BillBarton

Eddie said they made 56 of those black RS-1's for Nationals. Very cool looking, same ski.  Nice pic John. Did y'all dye the lake?

I love this sort of thing! Looks like great fun. Now the hunt is on for a nice restored wood ski that's not warped....

My 68" RS-1 is number 0082 and it's numbers are: 17" - 72 25" - 108 33" - 136 41" - 176.5 3lbs 8.3oz

I know organizing the Ski Test was a lot of hassle for you John, but I'm glad you did it. I've used it every year. Do think there will be one for 2009?

I went to The Liquid Edge and Doug Meeker set me up with the A1 in 2 sizes and a 68" RS-1. You're definitely right about them being totally different design concepts. At the end of the series I brought home the RS-1. The A-1 is a departure from the Monza design that I have ridden for the last 2 years. The Monza's line out of the ball is negotiable all the way from one side to the other and it's speed is it's redeeming quality. Once the A1 sets a line it is inclined to hold it as long as you're in a position to take it. I liked that part, but if I crawled up on the front of it at all coming into the ball it would shut down abruptly and I couldn't overcome that. The RS-1 is what you would expect to get if you morphed the best qualities of the RCX and the MPD together. It's a highly polished MPD that seems to exit the ball as fast as it entered. Very low effort through the pass because there is so little re-acceleration to be done. And it turns like a Radar product so it will demand a good pre-turn position. If you've got that and an ounce of patients its awesome. A quick note on early RS-1's. There are 2 different fins. A gun metal gray colored one with a knife edge and the more traditional black. I didn't like the gray one at all. It feels like stainless steel. The black one works very well and right now I have a 106+ redim carbon in it and that works REALLY well. oh ya, and use Rossi's numbers. They are spot on perfect.

I rode the 67.5" A1 last week. I wish I could morph the Monza's speed to the A1's more uncompromising line across course. Though I skied pretty well I found it to be more of a 36mph ski than a 34mph ski at my rope lengths (15/22/28/32). It just shuts down too quick. Or should I say it can be made to shut down in a heartbeat the way you might need it to if you were into an extremely short line and 36mph. It's been suggested that this quality comes more from my Approach boots than the ski, but I don't really understand that. Approaches do have 22 degrees of forward lean, but tip pressure is tip pressure and a little bit goes a LONG way on this design. At one point I figured perhaps the ski was too small so I fitted up the bigger one. For anyone considering the 68.75", my suggestion there is 220lbs or heavier. It skis BIG.

Senate or Carbon Senate?

I'll be doing an on-water demo at C.J.Brown Reservoir in Springfield Ohio for anyone who wants to ride behind the 20i, any discipline, just bring your board/ski/handle and we'll get you pulled. Bill (937)902-9406ÂÂÂ

2008 "stars and stripes" Tige' 20i is for sale. This is the boat that JB, CR, and WW train behind. It has a one of a kind red/white/blue gel-kote job on it, 340hp EFI, 4 SS pop-up cleats, speed control, Monster MT2 with board rack, ski rack, mirror arm, Clarion/ Wetsounds audio, fiberglass platform, tandem boatmate with alum wheels, disc brakes, folding tongue. Loaded and spotless. 34 hours. Priced to sell. This is the safest family towboat I've ever been in. Combine that with tournament quality short-line wakes and you've got the best of both worlds. I've got a bunch of high res pics so drop me an e-mail. bartons@woh.rr.com

Didn't ZO turn the ABC's around for '08? "A" was the aggressive one and "C" was the soft one in '07 which people complained was counter-intuitive so now (2008 version) "A" is the soft one and "C" is the aggressive one? I like the most aggressive one that pulls on me the second I start pulling on it then lets stops when I do. I'm one of those PP Kx++ guys so go figure. So I guess it's "C"

2005 Malibu RLXi

Not much of a deal unless they want to throw in a set of '08 Approaches with it for the same $900.

Well I hope you find something you like MS. My favorite (before I really invested any time into the '08) was the 2006. Most reviews of the slotfin/Monza combination from true shortline skiers is that it comes into the ball fast and they can't get it to shut down and therefore won't turn. I'm not there yet so I can't say.  If I had to say anything about the new layup ('08 versus any other year) I'd say the might have taken out a little of the over all compliance of the ski. It's a little more demanding. For now, I'm still lovin' it.

Wow, that's sad news. Looks like I better take good care of the ones I have. Thanks for all your efforts John. I like mine.ÂÂÂ

If you don't like the ski with the stock fin or the redim carbon, have you considered running it with a slot fin mini wing?

When we set up the RS-1's on a ski that was previously wearing Animals (for example) we measured the animals from the heel rubber and then attempted to approximate the location of the liner's heel not the shell's heel. It's worked twice so far.

Is that to demonstrate the potential location of the handle with a short-line slow OTF after the ball?

www.perfski.com They have a good summary.

Wow........that's cool. And all black. If it skis half as good as it looks they'll have another winner.

Doing great. I took good care of it and then rowed 1,000,000 meters this winter and hit the gym. Great things on the horizon for this year. I'm a little heavier this year than I planned on being but the back and the ankle are not bothering me so I'm going after it as hard as I can. Thanks for asking.ÂÂÂ

Hey Man, I got connections I would like to say that it's what the production ski is and if they would have released it when they said they were going to I'd believe that it is. Problem is production skis are just being shipped now so what I have probably isn't the final word. I'll send it to you if you want.

Just a quick update for anyone still listening. I'm done playing around with that Prophesy test ski, it's way too similar to the F1 for me to warm up to it permanently. That means 2 things: #1 - I got to throw that 2008 Monza in the water for the 1st time and I couldn't be happier. That is just a great product. #2 - I don't have a whole lot into this test ski so if anyone out there really enjoys the performance they are currently getting from their F1 and wants to step into a Prophesy for less than half price AND doesn't want the gay leather top (haven't seen one but I'm told it's faux-leather) let me know. I have one.ÂÂÂ

That would be cool. I was thinking that soon Wade Cox will also be skiing more 55kph and that can't be a bad thing for us either. When I was reading your post I got to the part where you said you put a slot fin in the MPD and it gave me a shiver. All you'd have to do then is add hardshells and you might have just created the un-ski-able 2 edged sword :)ÂÂÂ

We've gotten a waiver to the 100 degree rule (waivered down to 80) twice this spring (so far) just to get on the water. Keep sking in those conditions. It's what makes us better than everyone else! :)

Thanks K, I appreciate that. Doing the ski test was one of the most fun things I've done in my brief skiing carreer and I took it very seriously. You already know I'm a big fan of the Monza and the MPD and I know exactly the feeling you're talking about. If I could morph all the Monza's qualities with the MPD's uncompromising cross course line I'd be on top of the world. For me though the Monza still has too many qualities I need to move forward. My plan is to ride the '08 this year (yes I do have one) and make another decision at the end of the year. The only time I have on the 2008 Monza was a brief ride at the test and another down in Texas at the end of November. It is different and my stab at set-up numbers did change (added 0.005" length and moved the fin forward 0.015" from my '07 baseline). I run the stock fin and the 106 Redim on the 67"-68" 2008 at 6.845"Jaws/2.515"/0.735" both with the wing upside down at 7 degrees. Here is the punchline. And I'll tell you in advance that I can't explain it, but here it is. The best fin/wing combination I have for the Monza is the speed slot fin, the one with the fixed 9 degree wing. It immediately gives the ski a very purposeful feel and eliminates all sensation of slipping down course. It also helped balance the on-side/off-side. As a side bonus the wing is out of the way for real quick checks of all 3 dimensions anytime, anywhere, without a screwdriver. Initial set-up is easy too because you can remove the rear adjustment screw and just hold it against the back of the fin box while you set depth and length and you're done. With Approaches I run it against the back stop, 2.5605" deep and 6.532" long. With Animals it's against the back stop, 2.5605" deep and 6.542" long. The only downside to the speed slot fin is it's physically narrower than the stock fin so I strike a pencil line on it and keep close watch to make sure it doesn't move. The fixed 9 degrees on it tends to pull it out of the box slowly. I've only been in the water 4 times this spring so far and all the passes have been on a Prophesy test ski. For me it's been a fussy little ride, but I'm no where near a repeatable or consistant pre-turn body position (which this ski demands) so it's not fair to really talk about it. My Monza is all set up and sitting there so if you want to talk about it further, fell free to ping me at home. Ski hard, ski often! Bill bartons@woh.rr.com