jhughes

@skiboyny The Rev6 was a long time ago and a lot less technique ago. I have no idea. Seems less homicidal than I recall the Rev6 being FWIW.

@lefty The last 5 or so skis I've had all felt great/the same at 22 off with multiple settings so I don't know what this ski would do for you there. Settings and ski differences don't really come alive for me until -28 and beyond or on this ski until -32.

67"

I'm 175, 5' 9"

This ski took some time to figure out. 3 fin setting changes later and I will also attest that it is very very very good. At one point I thought the ski was just not going to work for me. Coming off a long line of D3s.

At one point it may have taken flight from the boat in frustration. Maybe several times. Cannot confirm nor deny.

Glad I stuck with it and worked with it. This ski is incredibly good.

In particular the onside turns are automatic, first ski I've ever had with that "feature". Many skis can be "automatic" at 135 but not at 2/4 for me. I'm a couple passes behind Horton, a couple at -35 on a good day in practice at 34.2mph. This ski turns like crazy despite my best efforts at crappy form and some narrow gates, even.

From the tips with a regular Mitutoyo caliper I'm running: .890, .485, .700, 9*, 29 1/8th. Hope that helps somebody.

It's probably worth putting out a PSA on the difference between DI motors and MPI motors. I think some people know and are catching on, but some still don't.

If the motor is a modern (post-2016) 5.3L or 6.2L it is a Gen 5 DI motor. Direct injection. This is the latest generation of GM small blocks and features  high compression (11:1), extremely high fuel pressure (~2100PSI), variable valve timing, all aluminum block and heads. These motors are lightweight, smooth, very responsive, and fuel efficient. Fuel is sprayed directly into the cylinder at the top of the compression stroke. Nautique came out with these initially in 2016. Other manufacturers followed a few years after.

Malibu got these a couple years ago, and MC offers them, they took a while on the 5.3 but I see it in the catalog at least.

Malibus are 1:1 transmissions, Nautique and MC are reduction transmissions.

The 6.0 is MPI, Multi-port Injection (previous generation technology), where the fuel is mixed within the intake manifold vs. being sprayed directly into the combustion chamber.

Agreed, do not put that stuff anywhere near a ski.

Funny- I was quickly sliding that exact same Goode out of the box just today and was about 1" away from it going directly into the ceiling fan on high, didn't realize it at all. That would have been REALLY bad.

You didn't ask- but if I needed to buy a midsize SUV right now I'd be grabbing a late model GX460. Body on frame V8, made in Japan, peak Toyota. Not crazy about the looks but the last reliable NA V8 you're going to find in a midsize SUV for a while.
 

Coming generation of GX is a turbo V6 and looks amazing,  but deliveries will be a ways off in the future.  The new US "Land Crusier" (now just a brand name and not a bespoke vehicle in the US) will be this same chassis but with a turbo 4.

I was going to say the same as @Jody_Seal, the engine is pushed back in all years of SNOB, the strut is a different part completely between the boats. If that is not the case with TSC1 boats then that's news to me, first time I've heard that.

I do think it is awesome that CC would go SO FAR to make an open bow by pushing everything back AND keep the helm as far forward as humanly possible for the closed bow version, making both respectively as good as they could be, instead of copping out with a simple "let's just cut out the bow" that the other brands did at the time. I was always impressed by how much harder they tried for both of those configurations.

Edit: Looks like the same strut for SNOB and SN 97-02! https://nautiqueparts.com/strut-s-14/

Learn something new every day!

I always think that "it's not about what you think, it's about what the next buyer thinks". You're going to be the guy selling a 1400hr boat that's now 5 years old in a few years and you're going to have to explain that. If it's a forever boat, that's not a concern of course. Mechanically the hours wouldn't scare me, I'd set aside some funds for a new shaft seal and strut bearings.

I think Corey Vaughn also switched over to T-factors. Amazing binding for sure.

This is for the now-classic 2015 "blue vapor".

To prevent this is anyone using anti-seize or something like that? 

Went to adjust the fin on my wife's ski, which has not been moved in probably a decade. Sure enough, 2 out of 3 of the 5/32" hex screws were frozen and totally stripped out.

Two questions:

1. Removal: Drill them out? Anything easier?

2. Sourcing: is this something I can grab from Ace Hardware?

Quote

13 hours ago, UWSkier said:

She has Gumby-like flexibility in every joint in her lower body to move like that on a slalom ski.  Emulating her style would put most of us in the emergency room.

 

I don't think it's that complicated. Both of the Ross kids seem to have key fundamentals totally down pat. When I see Charlie ski, I see the straightest arms of the entire field, everywhere. Neilly has incredibly obvious COM awareness everywhere and very obviously leads with the hips out of each buoy. This is most obvious as an exaggerated "style" out of 2/4 and as a "fundamental" out of 1/3/5. Both keys are very high on my list of what I'm "trying" to accomplish, maybe that's why they jump out so much.

Just another check-in here- we put all Radar buoys in back in April on one of our courses, so about 4 months now. Color holding really really well, again FAR better than the polyforms did, particularly the orange color on the turn balls. No comparison.

So, as far as "good normal buoys, as long as you're not comparing to Wally Buoys" the Radars are very good and a great value. I'm impressed. Solid product.

3 hours ago, Horton said:

No. I quit drinking since last year. 

Congrats, game changer for sure.

Yes, NRG R2 closeout blem, moodiest D3 I've ridden of the past 5 or so I've had. Head scratcher at times.

And @Chris Rossi ended up running 2@41 in MM, awesome!

Nice, but don't kid yourself - the 200 is  a million times better in every way. The 91-94 MC has basically zero tracking ability and really bad ergonomics relative to a modern boat.

Unbelievable timing and maybe one of the best episodes so far. Rossi basically read my mind. And I'm totally beat to death from up the rope sets for regionals, guilty!

The OB on our 200 is highly useful for anything BUT human seating. The aisle, with a wind blocker, is the most used "storage area" in the boat for dry items.

On a lift, you can roll up the boat cover and tuck it right into the bow. Handy.

@david_ski Not doing much tricking these days. Progressing past the basic surface tricks is just more time, falling, and work than I'm willing to do. Most advice I've gotten seems consistently impossible to execute which is really annoying.

@SlalomSteven that actually looks pretty good. You're keeping your arms nice and loose, creating no real drama in the pass. Nice gate too. In my experience 32 was a couple years after 28 but maybe not for you!

Revisit the script. E.g. you're focusing on step 4 but you forgot about steps 1-3, slump.

Perfect example this morning when I fell at 2 ball at 32 off 3x in a row "mysteriously". The video shows I was turning in on the tail at the gate every time, that tends to show up at 2. 

So good, amazing work. Really makes me appreciate the work that goes into the TWBC and how much of a passion project it is. Vince and crew "choose" to do something incredibly hard and push the envelope in this incredibly niche sport, for the good of the sport and the love of the sport. That is extremely inspirational. As usual FW was great, I love his explanation of how weird the sport is, spot on.