robscholl-OF

Marco, Amen to MS's comments. I also check all wires and steering cable to make sure all the routing is clean and nothing is binding. I would also see what, if anything, on your boat was installed by the dealer once it arrived on their lot. Depending on the dealer and who they have setting up the boats, it can make a big difference. I know that when RD's new MC comes in, he will go pick it up and set it up himself. I know for a fact that his 2010 promo MC will be one of the sweetest skiing/driving boats because of his set-up and attention to detail. It can be little things like a kinked gas tank vent hose or fuel line that rears its ugly head at a tournament causing the boat to look bad. I saw a new MC a couple of years ago with a loose pylon that effected the boat and caused it to be pulled from the tournament. Also a MC that had a loose oil filter adapter causing it to dump all its oil into the bilge, also causing the boat to be pulled. Another time a Malibu blew one of its cooling hoses. Maybe not all of these can be avoided, but a good once over after you get the boat and then checking it over often the first 20 hours could catch a lot of little things that later make a boat look bad, but really have nothing to do with the actual boat, only those putting it together. I time and time again see one of our local promo boats come to tournament after tournament and never have any issues.  It seems to always be the boat left in the water when all the others have had a problem. It is also the boat that the owner not only goes over his boat with a fine tooth comb, but takes the time to run it in all conditions and speeds to sort out any little problems before it leaves his lake and travels. OF     ÂÂ

The 08/09 Malibu's I have driven track really well. I don't trick, but my son seems to think the newer boats trick about the same, but he is only a 800 to 1000 point tricker though. As far as the wake, I think the newer Malibu's have a bit bigger wake. In looking at the boats I believe it is a product of weight with the ones I am familiar with have a little more bling or stuff on them than my 05. More stuff = more weight, more weight=bigger wake. That being said, I am splitting hairs, but you asked. The only other thing I have witnessed is drivers giving too much throttle and the Malibu's coming in the course too hot and having a bad time. I know many will dispute this, but I watched two bad times from the boat with a certain driver. I drove the same boat right after in a class having the same speed, 55K, and did not have one bad time. I was easy on the throttle never stopping the acceleration until I went a little past where the ZO took over. I was taught this by a very senior driver and have never had an issue with overspeed, too much throttle or slow speed, not enough throttle, with any ZO boat. All things being said, all that I have posted on this thread is from MY experience.  In the end, just give me a good driver and good times.  That is more important than the brand of boat. I would rather ski behind RD's 92 MC with a good driver than any new boat and a marginal driver.  Now if I can get a good driver, good times and a new boat......well, that is Nirvana.......OF  ÂÂ

I to have driven all three and skied them as well. I like them all and depending what driver/crew  and who set up the boat. It seems that if the boat is set up and sorted out prior to tournament time by a person who really understands what a good skiing boat should be, they are all good. It then comes down to driver and crew weight. I have skied behind a CC in one tournament and the wake was brutal. The next tournament I skied behind the same boat and the wake was butter. The first tournament all three crew members were 200 lbs or more.  The second tournament the driver was 160lbs and spotter and roper were around 110 lbs. I have found this true for the most part with all three boats, although less so with the MC. I can predict every year what boat will be good by who the owner is. Some take great pride and setting their boat up. Others just get the boat, throw it in the water and ski, with their first oil change at the end of the year, if you know what I mean. I am a Malibu guy because I have always liked the BMW look/feel versus the Mercedes look/feel of the Correct Craft. Ever since MC went with the Escalade bling look I kind lost interest in them. Now that Malibu has also gone that way, I am loving on the CC 200 with the look I liked with Malibu and CC quality. If the $$ was not an issue and I bought a new boat today, it would be the CC 200. I like the interior and driver set up, the way the boat looks and the quality. If money was an issue, which it is for me, I would order the lightest Malibu LXI (No bling), with the quietest exhaust, raise the seat up, load the rudder and call it good.  Because even that boat is more than I can afford, I will stick to my 05 Malibu LXI with Stargazer and run 16.95's all day long....OFÂÂ

Because I have skied behind this boat and driven it for years, I can just add a couple of things. Engine and bilge look brand new, none of the scum and rust you see on older boats. Runs as good as any boat without fuel injection. Other than spray once you get to -35, skis as well as any boat out there. OF

I still love less is more, O'Brien Elite. The glossy black carbon fiber with minimal graffic. I almost would buy the ski just to mount on the wall to look at. OF

Bill, Never noticed that, good call....and my Shindawa line trimmer and gas can match the turn balls.....man I am just the style king......OFÂÂ

Amen to RD. I pulled him through -38 and 3 @ -39. Probably the best 38 I have felt him ever run. 1.77 / 7.13 / 16.95.......ÂÂ

Because the lake Jean B, RD and I ski is at private, nobody seems to ski before 10 am. I like to ski early and then have the rest of the day to do all the other stuff.... Being in law enforcement it can be stressful at times. I love mowing as it is mindless and I find it relaxing. Not only do I mow my own lawn, I mow a 40 acre lake.... Check out my ride....

I just hope RD does not kick me to the curb........OF

And Eagle has some really cool looking vests as well. OF

Brends does such a good job that RD's rope from his MC won't fit my Malibu pylon. Brenda will ask you when you order what boat you are using. Her ropes are great, just lift off the pylon and go to next loop. No "Breaking the knot" or "Looping over".   Oh yea, this is the Strada report so of course buy one of these ropes to use when skiing on your Strada  OF

Oakley boardshorts and comando....quick on, fast dry, look cool and comfortable. I have 101 other things to improve in my skiing before I worry about drag. When I get to 39off (Probably never in this life time) I will re-evaluate. Until then, boardshorts. As far as Speedos, I thought we want to grow the sport and bring people in, looking at most of us, Speedos are not going to do it......Heck, if Speedos became the norm for slalom, I would have to take up wakeboarding. (I thought I would never ever say that) OF ÂÂ

Minimal.......OF

I started skiing in competition with the INT as well. At that time they were more focused on slalom skiing and in our state most tournaments were on private lakes. Over time wakeboarding took off and most of the private lakes would not rent their sites. I don't know all the reasons, but I heard several different things. The wakeboard boats tore up the shore, some of the lake owners had personality differences with INT organizers, the lake owners wanted more money making it not cost effective for INT, among other issues. As a slalom person, I wanted to go to private lakes and ski. The more the better. As the number of lakes that INT was able to host tournaments at dwindled, so did my interest. Not only that, but the longer I was involved, the more frustrations there were. 1-Most tournaments were just one slalom round per day. Each day was a seperate tournament so for two rounds, it got expensive fast. 2-Being ability based, not age, was cool at first. The problem was that if a person improved at a rapid rate, they would move up a class or two in a season. When this happened, you would only take a percentage of your points you had earned with you to the next class. At the end of the year this could hurt you when it came time for the Championships. You could kick butt all year and at the end, not be able to go to the championships because a person who had been in the same class all year had more points than you, but not actually be better than you. It was hard to tell your kid that they kicked butt all year, but could not go to the championships because they did not have enough points in the class they ended the year in. At least in USA water-ski, we all pretty much know what we have to achieve in order to get to regionals and nationals. Neither one is perfect, but I would rather know I was in control of whether I qualified for regionals or nationals. 3-Once my kids were exposed to three event skiing, they wanted to jump as well as ski. There was no avenue to jump in INT. As far as trick skiing, it would have been cool to allow people who ride a trick ski to compete in the wakeboard class. Just make the point system to where if you were on a trick ski, you scored more points for each trick you did to keep you on par with wakeboard point system. Much like USA water-ski does with a person who rides a wakeboard on their trick pass. 4-Boat drivers and times. Now times are no real issue with all the boats having ZO. When I was skiing, times were not recorded and the ride you got was dependant on how knowledgable the driver was with PP and adjusting it to get good times. There was and as far as I know still no formal driver training and qualification in INT.  As we all know, a good driver can make all the difference in the world to how your pass goes. In the lower classes this may not be as big a deal, but I would argue that for novice skiers, a driver can make all the difference in the world. This is because the pull out is so important in just getting the skier up. Then having the correct speed dialed in and entering the course at that speed. 5-Allowing a re-ride if you fall on your first pass, was cool at first. After awhile I learned that I would rather have a drop at each end. The only way you got a drop was if you were cutting rope.  When I first started I was just trying to get to my max speed so had to spin at the end. I finally learned that the re-ride was not all that great. I just wanted good water and a drop at each end. To get that, all I had to do at a USA sanctioned tournament was start at a speed and line length I knew I could always make no matter what, that was I would never need the opening pass re-ride. I certainly would not be adverse to USA water-ski to allow a skier a re-ride if they fell on their opener in a C class tournament. We all have done it I am sure and would have benifit it one time or the other. It could not be allowed in a record tournament. 6-We were limited to four passes max. This was okay most of the time, but sure sucked when you were on a roll and ready to PB and was not allowed to take that 5th pass. I understand why the rule, but it was frustrating. 7-There was really no limit to how many skiers could compete. Because of this, at many tournaments it was all about getting as many rides as possible in the shortest amount of time. It came at times to the detriment of the skier. Running two classes with two boats at the same time. There was many times I was setting up in the rollers of the boat that had just came back to the dock. I understand that you never want to turn skiers away who want to ski, but at times it felt like it was more about how much $$ could be made, not the skier experience. Now if you have read this far you may think I am an INT basher. That is not my intent. I am just expressing my experiences and frustrations. I am well aware that this is my experience in my state. I know many other people from many other states that ski both INT and USA water-ski and have not experienced the same issues. I think much of this is due to them being competitive skiers who are just trying reach out to the group of skiers USA water-ski ignored. They understand both needs and have tried to mesh the two together. There was an obvious need in our sport that INT stepped in and filled. If there wasn't, INT would not have been and still be so successful and USA water-ski would not be putting so much new emphasis on the grassroots program. The sad part of all of this, is that having two different organizations doing many of the same things, splits many of us. I have several people I ski with that only ski INT or only USA, yet we all practice and socialize together. It is has been said before, it is much like when Indy Racing League split from CART making two open wheel racing series. In the end, the sport of open wheel racing suffered. Even though it is again been unified. The damage has been done. That is also the time NASCAR took off and many drivers, fans and sponsorers switched their allegiance to NASCAR. With the announcement of the INT and the World Wakeboard Sanctioning body coming together, I could not help but note how many times "Insurance" was mentioned. I have heard that USA water-ski and INT early on tried to combine having one feed into the other. I heard that the real issue came down to insurance and who was going to profit from it. I have talked to many an insurance person about this and they all have told me that is where money is made. Insurance company's are in the business of making money and a sport like water-skiing/wakeboarding needs it. We all know that there is not much money in running tournaments, so in order to make it worth anything is make it from the insurance. I hope that when USA water-ski gets a new director, the merge of all sanctioning bodies will be looked into. It would be very cool to have INT as kind of the grassroots and when you get to a level you feel comfortable you can start scoring with your age division. You could also be developing drivers and judges as well. You could run all divisions at one tournament and would only have to have shore judges once you get to the higher level classes. I guess what I am saying is bring the good of the INT and the good of USA water-ski and mesh them together. At the very minimum have it so a skier only has to pay one membership fee a year to ski all events. Wakeboarding would also benifit. This sport is going to die as we now know it, if nothing is done. Even now, there are very few up and coming three event skiers.  Maybe three event needs to change to Slalom, Wakeboard and Jump. I don't have the answers, but I am trying to do all I can to keep the sport I love alive. OF ÂÂ

I got some 13" eliptical bars used by Connelly to make the Prophecy handle. I then sent them to Brenda at InTow. She tied me up some handles. I have attached a photo of the handle and the ropes she makes. Her work is awsome......OF

Mike55, you won't be disappointed, Brenda is awsome. For those who have not dealt with InTow, Brenda is a one person show. She is a single mother and has done the rope/handle thing so she could be at home to raise her son. She is the definition of a cottage industry. All her product is made by her at her house. Her shock tubes and trailer boat guides she sews herself. Finally, when was the last time you could call the actual person who makes you equipment, and then once it is done, it is shipped with a bill with it. No money up front. As long as Brenda keeps tying, I will keep buying. OFÂÂ

Okay, here we go...didn't take long to start the Jr. bashing............

Heck yea I'd ski that, send me a ticket and I will be down.....OFÂÂ

Boody, you have to actually post an ski set before you can withdraw......You should jet up here on your days off and we will get you filmed and posted.....then you can withdraw....OF

Graham, Washington State. Just southeast of Tacoma. OF

Here is the first set of 2010...RD running 55K -38...let the fun begin, OF

I agree with the judge/driver issue. Just to get to a regular judge and assistant driver has been a long road for me. All the stuff I have/had to do just to volunteer to sit in a tower / drive a boat. I can see why some people choose not to do anything but show up and ski. There is no real reward except knowing that without people judging and driving, there would be no tournaments. I also do it because I have a three event kid and weekends can get long sitting around for two days and only skiing twice. As far as the AWSA web site, I logged in yesterday and renewed for 2010 with no problem. It was very easy for me so I don't know if I just got lucky or they just don't like dsmart. OFÂÂ

MS, that was some ugly skiing. I told you I don't ski that well in the winter wearing a dry suit, but my second set was much better as kept the ski out in front and upper body back and still. I may have to work on the one handed gate thing. I have tried it in the past, but I don't think the rest of my skiing was ready for it. Thanks for the tips, OF ÂÂ

2nd time out on the Strada today. Water in the mid 40's, air temp 48 degrees. Ran great right up to 3 at 35. (My PPB is 5@35 and tournament PB 3@35) This ski is awsome, I will run into 38 this year. Just to set the record straight though, I have not skied on a A1, S1, Elite or Goode. I came off a D3 custom X to a Radar Senate C and now this Strada. I say this because my comments are based on how I skied on those other ski's. I watched RD run a 38 off today like I run 32. That ski flat works for him and I thought he skied well on the A1 last year. OF

No you can't, I own the ski now......OF