jhughes

@A_B definitely the worst weather this summer. Horrible late start this spring then multiple bouts of crazy rain/flooding and now a huge cold snap this week. Turned the furnace on this morning, house was 64F this morning.

@jercrane I don't have the doc, sorry. Having run 28 hundreds of times since this thread was started back in 2013 I'd scrap the whole doc and say simply that a nice high gate with a glide and turn-in on the front foot, and NO OTHER pointers or tips, will get you -28 even with many, many other errors in the course. It won't get you 32 but it will get you -28. I'm not a big believer in large quantities of the low-speed stuff nor any "in course" tips as they are distractions to what needs to be learned which is the glide/gate. Now I'm working on body position and handle control for -32 but I can run 28 with egregious errors, wind, and a stack that looks like Quasimodo. As long as the gate is good. Even decent. Folks doing the wrong stuff at lower speed or working on in-course stuff like "counter rotation" and visual stuff, etc. are going to have a long road to 28 with gate denial.

I think it's worth it in your case. The only time you really get into trouble with Z-box is short, tight setups on small lakes. It can also have trouble with lower speeds if you're skiing like 26mph or less. Otherwise you'll love it. It's a terrific product for what it is. Yes you can use it for open water as well.

@6balls that's 100% untrue about the bubble butt being weight-insensitive. I still own one (and also own a 2016 200) and the BB is a canoe hull. If a spotter with any weight on them settles into the far corner of that spotter seat, the wake and spray is dramatically altered to the point of being comical, spray even hitting the rope at times. The beginning of my sets on that boat often start with me pointing left or right for the spotter to move and level things out! Very weight sensitive particularly for trick as well. It's a great hull, one of the best, but the 200 hull is a massive improvement. Don't kid yourself! Again, I have both boats and ski them both along with a new Malibu every year as a club boat. And did everyone forget the fun of changing PP params like crew weight, wind, KX/PX, wind, extra RPMs, magnets, smart timers, etc.? No thanks, I don't miss that stuff. Z-Box is better but nowhere near ZO as far as consistency and tolerance of different drivers/starts. @B_S well put!

I don't get the purpose of this thread. What I gather from the OP is "I'm not in the market for a newer boat and I don't own one. I have an old, simple boat that is great and based on comments on an Internet forum of a small sample of enthusiast skiers I feel that new boats must be wrought with problems, what gives?" Certainly no complaints about new boats from me or any of my ski buddies, then again we own, drive, and ski them on a regular basis.

@Chef23 I don't know about that strategy, I've never seen it work. Way too much time at slower speeds, and speed changes every single variable in the skiing equation. Folks stuck in this phase generally have a gate denial problem, focusing on everything but the gate. Out hard on the back foot, back foot heavy glide, narrow, back foot turn in, and narrow throughout. Every time. Get a good high gate at 34/15 and ski it wide and early. Then hit 34/22. A 22 with a decent gate can be wrought with errors and still be run consistently. A narrow, crappy gate and the guy is running on a garden-hose width of margin for error like somebody running -39. 34mph is the playing field (at least for us, and keep in mind we use artificial gravity here in the form of the boat for potential energy) so they should play at 34 more often and get their gate right. IMHO.

@rawski Barf.

Yep, gives you a nice lay of the land and keeps the family happy and close to amenities. Should be able to find a ridiculous house for pretty reasonable money as well.

The smartest Orlando play seems to be to rent a really cool house with a nice pool somewhere closer to town and have your pick of the litter for any ski school you want to visit. Gives the rest of the family the option to swim and hang out at the pool and you won't be out in the boondocks. We have stayed at Swiss, which is nice, but it's out there!

77F today in Northern IL, beautiful.

This ski is certainly something special. I'm well past the honeymoon period and still amazed by its incredible blend of attributes. It creates space like crazy while at the time forgiving horrific errors. Keep in mind I've skied nearly a dozen different skis over the past couple seasons. This ski is the biggest leap forward I've personally experienced so far in slalom equipment. As close to "magic" as it gets.

I didn't get through that 5-6 set period the last time I tried a HS but the main reason was my back toe crashing into the release arms. How do you RTP guys handle this? I do recall the ski feeling sideways on starts but the main performance difference is I couldn't get a release out to 2/4 and drew narrow consistently, drove me nuts. Probably should have corrected the technique problem but instead I switched back to rubber. If I can figure out the RTP-toe-crashing part I'll give it another crack. It's fall, afterall.

What sort of alternate physics are going on inside a Nautique motor box where the engine has a consistent amount of power without a fan?

As an aside– I can't imagine the cost it must have been to design, engineer, tool/mold, and produce these keypads and the gateway/relay system. Even little details like the key backlighting, auto-off, and stateful colored on/off LEDs for the function keys. They actually feel of considerably higher quality than the current pads/buttons. Meanwhile the competition was running off-the-shelf rocker switches, gauges, and keys back then. Bold move for Correct Craft. Crazy, but really cool. Must have been the roaring economy mentality of the late 90's, pre-Internet-bubble, even.

@storm34 that's as sick as it gets. Good lord.

The keypad in my 2000 SN has been fine for 19 summers. An awesome bespoke system light years ahead of the competition at the time, and even now for that matter.

Being self-employed, no kids, young, etc. gives you a lot of flexibility. I'm assuming you can work remotely. If I were you I'd take a few months and do one of the following: 1. Rent a house in West Palm and ski at Okee every day for 3-6 months 2. Be a driver at Bennetts, Coble's, or any ski school for a season 3. Answer that ad from Eden ski lake and live there for a season Or something like that. Some sort of total immersion where you can level up considerably. I really wish I had done something like that pre-kids/pre-career.

FWIW I feel like the new DI motors are a nontrivial upgrade. They debuted in the 2016 Nautiques but I would imagine they would be getting to some of the other brands soon if not already. Love our 5.3, incredible mill.

@Lieutenant Dan 67.

I generally love D3 skis and also own an ARC-S which I've been skiing a bit this summer. There won't be any crazy transition period with a properly set up Vapor. I think that's what you're asking. You won't have to burn sets to "get used to it" (nor should you with any modern ski that's properly set up).

@mcskier41 I'm not comfortable giving detailed ski reviews at my skill level. The differences are nontrivial and global. For me the SP was an OK ski. Pretty good. Consistent with expectations for any modern ski. Tough turning onside at -28 for me consistently on that ski and for me tough to get a repeatable glide. Had I stuck with it, I would have been fine long-term. My offside stack is horrible making 2/4 vulnerable turns in general. The VPB was "holy shit this isn't even fair" good. Questioning-the-boat-driver-on-speed-good. Giddy-talking-to-boat-crew-at-each-end-of-the-lake-good. Best first set on any ski and I've run 5 skis this summer. Hopefully this honeymoon continues! I'll get some video up soon. Can't speak for skill levels below or above mine but that's what I felt between those skis.

Yes, I tried both 2019 skis. 34mph only, my cold opener is 22@34mph. Both felt great at 22 but most modern skis do. The Vapor made 28 feel easy on the first crack. Senate took dialing in and ultimately felt like the wrong ski for me personally. Felt big. I could run 28 on the Senate but not consistently. I’m 5’9” 185lbs. FWIW the skis are both good but different for sure. Had great support from Rossi and Brooks all the way through. I have some videos of the Senate on my YouTube channel (fifteenoff) if you want to see that ski combined with my terrible form, ha.

@tjs1295 The saddlebag compartments are vented fairly well. That big chrome vent amidships in the interior (under that little step on each side) vents that compartment. The best part about the saddlebag compartments is that they protect your gear from sun and from any casual passersby who might want to lift something from your boat. Key for any public outings or boat trips. Of course that doesn't really matter on private water.

The looks of the new Ski Nautique are a non-starter. The boat looks unbelievably, comically bad. If I had a gun to my head right now I'd buy an MC in a heartbeat as it's the last good looking boat out there, hands down. That said I'm really really glad I bought a 200 while they still existed and while I was able to get the DI motor in there. Amazing combination, amazing powerplant.

First set out of the box right into PB territory. I try a lot of skis every season and this is an insanely good ski. My philosophy has always been that when you buy something this expensive it should immediately feel "good/better". This ski does that with no fuss, which is a rare trait.