jhughes

I think it's interesting that D3 and Goode make only one level of water skiing product: The top level. They aren't putting out tubes or "free skiing" skis "hybrid" models or combos or anything like that. Both companies at any time are offering only 2 slalom ski models (generally). When you only make 2 skis they'd better be pretty good.

I loved this. @MarcusBrown thank you for doing what you do. Yes it's two guys chatting in an RV but the production is awesome (little things make a huge difference) and Freddie is a great guest/interviewee. Makes for a great piece to watch. An inspirational rally cry, too, to some degree– how hard would it be to string some events together into a tour? Maybe the way to do it is a backyard tour of some sort. A string of lesser-known, nimble, less formal venues throughout the states/world. They televise professional cornhole tournaments and curling. Seems like there might be a chance to revitalize this on TV by with that tour/story concept. Interesting note about us late X'ers/Early Millenials (the 30-45 crowd) involvement. I know I've got 4 of them on the boat most mornings so we're into it for sure! Kinda wondering how we can help realistically. What age group is carrying the sport now? Boomers/early X'ers?

You should try one. I still feel like they make the lightest/thinnest "feeling" ski on the market FWIW. High amounts of feedback and tactile responsiveness. Very "lively" feeling. That's the first thing I notice. Lots of 34mph podiums and serious skiers that have solid technique seem to ride them. They seem to support the sport quite a bit and that's very cool. I personally ski more consistently on D3 at my (mid -32 hack) level.

This worked. I'm certainly intrigued.

Honestly it doesn't matter for what you're doing. Most skis will feel great and similar in open water. Both are great ski companies and great products. Pick the one that looks cooler to you.

Yeah, I don't get it. The 16-18 200 had the H5/H6 DI motors as an option, btw.

That boat is insanely tough to drive in the course and very soft and easy to ski since you can do whatever you want with it as the skier. I remember smoking -32 behind a hand driven 83 a few years ago. Still have not run it on a modern boat.

The 6.0 is not a DI motor. The throttle response of the DI is substantially faster than MPI. To me they actually feel like an electric motor in comparison.

Isn't this really about just DI vs. traditional MPI? The 5.3 and 6.2 are DI motors. I think a lot of folks do not understand that. DI is a whole 'nuther ballgame. My 5.3 seems incredibly snappy and responsive compared to any MPI mill and the boat feels really strong with it, I go down a letter on my 5.3 DI.

When I drop the course in our lake up north (way up north) it's not well received. In general people want to fish, pontoon around, and kayak and whatnot, and claiming 2000ft of the lake with buoys is a big request and imposition. I try to get it in and out as early and quickly as possible, I'd never leave it in. I remember one time I had just dropped it in and a small rowboat was motoring past it, the guy cussing about the course wildly to himself, not knowing it was so easy to hear across the lake. He was absolutely furious!

@Corne The old Leverage bindings were amazing bindings. IMO the ultimate evolution of a "classic" highwrap waterski binding. Unfortunately they switched the overlays to the "blackout" overlay. This overlay comes up lower on the ankle and is made of EXTREMELY soft rubber. It feels almost like a soft latex, very floppy and stretchy. I put the new overlay on my old Leverage and it's basically made my entire ski season a mess, that's how different it is from the previous overlay. Maybe the new entire Blackout binding has other additional design changes/stiffening to accommodate the different wrap material, I don't know. What I do know is old binding + new wrap is giving me trouble.

The Excal is a roller motor so any 15-40ish oil will do. Delo is probably a good, reasonable oil in this category. I'm sure Rotella is still fine on that motor. The Rotella thing/change I believe is just (potentially) bad on cats which a 2002 won't have.

I can't think of a situation where someone would have Z-Box sitting around used(?) maybe if their boat was stolen and the robbers left the Z-box behind or something. I'd just buy it from PP.

This is all a symptom of using 15/22 technique to get through/survive your 28 pass. Good enough to get through 28 maybe 70% of the time, but not 100%. As such when the green loop comes it's over quickly. Having been banging my head on 32 for a few years now I'm trying to focus on rebuilding and redefining my fundamentals. It's a lot of work.

As @scoke's main problem-child student I'm just glad to see @scoke back on BOS! I do not do any of those 1-4 and that is why I can't run 32. Soon, though. The comeback is mounting.

@skialex it's gotta be close I'd imagine.

If you do, terrific! Could you measure your length and DFT both with the jaws/slot and then with the tips/head and tell me what the conversion number is from Slot Caliper to normal caliper? I'm not cheap- I'll commit to buying the slot caliper when I can commit to this ski, I promise. I'm just flying blind right now. A conversion number for this exact ski would be really helpful.

@Hallpass I remember that. Epic!

The sport supports enough ski manufacturers and boat manufacturers to keep the baby boomers (and early X'ers I suppose), who have had a great run, happy. What happens when they stop skiing?

To some degree it's how much you want to work and sacrifice for course access on public water. For years we dropped a portable course in and pulled it every time we wanted to ski the course. Early mornings on weekends, late nights on weekdays. And that's storing the boat in our garage, trailering it a half hour both ways, loading/unloading all the course pipes and crap. But we did it. We made it happen. I don't see many folks doing that these days, in fact I've never seen that outside of our own boat doing it back then. What we need in my opinion is about 2 dozen more Okeeheelees scattered throughout the country. Dedicated but public ski lakes. Sheltered, club maintained, but everyone brings their own boats. How that idea only spread to 1 single spot in the entire country is beyond me but it seems like it would be a win win to do in other areas. Good parks/forest preserve revenue. How did they do it? How could it be done again? Courses on public water are always going to suck to maintain and ski on, so again the Okee idea seems like what we really need. A perfect hybrid. Then you're driving a boating economy in the entire surrounding area. Boats in garages a totally common thing. People travelling there to train, feeding the local economy.

Closing the loop on this, moved the bindings forward a bit and I'm really liking the ski. The onside turn is simply unbelievable and the offside turn is better the more quiet and level you are.

FWIW our 19 has been fantastic, one of my favorite boats. 155hrs, no problems.

I don't think you need to define "expert free-skier" vs. novice and whatnot. I consider free-skiing and course skiing to not even be on the same planet of similarity and not even worth comparing in any fashion. If the theory is that the way slalom skis are marketed, categorized, and defined in general is perhaps worth a revisit then I'd agree strongly.

Upgrade ASAP. Used options that are also great would be a '14+ Lithium Vapor. My wife still loves her '15 Lithium Vapor, she immediately improved and started running passes on that ski after messing around with the lower line of skis.

I can give you a lay of the land, feel free to PM.