John Brooks

@Than_Bogan Good points. My question is not really related to 34 vs 36 but that the kids, still on a steep development curve, are moving from B2 to B3 and not necessarily ready for the higher speed. In a tour if they want to shorten the rope, they need to be at 36. I believe for them to have fun and a sense of accomplishment, it might be a better option to have the 36 mph requirement be in a separate, voluntary division until they reach M1.

I would like to find ways to grow (not shrink) our sport and keep folks safe at the same time. Give the kids the option, stay in B3 at 34 or move to another division at 36, not force them to increase speed just to be able to shorten the rope. Their technique may not be great, but if they don't stay on the water they will not improve, they will not have a water ski addiction (I personally think this addiction is good.) and who will come to the lake to pull us old guys/girls? As @gregy mentioned earlier, I believe we need to think outside the old box, find many different ways to allow folks to enjoy the sport, feel the challenges and success and want to bring their friends. And how about Master Men or some other named division, to have a group, by those who would like a change, additional challenge, to ski at 35 mph?

Do you believe that increasing the maximum speed from 34 to 36 mph, going from B2 to B3 is good for the sport and the skiers? I have no kids that age any longer but seeing some good B2 skiers making the progression, moving up to B3, I have seen some kids get hurt and wonder if maybe that jump in speed also might be scaring some others that decide to move away from the sport. I would rather see kids excited about the sport. Maybe something like a move/division to 35mph would be a better option or possibly something along the lines of skills based divisions where age does not matter (I realize this is a INT type format, but is that a better option?). Or maybe do we need other choices for divisions, where the skier makes some sort of choice, within certain parameters, on which division they ski in and not have the division strictly tied to age.

Great interview. Thanks.

Looks like Live Web scoring is up and running. Check out the latest. http://www.waterskiresults.com/WfwWeb/wfwShowTourList.php

If you have wifi, have the scorer turn on the web scoring.

I'm not a top level skier and can tell the difference. With a 5.7 liter I use C2 and with a 6 liter B2. Just that little change helps me. Good luck.

My wife is watching the Independence Day marathon, she thinks aliens have taken over Alabama.

@MattP two additional women, April Coble Eller & Brooke Baldwin.

Definitely difficult to keep up with these events, all elite type events that is (Open & Master Men & Women). Seems like it really takes a technology gooru to be tied in to all the various social media and web locations to stay connected to this sport. In addition to BOS, regular visits to the Pro Ski Tour site on FB, https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pro-Ski-Tour/231448585318, is also helpful. It is kept fairly current. I was first aware of the Malibu Cup when I saw it on the USA Waterski website, the Major Events Calendar.

I believe the Centurions have the ability to add water for weight (ballast), a type of wake sack. How are their trick wakes?

@Horton, you're on pain killers for a ball of hair cut?

Agree with many comments above & especially with @GregDavis about make sure you get a scorer and/or judges rating to go along with a driver rating, in fact in my opinion you need one of these ratings before you are qualified to drive a tournament. The more ratings you hold the better you understand the rules, the more valuable you are to the tournament organizers and can help the skiers and the sport. We have way too few scorer's and believe it or not, can't run an event without them. We need 3x or more judges to run a tournament than drivers (ex - need a minimum of 3 judges during an event and need 1 driver). It is much more fun to be involved than to sit on the sidelines. I have been fortunate to meet a lot of great people and be much more knowledgeable about the sport by being involved. I am truly amazed and grateful, at some of the best skiers who regularly come up and volunteer to help.

Number of Zero Off settings on the new version.

C2 behind 5.7 liter, B2 behind any 6 liter.

Careful on the ramp!

Drop. I like to hear what the boat crew sees, think through the pass, refocus. I want to have quality practice sets. Only spin if it is for some sort of conditioning or trying to intentionally make the water rougher.

I like the graph of the various line lengths, it really captures nicely what you see sitting in the boat as the line gets shorter. Think of sitting in the boat, watching a skier at 22 off compared to 38 off. As the line gets shorter, you need to lean further off the seat to see the skier around the buoy on the driver side at 38 than 22. With the graph in mind, for me the question is what do I need to do on the water to ski the shorter rope lengths?

Nautique was a 6 liter, MasterCraft a 5.7 liter. I know many of you know this, but my first experience seeing Freddie in person, he is a very talented skier and certainly very deserving of all the positive comments he is receiving. Seeing the strong lineup we had at Little Mountain shows there are many styles that can be successful in this sport, although the basics are the same for each.

Some great skiing yesterday, Freddie deep -41 & Nate into -43.

Nice! What do you have under the hood?

I'm excited that both Nate & Freddie will be skiing in the Little Mountain Pro Am June 6th & 7th. If you have time & are in the area, make sure you stop by to watch. Plenty of great seats on the shoreline.

Black - top buckle is only tight enough to get the buckle to stay closed. Not tight at all.

@Horton , black.

Last year, mid season, I went from double Wiley's to front Reflex and rear Wiley and very happy with the change. In my opinion, the Reflex helped with a noticeable improvement in my form and technique. Also going from rubber to hardshell is a big difference, in positive way, in ski responsiveness. Looking forward to Horton's assessment and review.