John Brooks

@Horton that girl is way too cute. You could sell about anything with @"Buford Danger Horton" around!

@ozski I had a similar situation a couple years ago. I was skiing well with the switched grip, but since the muscles & tendons did not have the benefit of of getting used to this activity all season, I ended up injuring myself. I damaged a nerve that ran from my wrist to my shoulder. Hurt a lot. The only cure was rest. No PT work. Even went to see a neurologist, the answer was the same. And nerves are slow to heal. 18 to 24 months. Good luck and be careful.

I also wonder why this rule is worth implementing with so little impact?

In reading the PCM manual, it mentions the following. Notice that it mentions that ethanol fuels are fine for the PCM engines but the gas tanks, fuel lines, ect are may or may not be ok. My personal preference is to use ethanol free. GASOLINE CONTAINING ALCOHOL The implementation of ethanol-based fuel is spreading rapidly throughout the United States. As such, PCM Engines provides the following information regarding the use of this fuel. This information addresses the use of ethanol fuels in PCM ENGINES ONLY. It does not address the use of ethanol fuels in vessel related components such as boat gas tanks, boat fuel lines, etc. Ethanol blended fuel rated E10 or less is acceptable to use. Fuels rated higher than E10 SHOULD NOT BE USED. Ethanol fuels rated higher than E10 could potentially damage the engine and/or present an unsafe boating condition. Damage to the engine resulting from the use of ethanol fuel rated higher than E10 IS NOT covered by the warranty.

Is this the Weather Channel?

I think there was too much slack in that rope. Does he get a full or 1/2 buoy with that slack? And if you fly over the gates, how is that scored?

I have often felt like there is little or no good reason for AWSA to have an affiliation with IWWF. It does not sound like it provides any benefit to our kids or athletes. The commentary from IWWF I have read hear seems to confirm, at least in my mind, why we would not want to go through the political gymnastics required to host these type events. If the group organized by Steve are willing to put on a high end event, to the benefit of the athletes, outside the scope of the IWWF, it sounds like it would be well attended by the high level of athletes intended to be attracted.

Officer, officer, can you unzip me? My buddy left me stranded in this outfit and I can't get out.

On your Zero Off control panel is a Diagnostics screen and will show the pucks working or not. The two puck system is using one at a time. On my previous boat, from this screen, we could see we had one puck that was broken.

Sounds like a great idea to me. Why is everyone so hung up on what they perceive as lesser quality scores? Does it really make a difference? The only impact seems to be seeding at Regionals or Nationals. For someone attending those events, when the rubber hits the road, they have to ski & live up to there ranking. It all works out.

Make it required that all officers, directors, committee chairs, committee members, state, regional or national, all in any type of leadership roll are competitors.

I like what @OB1 & @disland mention. For a Class C or D, whatever you call it, at least in slalom, just put someone in the boat, 16 or older, to count buoys and be an observer and let the skier submit their own scores online. Use that system to qualify for your regionals and nationals. As far as record tours, let those only apply toward world rankings. Record tours would count the same as class C toward nationals.

I don't know about many of you, but my entry to the sport was via public water and an active club on a large public lake. It seems like we need to find ways that make belonging to AWSA worthwhile for all those folks skiing on public lakes. Manufacturer demo programs for skis, equipment, boats, ect, designed to interact and promote some level of the sport. I think there are a lot more people out there skiing that are off the radar.

@JeffSurdej I need to agree with @Horton. In fact I would suggest giving all college grads 10 years of membership free, whether they were on the ski team or not. No need for the magazine or the guide, I don't need it either.

I hope there will not be any walls built around ski lakes!

@lpskier One disadvantage is if I do not care about IWWF rankings, only about AWSA rankings, I get one score from the weekend vs 2 toward my AWSA ranking list status.

I think @disland is on to something. Often I have thought that Open skiers should fall under the IWWF and only have one rule book to follow. The rest of us, well maybe the Beer League and a Cartoon League for the kids, makes more sense.

It is exciting to see women's slalom being more competitive.

I'm in NC and decided this year to ski at least once a week throughout the winter. I try to pick days without wind, air temp higher than 50 and water temp 45 or higher. For me the benefit is first I enjoy skiing, then trying to keep the ski muscles a little bit in shape to make the spring and summer easier on this old body and continue riding my ski to focus on technique. I've skied in the winter in the past, but not as consistently as this year.

What do you estimate the cost / hour of the boat is? I feel like to start I use 3,000 hours as the useful life of the boat and engine. Then add in average annual maintenance, insurance, ect.. If I use $60,000 as the cost, 3,000 hours as the average useful life, cost per hour is $20.00. What do you think?

Seems surprising that the sun is out. I thought it was gray and cloudy until May.

I was reading the thread about what people were expecting in 2017 (although I think the thread is labeled 2016) and noticed a post by @bkreis talking about Manon. It made me think about a June 2016 tournament at Little Mountain Ski Club, just outside Charlotte NC in Maiden, where Manon ran -39 twice over the weekend and one of the rounds her record was approved by the European & African Federation, ½@-41. I have been lucky enough to see Manon and Freddie come to Little Mountain several times and continue to be impressed by both. Manon’s skiing seems to improve every time I see her and I am also excited to see what her skiing will bring in the coming years. She makes the passes seem very smooth and easy, maybe I need some lessons from her. Here is her -39 pass along with the accompanying boat path video. Boy she can ski. https://youtu.be/9_BfoDohqko https://youtu.be/PObzSmOQiKg

@RichardDoane looks like you need 2 more umbrellas to make that tower complete.

@klindy it takes a village to be able to throw enough rocks

Boat judging is a tough job and in section 10.08, it outlines: The boat judge shall observe the boat path (see Rule 10.07). If any part of the boat deviates outside the bounds of the boat gates, the boat judge shall award an optional reride if the path of deviation was a disadvantage to the skier. If it was to the skier’s advantage, a reride is mandatory. 10.07 Boat Path A. The boat path is intended to be a straight line along the centerline of the course. B. Where end course is available, the towboat pylon shall not deviate by more than 20cm(7.87in) from the course centerline. For instances where end course video is not available, the boat shall follow a straight path as close to the centerline of the course as possible. Not only responsible for judging the skier but the boat path as well. That it a lot of fast moving balls, at the same time, to manage.