T_C

I used a 2004 Mazda 3 hatch back as my ski rig until wore it out (completely). Worked great!

That was one of the best water ski videos I've ever seen. After visiting San Marcos in April and going there for Nationals in August the memories this has will last forever!!!

@wish If you look closely that "air" at the wake is his edge change. He soften his knees and swings the ski under "com". When he lands he's on his inside edge. The location is the same at 15 as it is at 39. Pretty cool

@jimbrake I'm also on a 67" Quest with the same numbers as you except the bindings... I'm at 29 7/8. When I was at 29.5 I had to really jump on the front to turn off side and if I jumped too much the ski would stop after the apex. It was very unpredictable. By moving the bindings forward the tip engaged without having to move forward on the ski.

I've been stuck at 35 for years and now feel it is very doable. At 61 I've figured out that scrapping is no longer an option so I have to figure out how to do it right. The SFE is really helping!

@chef23 I haven't tried it yet 32 over and over and over...

I picked up the Raptor SFE at Nationals this year and I've been playing around with it for the last couple weeks with some surprising and unexpected results. Here's the back ground. I'm LFF, 67 Quest, tournament PB 5@35 ( I known worst score...). I have the worst off side turn on the planet. Breaking into and out of 2-4 or "stalling" and falling out of the turn happens a lot! So I'm always looking for a set up that will help. I have my front Reflex back from stock at 29 5/8 and the fin shorter than stock at 6.915 in an effort to keep the tip from biting. The SFE comes with three spacers, 3mm, 2mm, 1mm to align it with the side of the ski. Willi told me to use the 3mm spacer on the right side of the ski so it would engage into and out of my offside turn. Right off the bat I could feel the SFE engage as soon as I turned in for the gates and I had way more space before 1 ball which was cool but going into 2 ball I could not stay tall and came out of the turn with my head inches from the front of the ski! For sure not what I needed but I really liked what it did for my gates and one ball. After a number of passes I started to wonder if the ski was breaking me over and the SFE was making it worse or was I jumping on the front in an effort to slow down and was pushing the tip into the water? I decided to try something I have never tried before to see what was happening. I took the SFE off, moved the bindings forward 3/8 inch and moved the fin to 6.940. If the breaking over got worse I would know that it was the ski set up more than me. Actually the ski felt way better, the breaking over and stalling at 2-4 was gone. I was really surprised that after all the years of running bindings back and a short fin I developed the habit of pushing on the front of the ski to get the tip to engage and turn. I then decided to try the SFE again to see if I could get my offside turn even better. I talked to Terry Winter and he told me to use the 1mm spacer so the SFE was closer to the ski. I was totally shocked at what happened. This time I had even more space before one ball and as I changed edges going into two, before I could even think about moving forward on the ski, it had already started to engage the tip so I just stood there and let the ski turn. I did nothing but stand there. The ski finished and I hooked up just as the line got tight... Wide and early to three! It took me a few sets to get used to staying still into 2-4. I had to break the habit of jumping on the front to turn. I have skied seven sets on it this way and I don't feel like I need to change anything. However I did try the SFE on my "good side" or left side of the ski but it gave me way more angle than I could hold on to so for now I'll leave it as it is and enjoy skiing. With out trying the SFE I don't think I would have ever thought of going the opposite direction with the ski set up.

I have been following this thread from the beginning and didn't feel my 2 cents would mean anything but after reading @the_krista post and thinking that AWSA may be listening I needed to jump in. I don't understand the need for a different format for Nationals at all. If you want to ski at tournaments with multiple rounds there are plenty to choose from... pretty much every weekend. If you need three rounds to post a good score no problem they are available. To change the history and tradition of having a prestigious one round one shot National Championship for each age division would be like saying everyone is a winner and there shouldn't be winner and loser everyone is a winner. If you don't want to go to Nationals to see who is the best... stay home and mail in your score. If you want to see how you can do against the best in your age division Nationals is the venue... Always has been. I didn't have a chance in hell of winner my division. I thought I may have a chance at a top 10. Spent the whole week at SMRR had the best time I've ever had at a tournament and tied for 5th. Missed getting a medal but oh well I got beat. I wouldn't change the results for anything. Changing the history and tradition of Nationals would be sad. There are plenty of other formats to include more people if that is the goal. You can ban me now:)

@MillerTime38. I think that's called the "ski school weave".

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the Raptor Water Ski Company that Willi Ellermeier has started. Terry Winter is helping him with development and Marketing. I had a chance to take a short set ( 6 passes) on it on lake 4 Friday . With only a few passes I can't really describe the ski except to say it TURNS!!!. I mounted the fin and binding the same as on my Quest and as soon as the tip started to engage it turned... fast. The easier I skied the better it felt. I'm pretty sure it will need a lot more fin than I had on it. I am really looking forward testing it at home when I have some time to try some different settings. Also Terry has been using the Raptor "Side Force Enhancer" devise all spring and summer and his average score has gone up two or three balls. I have one of those to try also. They had a ski set up with the OB4 binding system on it that looked really cool!!! It will be fun to see how this all develops.

What no pictures of the "flotilla"

I have been too embarrassed to ask this question after missing my opener at a tournament last weekend but I'm ready to move on... I may get the same boat at regionals so I need some feed back. First round I ran 2 at 35 behind the Malibu which is only two below my average so I didn't feel to bad and was looking forward to improving for round two. The boat for the second round was a 2014 Nautique 200. I have skied well behind all the 200s before so I was ready for a good round. I pulled out for the gates as normal but got lean locked and had a hard time slowing down. I knew I was fast and I turned in pretty hard to keep the line tight but thought no big deal it's my opener right? As I got to the wake I got pulled up the ski went flat and I got some good air ( it was a nice wake jump). Unfortunately when I landed I had no speed and feel over at one ball. Score 1/2. It was over so fast I really didn't know what happened. I went back later and looked at the scores for the other skiers and found that almost half the skiers missed their opener! I also found out it was a 6 liter. Even if I would have know it was a 6 liter I don't think I would have done anything different. My Question is when you ski behind the 6 liter 200 do you check change your approach. I use C1 but I am wondering if anyone goes down a letter on ZO. Or do you pull out earlier/softer, turn in earlier, What if anything do you change?

@gmut Good question. Often wondered the same thing!

@wish people need to be careful about who they try to emulate. I tried twhispers gates for two years. Last year when Terry was in the boat he asked me who's gate are you trying to use? I said yours. He said dude your gates suck you need to go to a two handed gate. Lefties have a hard time with a one handed gate.

Took my first set of the year there in Feb. Great Place and even greater people. Say Hi to Brent and Ron

TW has mad graphic design skills! He did our company logo. The only detail we gave him is that we liked blue and we wanted the force to be FORCE. We get compliments on it all the time all the time.

@Brewski Just got my order in the mail. Best looking system I have seen! If the weather holds I plan on testing this weekend. Installing them on my Master Line handle was a snap. Perfect fit! Thanks for the quick service

@klundell Wisdom! HIT intervals with 45 second rest period. @jayski cross fit... Physical Therapist best customers! Keeps them in business.

@ToddL Rechecked DFT and I am closer to .777. My wing is on the upper set of holes; screws on top 7 degrees. Just tried a thin stainless steel wing set the same way and it is even better off the wake and into the buoy. Easier to keep the ski in front and hips forward into the buoy. Too bad the season is over here:)

The shot at the end of the vid with the van flipping over was shot in Acapulco across from Gordon's old ski site

@ToddL Got it. By the way the .770 is with the needle not flat. The 6.928 is with tips

@ToddL (don't know how the "@" thing works) I'm on a 67: 2.505, 6.928, .770 29 3/4ish wing at 7. The ski comes back under the line at the end of the turn really quick. C-1works good with this set up.

OR you could just go with the white double reflex with the straps set to the middle hole on a single carbon plate and the releases set for your weight and forget about not releasing and work on skiing. I broke the ankle of my back foot and ruptured my Achilles on another hard shell set up and have taken similar falls on this set up and both boots released safely at exactly the same time. I Put the ski back on and kept skiing.

Bindings back 1/4" is magic on the Quest. The path the ski holds off the second wake gets better as the line gets shorter. Seth and Bob Edie helped set mine up in the spring and it has been the same all year. Results= average up almost 2 buoys, running all passes more consistently. Awesome ski!!!

T Whisper @ -41