Laz

Problem: wedding trip it Italy, no skiing (pain factor 9.5/10)

Solution: Go to the wedding, smile, look dapper, hold the bags while shopping (and continue to smile), say things like "wow, that dress looks great on you, but try that red one as well" Then.... guys trip to Florida next winter.

I have had some success in similar (desperate) situations.

If slalom was easy, I would have gotten bored and given it up long ago. The challenge of the sport is the main reason I keep at it and enjoy it so much.

This season I need to rebuild my swing from the ground up or I will never run 32' off again!!

This is the ACME prop I have(#541)

Outback 541 13 L 12 3b .080 C

@DooSPX tell your buddy with the 2010 Moomba to,change his prop. I switched to an ACME 3 blade (the one they recommended and I can get the exact model if you need it).

I always wondered why my Outback didn't feel as good as the other ski boats. Then I changed props. The hole shot improved dramatically and the top speed improved. In fact, when I redid the Stargazer baselines, the RPM was about 200 lower.

Maybe this is because the ACME props have a different design with much more surface area. Regardless, the improvement was dramatic.

We just got back from Thomas Degasperi's lake. Two thumbs up. Half the fun was watching him ski.

I recommend a side trip for a set or two.

A few questions before pulling the trigger:

1) We often ski in a portable course. We don't have magnets, but use a little switch on the dash with Stargazer that we press as the boat goes through the gate. Will programming in a course each time we install our portable course take a lot of time? The course goes in on a river, so it is never In the same place twice.

2) Sometimes we have short setup. I have had some issues with SG but haven't tried to tweak it. Is the ZB better or worse for short setup?

3) Does ZB use calibrated RPM baselines like SG? And, does it use the same ones?

Thanks!

On a whim, a couple of buddies and I decided to have an executive weekend in Orlando. We flew down to Thomas Degasperi's newish site which is just north of Disney.

The lake is great. It's a bit on the small side which makes it well protected from the wind but does require an 8 ball course. This took a pass to get used to.

Ther are a thousand hotels nearby or you can stay at the guest house at the lake, which is a great convenience.

The number one feature of the site is Thomas. He is a fantastic, patient instructor who has been great to us, especially since we are definitely not high-end skiers. He seems to be genuinely concerned that we are all having a great time. Our flight came in quite late and Thomas waited up to make sure we found the place!

I highly recommend his site for any level skier. Thomas' site is now my new favorite US ski site!

We ended up spending the last week of the summer on Oxtongue. We found a corner in the south part of the lake that was great for skiing. We set up our course (EZ-slalom, naturally) and had a great week. We are returning. The locals were very ski-friendly.

We have offered to host a learn to ski day!