Chad_Scott

I just returned from another 5 days of water skiing in Costa Rica with Jim Kilsdonk. I think this is the 7th time I have been down there and all I can say is that Jim's energy and enthusiasm to make sure everyone has a great time is incredible. Each year he comes up with new and exciting adventures to make sure your skiing is combined with all that Costa Rica has to offer. Jim now has access to two incredible ski lakes. This was the first time I had the opportunity to ski on both lakes. What a difference it can make when you can pick the lake with the best conditions for training that day based upon the wind and other factors. With both lakes available it is impossible to have a day that will not include the best training conditions regardless of wind etc Jim and Susan will make everyone feel right at home. The hospitality is second to none. I would highly recommend waterski costa rica as a must do and place to see and visit. I cannot wait to return. But for now I am back to reality which includes cold and rain. Not to forget I am missing the food prepared lakeside each day simply incredible is all I can say.

Both Nate and CP have been to 3 numerous times in practice Just a matter of time for either one of them

The Crusader has plenty of power and pick up In fact it performed better at the recent boat test with regard to acceleration than the previous Indmar models. I have driven and skied behind the 5.7 and 6.0 litre Crusader engines in the TXI. I was concerned about power initially as well nut after driving and skiing those concerns were gone. I also feel that the Zero Off and the parameters provide a better pull with the Crusader. After all who has had more time working with Zero Off than Pleasurecraft Engine Group. Maybe just the feel I was getting but I feel the overall performance with the Crusader is a great combination with the TXI

I wear a large in the regular Eagle Vest as well as the Platinum. However the Platinum is much tigher at first to get on. I like mine very tight with little or no movements. I am 185 lbs and can wear either one in the Platinum series If you are worried then go safely and order one size up It will only stretch to the person wearing them. So you will be fine The platinum is the best vest. As stated above the front is a rubber coating on top of the neoprene so if you wear it very tight over time you will see where the rubber stretches on the side

Malibu will be producing the Aussie built boats now They recently purchased the plant in Australia and will be manufacturing the boats in Australia as well. Should see much improvement in quality control

No hull changes for 15. Maybe some hull tweaks but no huge change forthcoming, New Power this year from Pleasurecraft Engine Group Crusader series. Engine mounts 4 inches further forward than the previous Indmar engines. Power is excellent, acceleration is better, boat is much quieter this year inside. Engine forward provides more weight further forward in boat and is felt in the tracking characteristics of the boat. In my opinion the hull is damn good at all line lengths. Boat is not as planted as the 200 but provides great tracking with little input on the wheel.

In Tow Spectra with the cross bar is the way to go. I just had Brenda string up one with the spectr and tubing to keep my ski from destroying it. Very nice, still ultra light with the tubing. Cross bar is great, had a fall earlier this year and felt the cross bar as it hit the top of my head. Pretty happy to have had it on there. Never come that close to hitting the handle, but i guess you never know. You will never notice the cross bar while skiing either. I have never come close to having it effect my grip back to the handle

Bill don't be afraid to be proactive if you are anticipating then the boat path will not be affected as much. If you are waiting too long to react, the boat will take the hit and you will find yourself chasing the skier. It is more important to give the skier a tight line on the back side of the buoy, this will keep the skier from getting too deep in the water at the back side of the buoy and hitting the boat hard which will certainly have an adverse effect on your path in the course. Make sure the boat is set up, good torque on the wheel, level, weight it if necessary and make the boat easy to drive. Fighting a boat and the skier is not much fun!!!

Lets go 35mph

First of all Most of you guys commenting don't have a dog in this thing. We the Big Dawg Skiers formed an association for 35 plus skiers. joining was voluntary and so was the testing. It is about bunch of athletes wanting to keep this thing clean and discourage the use of PED's to gain an unfair competitive advantage. All you that are complaining, don't join the association. There were several people involved in the forming of this association including Dave Miller. So as for JC MCCavit saying it was one- A- hole Obviously he did not bother to read the post that was on the front page a few weeks ago. If you don't wanna be a part of a drug free organization then do as you wish. As for the cost, it was paid for and will be paid for by one individual at no cost to any big dawg skier who voluntarily submits to the testing. As for the assumption that it can ruin someones reputation read the Hippa laws Some of you should do a little research before forming an uneducated opinion about what we as athletes are trying to accomplish. Simply don't join the voluntary organization formed by skiers that want to keep PED'S for the purpose of competitive advantage out of the Big Dawg.

First of all, I was one of the ones that brought up the drug testing for the Big Dawgs and for the 35 plus worlds. I brought the topic up to protect the brand we have created with the Big Dawg Series. No one as made any accusations about anyone, merely introduced testing to keep a level playing field and keep it clean. I get randomly tested all the time, it does not mean the DEA thinks I am doing drugs!!! It is to make sure no one decides to test the system and start doing things they shouldn't do. This was a preliminary test that all of the skiers in the Big Dawg Agreed to do because we all want to protect this event. Most PED's can not be found through a urine test so we look to conduct future testing to include a more comprehensive blood test. These will be more comprehensive and include PED'S such as HGH and EPO. This was a trial run and everyone who skis the big dawg agreed to do this in order to protect the event we have created. That is why we formed our own association to protect OUR event. Hats off to Dave for being the first and only one to post his results. Hopefully I will be fortunate enough to get tested as a member of the sweet 16 and I will follow Dave's lead and post my results immediately. Instead I was on the shore drinking crown royal and wearing dark glasses to protect my eyes from flashing lights. LOL

Way to step up Dave!!!!!!

Try the In Tow Cross bar very simple and you dont even know its on the handle

I think that end course should be required and submitted for all tournaments no matter what class. The tolerance should be used in the event you get into trouble or out of rhythm with the skier. We as drivers should not be trying to drive just inside of tolerance and aiming for the tolerance at each buoy. Most skiers would prefer a straight boat path with a tight line. We could make all class C's more legit if we required end course video at every tournament. Cause lets face it when the camera is not on the path at Class C tournaments is much looser than when the camera is on. Class C tournament scores are often much higher on average than those obtained on record tournaments where end course video is used. Record all classes and it will clean it up.

Well said Bishop See you in Cali. Hopefully I will learn to ski better by then

@kstateskier Pretty sure there was nothing in my post that was derogatory towards Jeff. My opinion is that this entire incident it is over suck it up and move on. Everyone deals with different issues during the night finals. No doubt it was a controversial ending to what historically has been a great event with no issues. For the record, Jeff and I are friends and have been for a long time. Certainly friends don't always agree with the each others position. He is one hell of a skier and a has been for years. So i am not sure where in my post I was hard on him. I hope to ski well enough to join in on the Night finals next year Not much fun sitting on the sidelines. The video is clear everyone had to deal with flashes from cameras and flashes from vehicle headlights. Personally when I have skied in the finals, I found it pretty cool that people were taking photos of the guys skiing at night. I think everyone involved can learn from this and make the event better next year!!!! A bad call or decision during the superbowl doesn't prevent teams from playing again or people from watching. Suit up another day!!!!

Change the theme song for the big dawg from "Who let the dawgs out" to " Blinded by the light." It does appear after two ball he was in a fight to the finish as we have all experienced at one time or another. I am not sure two little head light flashes, that also occurred for Miller, was the reason for the missed pass. His gate and one ball couldn't have been any better in my opinion. Crushed and buckled at 2 ball and the fight was on against the CC200. Everyone had something going on during the night finals most just sucked it up and accepted the result. Everyone that made the finals skied their a**es off to get to the final 16. Time to suck it up and move on. Always tough to previal at the Big Dawg Takes a lot of skill and a little bit of luck as well. Good skiing to everyone that made the finals, gonna go practice so I can ski in the dark (hopefully) next year.

It will be the crusader in the TXI

That is true @ob. Debuting PCM for the Malibu Open

Waternut. All of this years model vest have more padding than previous years. When the platinum vest was made additional flotation was added. It was them added to all of the vest in the 2014 line.

There will be vendors booths at the Malibu open

Hey I think Jason is a class act. He did the right thing.

6 litre no doubt. The 5.7 turns too many rpm and is always on you. The 6 litre is a sweet pull and still gives you the swing. No doubt go with the 6

It's the one with the reset button on it. You will just have to look. It's the 40amp I believe without looking at mine

There is a 30 amp fuse in the breaker box on the back of the engine. The fuse is silver with a little black reset button on top of it. The reset button goes bad when it gets not. Take it out and put a Normal glass fuse in it. It will be fine