I teach beginners similar to what Horton said but, I advocate starting on the right side and pulling wide and turn in close to the back side of 1; spray 2,3,4,5 and try to get 6 and the exit gate.  Here is where Horton and differ:  I suggest that you start adding buoys that you round with 5, then add 4 then add 3, then 2.  That way you get more pulls and turns before a potential miss or fall by trying to add buoys early in the course.

I've had pretty good luck with painting buoys with engine enamel, specifically Chevy Orange.  Color holds up good, failure is due to cracking and peeling, but it still last pretty good if you clean the buoys real good.  I've have BAD results with flourescent/day glow paint.  Fades to white in 2-3 weeks.

Ok, here's what you can do on the deep end ( and the shallow end to if you want).  Make up a diamond gate similar to the entrance gate that you have.  Be sure to make the distance what the boat guides are and not the entrance width.  Use a piece of 2" PVC, drill and attach eyebolts, ropes and green buoys.  Attach stainless cable or poly rope to the eyebolts with sufficient length to reach main line(forming a diamond like your other diamonds) with a foot or so extra.  Using a cable clamp at each end attach to main line, at 55M, being sure that PVC and main line form a 45 degree angle. If you remove the course for winter you can do a little nicer job, but maybe you won't need to.

lkb,

 

I hope to be able to get there late afternoon/ early evening.  I'll email you.

swc5150,

Good analogy:  Golfer vs. slam dunk contest.

I say orange.

lkb,

I'm with Horton.  If you're at zero with a Schnitz speed slot fin you're way off what Schnitz recommends.  Give Steve's settings a try.   You might like 'em.  BTW, what ski are you on? 

 

I made a post a couple of weeks ago about an EXO failure.  No injury, just the front plastic piece on the rail broke off on a medium fall. 

I know that night skiing is more difficult, but after something like this happens I would think that in the future sticking to the standard speed would be prudent.  BTW, does anyone know any details about the refides at Nationals that Chad spoke of and what was the cause?

I agree with Shane.  It wasn't a direction deviation that causes a surge.  The boat will accelerate at the end of the course when you swing to drop a skier (if you haven't already pulled the throttle somewhat) and that takes a good bit of direction deviation prior to that happening.

Most of that is OK.  At engine start up mine comes up exactly as you left it on power down, so 1. and 4. seen unnecessary.  You should be able to see the times for all buoys from the main screen w/o any movement.  When you hold on/off/ menu you will get the top banner which allows you to then select settings, etc. by moving with up/down then press select.  Going from slalom to jump to trick should be just about all you need to do unless you want to run speeds between actuals.  Have fun, it's easy!

I always say "if you're in a slump, take a good look at your gate."  Go aout and really concentrate on getting the best gate you can and let everything else just happen.  Let us know.

I cut back on tournaments this year just due my skiing sucking, so I didn't go to Regionals and consequently not Nationals.  I will again in the future.  Jody and or Roger can confirm this, but I believe that the number at Southern Regionals was reported at 240.  That's pretty sad for the location being in FL.  I can only attribute that to the lack of desire to go to Nationals.  If that's so what can we expect for Nationals 2011?  Has anyone stepped up for 2011 Southern Regionals?  

Jody,  are you out there?  Is so what's your take on this?  Can stuck/staying open injectors put a quart of gas in the pan in 4-6 sets?

Joe, let us know.  I applied to Scott Snape for a rules exception for both our tournaments this year not really thinking whether it was considered calendar year 2010 or ski season 2010.  By his answer I assumed our Sept tournament was approved for T&B.   

A guy at our lake has an '09 MC 197 that is making oil.  Actually fuel is getting in the crakcase.  Last week we drained that oil and got over 2 gallons out of the crakcase.  Has anyone else experienced this and if so what is the root of the problem?  The dealer said Indmar recommended replacing the fuel pump and they did that but to no avail.  Their next approach (per Indmar) is to "clean the rings".  It seems that the ideas from Indmar are pretty much from "left field" so far.  After a of download of the computer showed that out of 187 hours, 111 were at idle they said the boat wasn't getting enough normal running.  To the uninitiated that may seem odd, but not for tournament type skiing on a small private lake.  Hasn't been a problem with any other boats on our lake over the past 15 years.

We tried T&B at our tournament in June and had 29 skiers.  Of those only 5 chose to T&B.  It was our first time offering this format and I feel that contributed to the low number taking that option.  We did not plan ahead by splitting officiating crews during the round.  If we had more skiers take the option we would have had complaints from officials, but due to our low number of available judges I don't know if we could have had two crews anyway.  We are going to offer T&B again at our Sept. 4th tournament and will provide updates.

skispray -- I hope the figures that Joe provided enlightened you to the fact that there aren't many extra (if any) dollars left over after tournament expenses.  In fact in the SR the regional fee is $100, so we have $50 more outlay than in the SCR.  We can do a slalom only with in house officials, but when we go 3 event we do have lodging expenses and rarely break even.  In my experience most other sports that DO pay officials, the officials are NOT competitors (ie, your mention of motorcross) anyway.

I don't know your area or situation, but I kinda enjoy seeing all the people at the tournaments.  Where I ski, that's the only time/place that I see some of these people.  I always seem to learn something being around people that are better than me.  Since I enjoy the sport and want it to survive I support it by being a judge and driver.  But there is no way someone can talk you into working all day (except for the few minutes that you ski) in the hot sun if all you're looking for is personal benefit.  Tournament skiing isn't for everyone, even if you love skiing.  To each his own, but that's sorta why I ski tournaments.     

At the KY state championships there were 3 B1, 6 B2, 3 B3, 2 G1, 2 G2, and 3 G3 skiers, out of a total of 51.  So 19 out of 51 were juniors.  But no M1 or M2 and only 2 W1.  I guess I kinda mixed this thread with the one "waterski dying" started by thanimal, but someone else tempted me.

I would tend to agree with Andre.  Polarity was momentarily ignored.  Only takes a touch if you do that.

USAWater ski rule 8.03(a) says "maximum ski width shall not exceed 30% of the length" and 8.03(f) says that "skis in Tricks event shall not have fins."  So length and width are related to each other.  Just about any wakeboard that I have seen fits in that.  Just can't use the fins.

 

I just recalled that a friend's young son marked up his Nautique with a Sharpie.  After cleaning with various agents there was still a line.  After 6-8 weeks it just faded away.

As Darwin stated, things change as the line gets shorter.  Just to give you additional thoughts, you can change after every pass if want to.

Another EXO failure.  I have heard of the plastic piece on the front of the aluminum rail breaking.  Well, I saw tonight.  I kinda got in a lean lock an went out the side.  Not such a hard fall, but the bindings released as I suspected they would and should.  When I placed the ski on the platform I noticed that the release clamp was still up!!  Once I got on the platform my fears were realized, the front of the system was missing.  Apparently a weak link.  That plastic is not sturdy enough.  Why not continue the aluminum.  Cost saving I guess.

Last year at the Nationals all boat judges were admonished not (at least I was for two different events) NOT to bring ball points into the boats. Kinda commons sense, as it's hard sometimes to juggle radios, clipboards, ropes and writing utensils.