Rob

We have Eurasian Millfoil on our lake (Puslinch Lake) for about 30 years now. For those who don't know the plant, it is a very strong, thick weed that has the wonderful attribute of being cut by the prop, floating away only to plant itself somewhere else and continue to grow. Once a lake is infected with it, I believe you can mitigate the problem but will not be able to eliminate it entirely (sorry). We have done several things over the years to try and control it. Weevils are one potential solution, although it didn't work for us. A weevil is a type of water based beetle that will eat a weed or two (completely - the weed dies) as it goes through it's lifecycle. So we put over 30000 bugs into our lake over 3 years (if memory serves) at which point they were supposed to be self-sustaining. Unfortunately survival rates in our lake were very low, for reasons unknown, so this option didn't work for us. The beetle's aren't cheap either - but if this works for you it is an ecologically friendly solution. What we are doing now is a combination of dredging and a chemical spray that kills the plants each year. This chemical is supposed to be "pretty safe" however I do worry that I'll be growing a third arm or something in 20 years or so. I don't recall the name of the chemical but it is very effective. One other thing to note on this is that you want to get on top of this asap. Don't let it get out of control, especially since you say your lake is only 7' deep. As this plant dies, it creates more sediment on the lake bottom, out of which next years crop grows and the cycle continues. Before you know it you won't have a lake, you will have a swampy mud puddle. These weeds are very strong. Only a few wrapped around the prop will affect boat speed. I recommend you reach out to the PLCA (Puslinch Lake Conversation Association) at placa.ca. Describe your situation and see if they have any experience with lake-savers.com. I suspect they will at least know about them, as they have been battling this problem for many years. If you can't reach them, PM me and I will put you in touch with someone directly. Best of luck with this - it is a nasty problem to have!

http://baxtervideo.ca/d/Moomba/ World Waterskiers seems to have the results but as near as I can tell only for finals and only per event - no one stop for all results in a single area. While the merged PDF linked above still isn't perfect, I think it goes a long way to making digesting the full results easier for everyone, so there is it available for all. I hope someone finds this useful.

I haven't seen Erin in years, but I drove for her a couple of times ages ago...probably around 2005 (notably when there wasn't a better driver available.) She used to train at McClintocks. @Wish is correct of course - some of the photos of her are from Masters where she competed as a junior - the pavilion gives it away. Like her sister Jenna, she is a very talented athlete and chose to pursue snow skiing instead of waterskiing. Given that she's now in the Olympics (at least her second one if I'm not mistaken), I think she made the right choice!

I couldn't agree more @wettek69 however I doubt this problem will be solved. For me with the Syndicate boot I'm right in between sizes. Sizes for that boot (and most HO boots I think) are 6-7, 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13. I am a size 9.5. I tried the 8-9 and 10-11. 8-9 is definitely too small, 10-11 is definitely too large. So I got a bulky liner in an attempt to take up the rest of the space in the boot and bought the 10-11 size. I'm looking to get a Reflex boot for my trick ski this summer (Syndicate was for slalom) and fear it'll be the same story. A men's size 9.5 (US sizing) is not exactly an uncommon size of foot, so the state of affairs with boot sizing is definitely unfortunate. I suspect it has to do with the few number of boots sold each year, but that's just a guess..

Hey Robby from Sunset Ranch! Your site skies like nowhere else - it's unreal! Still hope to get back there someday....oh and Camaro suits rock!

I hope everyone enjoys this short video of one of our up and coming Canadian skiers, Jamie Calhoun. It was created as a thank you for some of Jamie's sponsors and shows him skiing 28/14 into 39/10.75. Until very recently, I didn't know that Jamie is also sponsored by Radar Skis so I'm afraid that logo is absent but as he's clearly riding a Radar I hope that will suffice. Some of Jamie's recent scores include: 4 consecutive CDN national titles, U17 CDN national record of 3@39/10.75, second at both Jr US Open and Malibu Open and a practice PB of 1@41(10.25).

@Glydon you're welcome to them - will get photos sent to you shortly.

I ran this system for a little over a year (stock EXO, no mods). I think it has a lot going for it, particularly in terms of the release system (works as good as Reflex IMO) as well as boot placement - the mounting screws are in a slider which while still very secure allow for you to place your boots _exactly_ where you want them. That said, I do not recommend this system. The bar that runs the length of this setup connects both the front and rear boot, which in turn affects the flex of the ski. That bar extends a good distance forward and aft of the boots themselves. I may have been faster cross course as a result of the added stiffness however turning was definitely more difficult. I never even thought about this until I read Fin Whispering which discussed this a little in the bindings section, and finally connected the dots in my head. I moved to the Edge binding this season with the Reflex half boot thing in the rear (no idea what this is called actually...it's basically a fancy RTP) and haven't looked back - I turn with much more angle now on both sides. I think the photo above shows the bar has been modified to actually be in two pieces instead of running the length of the ski? It's a little hard to tell, but this may actually solve my main problem with the system. Anyway, I've moved on - if anyone wants my old parts, except for the liners (I'm keeping those as spares for my current setup), you are welcome to it. Pay me for shipping only - parts are free. Ships from Ontario, Canada.

List of waterski videos I know of: 32 Accounts Edged in Water 1 & 2 Evolve Gifted Momentum The Secret Spot 43@43 Flight School with Scot Ellis Joel Wing Trick Instructional Shortline with Drew Ross Slalom with Andy Mapple Slash The Footers Edge West Coast Slalom I suspect that some of these are no longer available.

Thanks to BOS I was able to quickly fix a problem with my Zero Off this morning. It wasn't picking up GPS. Found the diagnostics screen in the thing and saw both pucks were reporting failure. Checked wires, no joy, resorted to Google. That brought me, not too surprisingly, to a few BOS forum posts, one of which suggested disconnecting the battery to let the system completely and properly reset and then try again. Sure enough that did it. Just wanted to say thanks - it got us back on the water in under half an hour!

@JC McCavit - you are correct, kind of. He has access to both the air dog and the mavic. The footage linked above is from the mavic. Go back far enough on his timeline and you'll see some of his air dog stuff. Some of the footage in there is watermarked by DJI which removes all doubt.

Too bad there is nothing in there with McClintock; he came third and skied great.

Gotta second the Mavic recommendation from MISkier. Full Specs: https://www.dji.com/mavic/info Link to some of Jason McClintock's footage shot with it: https://www.instagram.com/p/BVetdWeD1wS/?hl=en&taken-by=jmacskis

Good tips all around. I remember getting similar training when I was a lifeguard. I will add one thing specific to our sport, as it is surprising how many people really don't get this despite how obvious it is. When you're driving a ski boat to assist anyone having trouble in the water, there is only part of it that is useful - the swim platform. Watch the webcast of a tournament when a jumper crashes - it is funny how often the pickup boats nose into the skier as if the victim or their rescuer is going to climb into the bow or something...

Jamie Beauchesne. I'm surprised no one else noted him...

Terry Winter.

I think the rules state that the world record verification process involves checking the boat path on all passes, not just the final pass (in this case at 9.75). Can someone confirm this for me? I told someone this last night but now I'm second guessing myself...

BTW, now that I think about it the Triumph was also a Monza shape, but made wider. Moving from the Triumph to System 8 may prove a relatively simple change for you given they are both shaped the same. Good luck

I liked the ski - I actually still have mine and I think it's an 06 - different graphics. It's basically the Monza mold but made differently - might be aluminum top whereas the Monza was carbon but don't quote me on that part. Best onside I ever had on this ski...so much angle - it was awesome from that perspective. One thing about it is that you need to ensure you get the fin just right. If you buy it let me know and I'll post my numbers I'll have to re-measure them as I still have the ski - it's crazy sensitive and will ski horribly if your fin is wrong. Rossi skied it for a while. He said it was more forgiving in rough conditions than the Monza if I remember correctly.

@Horton: Whatever you end up getting, rental or not, it may be worth looking at getting something with both XLR and "headphone" plug outputs. This way if you choose to record the video of the event you can capture the audio properly by plugging the audio feed from the announcers directly into the camera. If you have a high end enough video camera, you could probably plug in via XLR. If it's more consumer oriented, it likely still has the ability to accept audio from another source through the standard headphone jack. You can always get an XLR to headphone jack adapter fairly cheaply if that ends up being necessary with your equipment. Doing it this way definitely beats relying on the built in camera microphone to re-capture the announcers audio from the speakers of whatever device you end up using - it's a relatively easy thing to do and definitely takes production quality up a notch. Hope this helps some.

Here's a brief clip I put together of Jonah Shaffer and Jason McClintock. It's pretty dated now, but I think it's still fun to watch. Has some of Jason tricking at the end. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABrdyDMTtxw

I also agree. I'm very happy I purchased this book. Information like this is about 20 years overdue!

Hey all, I have some questions about the Edge and Syndicate boots. The similarities between two is obvious. Are these in fact the same boot? Is it something HO licensed from Travers? Is the design actually from Travers or is it HO's? Anyone know what the real deal is here? Thanks! Rob

thanks for all the replies. I also finally got ahold of Barefoot International by calling a number I found buried about half way down their homepage (fatsac.com). It's not listed anywhere else (it isn't on the about page) that I can find, but if you call that number you'll get someone who can help you.

I'm trying to find a boom for a 2010 Nautique 200 OB. These seem very hard to find but a number of people directed me to Barefoot International. Their website (http://www.fatsac.com/) has an email address and phone number on it. I haven't received a response to my email and the listed phone number is out of service. Anyone know how I can contact these folks or if there is another place I could look to get a boom for this type of boat? For the record I'm just looking for something to occasionally teach young kids...not actually go barefooting or anything.