MAD11

Horton If I understand this thing correctly I just want to let ya know my shirt size is an XL. Not a great score this weekend but working back up a bit. Don't want to hear any sandbagging claims from the group either. I know there true so let's just not discuss it. Marc

Agree with Scoke on the black and grey. I saw him take one of the worst falls ever when the adhesive looked like it gave out on the clear. Man that was crazy. The best product for removing the black adhesive is a 3M citrus based remover. The part number was in the powershell manual and it is the right way to go. Does not damage the ski. Even trust it on a precious Warp 9. I have seen goof off discolor and even bubble several skis and that can't be a good thing. Goode actually uses the 3M product themselves. I got a can 3 years ago for $10 and have half of it left. Can get the part number when home if its not in the manual anymore. I do think the clear may be good for testing skis since it comes off so easy. The problem is every ski I test I intend to stay on. At least for a few sets til I change my mind.

Is it too late to get in? I paid the buck anyway. Should have done this last time when I still had a 0.00 average.

Steven, I would think the PV would be a great product to help you get back on the water and would be a smart thing to try. The question of if it should be allowed in a tournament is a different one. The Big Dawg is supposed to be about best skiers competing in an endurance event. The strongest physically and mentally will win that day. The vest takes out the endurance piece. I know when I tested the vest at nationals I was able to pull with almost twice the strength that I was able to achieve without it. When I tested one that a freind had I ran right up through 38 and didn't work at all. Pretty straight forward that it provides a significant mechanical advantage. Also I could hang on to stuff that no way could I have if I wasn't wearing it. We also saw this all weekend by the competitors using it. Don't agree with the comments about it not making some ski better. If that's the case than train in it all you want, but show up to money events and ski without it. I could care less about someone wearing it in a C tournament because they really don't matter at all. No way should someone show up to a record or a money/endurance event and be allowed to wear it. It's an unfair advantage that takes away from all the hard work and training that the others do.  It's a great story to think back to Mike Morgan winning the finals when he was totally exhausted and somehow reached down deep to answer the call and pull it out. Standing there Sunday the guys without the vest looked tired and stressed even though they were in top shape. The guys that were wearing the PV looked like they had hardly skied afterwards. Most sports have great training tools like this available that aren't allowed to be used in competition. This should be seen no differently. Buy and train in it all you want, just don't try to take home money with it.

Seems like more issues with the 200. Some locals brand new 200 is sitting at the dealership, but they can't take delivery due to a rudder recall. The boat left the factory within the last 10 days so this must be a new one. Hope they get this fixed quickly.

MS, Everything you said was believable except that you were actually at work. Screwed up the entire testimony. MA

All good stuff Jones. Personally I'm riding the Strada because as Shane pointed out last week the silver top is starting to match my hair. And because the Sultan is a bad ass dude!

I let him ride the Elite a few sets before trying Strada also. Like the Radar much better. Felt more stable and faster through the turn. That surprised me as the Elite is a 67".ÂÂ

Shane, Glad that thing is working great. Trent and I put Andreas on his spare 66" Sat and you should of seen the look on his face. He went nuts over it. Skied great right off the dock. My daughter is also skiing great on her 65". Took her off a RCX and she looks like the effort level is cut in half running the same passes. Marc

Roger,  Not sure what it was, but resetting the coordinates for our slalom lake fixed the problem. We have two lakes side by side. The boat felt great on our jump/slalom lake. Two different skiers couldn't hardly even run openers on the other one. Reset the coordinates and back to normal. Must be some kind of glitch. Whatever happened it sure doesn't help your early season confidence.

Deano, I'm 5'11" 200lbs and on a 67. A little more husky than Jones. Skis plenty big for me. You will be borderline depending how short you go. Jones, Had a crazy ZO deal last week. Couldn't run anything all of a sudden and actually jumped back on the Elite one set to see if my ski had an issue. Was way more work than the Strada and wouldn't turn my heel side anywhere near as well. Case closed. Found out later that ZO lost it's coordinates and we are all so lazy now we don't even look for times or pay attention to it anymore. Fixed ZO and back to normal. Back on my Strada and smiling again.  Marc

I would say the 67 rocks too! Larkin looked pretty good on the 67 last weekend. MIne feels great. Seems faster than the Elite and turns my heel side much better. Scott, you switching boots too or waiting on that one?

dsmart,  Did not even take it with me. Couldn't get in touch with any of the locals in Sydney at the ski club and no room at Stoney Park. They had a big wake board tournament going on the weekend I could have driven up there. Just worked, ate and drank way too much while I was there instead. Not so bad. Got some rides in at home the last two days. Weather sure was better in OZ.

Thanks for the info. Looks like a great place. I am going to Parramatta for work and could possibly head to Stoney Park for the weekend depending on how things are going. Is there anything closer to Sydney that anyone knows about? Possibly a private site to bum a ride. I'm pumped to show off my new Strada in the Southern hemisphere.

Anyone have connections near Sydney Australia. Going there Friday on business for two weeks and since its summer would be fun to take a few rides. Marc

D Gonna try to ride on Sun if you wanna come over and give it a shot. MA

Eddie, Your right. Here I am spreading bad info. I am at 6.833 not 6.733. See what happens when you do it from memory.  Marc

Dave, Can ski at SMRR, but now that we have water it's good to ski at home. Tough to beat this place. Marc

Dave, Been skiing more than normal for this time of year trying to get going since I am changing my entire setup from the boots and skis I rode for over 10 years. Tough changing bindings. Strada boots feel great, but took some time to get comfortable making the change. Skis are usually pretty simple. Here is where I am now: 6.734 length, .757 DFT, 2.54 Depth, Wing 9 degrees, Front boot 29.5 from tail (Strada Boots size 10, on my plate this is 1/2 hole forward of center) Ski likes the tip loose. You may want a little more length, but this is a good place to start. I usually run fins shorter than most.The 6.74 Eddie had me start with was too much tip for me. Think Baker is somewhere between 6.74 and where I am. Come over and I'll help you give it a shot when it warms up some.  Marc

MS, Yeah, skied 2 sets with a 20 minute break between, water temp about 49 degrees. Wasn't really tired considering I was in a drysuit. Ski feels great and I trusted it right away. You need to ride one. After trying everything else out there I'm locked in on the Strada now. The guys at Radar did a great job for sure. No doubt there is going to be a lot of Silver skis around this summer. As fast as the RS1 and way more forgiving. Kept moving if I was on the back or front. Just kills my heel side turn too! Always a good thing. Marc

Got some sets in on the 67" Strada over the past few days. Made a few movements and really have it feeling good after about 5 sets. Most of the changes had more to do with my binding spacing than the ski since I just also switched to the Strada boots. This ski is super fast and moves through the transition without effort. Skis with much less effort than the Elite I've have been riding and flows through the turn much better. Ran about a dozen 32 offs today and they were wide and early. Now I know why Trent was smiling so much riding his before heading back to Canada. Seems to have the best characteristics of the RS1, but much more forgiving.ÂÂ

Thanks Richard. Going to start at 29 1/4 on the 67".  You being further forward make sense in the cold water. I usually have to move forward a little in the winter. Hoping to give it a go on Friday. Was going to head down South with it for a few days this past weekend but UPS screwed it up. Been spending the last few weeks getting dialed in on Strada boots riding the Elite. The boots are winners for sure. That part of the puzzle is solved. Now I'm on to the new ski which looks awesome. I do have a really nice set of almost new E-series boots for sale in size 10 RFF if anyone is interested. Marc

Richard,  Where are you measuring from on your Strada boots to get your distance from tail of ski? If I'm on the threads much different than flat on the plate and touching the bottom of boot. Setting up a 67" Strada now. Marc

Built a few here and there for the past 15 years. Have taken some time off from it the last year or so. May do one soon. www.marcaustindesigns.com  You can see some of them there. Not much market anymore. Marc

You guys see a place to mount the hitch so I can play? http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv313/marcaustin11/Instigator1.jpg