John skied." I have reviewed literally thousands of boat paths from our tournaments. It is readily obvious if a driver favors a particular skier or not (or if they intentionally wrong side a skier they do not like). Our site will not tolerate such driving, period. I ski and drive primarily at Okeeheelee and Palm Bay and have not seen this type of issue with the local drivers. I have seen this from one or two visiting drivers and appropriate steps were taken.

I tried it on my last pass Saturday. It felt really good to me, like a slow time. 34.2 -28 180lbs 2016 MC ProStar 5.7.

@CParrish43 - what motor is in the boat you tried the trick mode with?

Video would certainly be helpful. The most common thing I see as skiers advance to a shorter line, is not getting far enough up on the boat. I believe the fear is too much speed when in reality, not advancing enough causes the skier to ski directly at one ball with more speed than they would have with a wider gate. Been there, done that...