jdarwin

There is a shortage of promo boats across the country. For those of us who host tournaments, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find boats to pull our events. Should AWSA change the rule or should the boat manufacturers address with AWSA to resolve for 2017?

Other=Value. Cost of trip. Time off work. One ride. Possible bad driving. For the cost of one ride at Nationals, I can go on a week long cruise to the Caribbean. As we get older, we spend less on acquiring things and more on experiences. Nationals is no longer much of an experience - not one I am willing to invest $1000+ in..

@LeonL - the numbers I'm running are what Crawford set the ski to. I made minor adjustments and basically went back to those settings - with the exception of moving to .750 on DFT. @sfriis - just start with 6.949 / 2.455 / .744 dft and 7 deg wing. Bindings stock. I think you will be close to where you need to be on a 67". Shouldn't take long to find the right setting using that baseline.

@Horton - I tried the 9 deg wing. No good for me. 7 deg was fine. May go to 8 when the water cools down. Otherwise, I think we're pretty close on numbers. I started .744 DFT and moved to .750 and it feels better. May try .760 and see. For certain, this ski is much more sensitive to fin movement than any D3 in the past.

@jimbrake - I believe 30.25" is stock. But, I'm a back-foot dog so a little forward works for me! You're running your fin much longer than me so back with the bindings would make sense I suppose.

@MillerTime38 - this is not like any other D3 from the past (especially your X7). You don't need to run the fin as deep. I assume you would be on a 67". Start with 6.944 / 2.455 / .744 and 7 deg wing. Binding stock (29.75" I believe). Season to taste.

68" yellow. Moved the bindings 1/8" forward (30 3/8") and the fin to .750. Magic.

@skidawg - EXACTLY!! What's the motivation to win an age division when you've skied Open for years? Either make it mandatory or eliminate MM and MW. It's a joke and only serving to further erode participation at Regionals and Nationals.

I tend to "push" my offside turn on occasion and find the yellow responds well to my "over-skiing" and doesn't pitch me out the front. I can't imagine the blue would be better for me. This ski has exceeded my expectations - now I just need to spend some quality time on it. Just now starting to "tweak" it a bit. Going from 7 deg to 9 deg and moving my front binding up 1/8".

@skibug - none so far. Ski is working great with those numbers. I typically don't start "tweaking" until I've had 5-10 sets on a ski. Those numbers were given to me by another skier who has been on the ski since early summer. They've been vetted in my opinion. Therefore, no reason the change at this point. I would start there and season to taste.

Our water hit 100 deg on the surface yesterday. In the past, the D3's I had would suffer performance degradation in water over 90deg. No longer. The ski was quick across with minimal input and carried speed thru the turn without a "hit" at the back end. I'm liking this ski more and more with each set skied.

@ToddL - let's add this to Thurston's 24 questions......

@klindy - how many "overall" skiers would this really affect? In reality, we are talking about M3, M4 and M5 slalom. The speeds/line lengths are the same in MM. Couldn't their scores simply be inserted into the NOPS calculation without skiing for placement in one particular event (slalom). We have some really smart people in this sport and a rulebook that is incredibly confusing and convoluted - we can come up with a simple solution. Otherwise, let's just eliminate MM/MW for Regionals and Nationals.

@skidawg - it's been out of the bag around your place for some time....

I love my 196 but my PB is behind a 2015 CP (the one in the pics above). There is a definite difference between the early editions and today's product. Mostly in the handling. It certainly has been refined since it was initially introduced. As a pure ski boat, it's hard to beat.

There was a rules change proposal earlier this year which would have created a level 10 in the ranking list which is the top 3% in the pool of eligible skiers. Currently level 9 is the top 7%. The idea was to leave the choice to ski age division or open (or masters) for level 9 skiers but mandatory for level 10. In addition any skier that opted to ski in open/masters was then "locked in" to ski there thru the Nationals. There were exceptions for the junior skiers but the idea was to give a skier a choice and then prevent bouncing back and forth. This was the best solution to date and the board voted it down. Sad.

@Wish - not sure how golf does it but I'm pretty sure that retired pros like Fred Couples aren't showing up to play at the Dixie Amateur Championships.

There are currently 9 skiers registered in MM. 2 in MW. There are probably a dozen more that "could/should" be in MM from the other age divisions. The top seeds in W2 and W3 would be top seeds in MW - and the #2/3 seeds in Open Women. It simply makes no sense and dilutes the excitement of the events themselves. What's wrong with having the best of the best skiing against each other rather than positioning for podium spots?

@Mark_Matis - I've sat thru hours of painful discussions on how to raise participation at Nationals. I can assure you, AWSA, the LOC and the sponsors are NOT happy with the number. 498 so far this year. That's not sustainable. Problem is, even if they dropped the qualifications to Level 5, it would not dramatically increase participation. Access is not the problem. The perceived value (ROI) to the participant is the problem.

As an former AWSA board member for 6 years, I was always baffled by the existence of Masters Men and Masters Women divisions. What is their purpose? I never got clarity on that. As long as it was "optional" for the skier, it made no sense. As a M5 skier, I don't have the option of skiing in another division so I get the boat I want or ski on the day I want or get the driver I want. That is, unless I am a Level 9 skier in Men 5. Then, I get to choose. I admire those whose ranking puts them into the MM/MW division and they compete there as opposed to age division. Kudos to you. Another bone of contention I hear is in regard to former pros skiing in age division. Isn't that one reason the Masters divisions were created? How is allowing former professionals to ski in age division good for our sport? I don't have a dog in this fight other than wanting some clarity and common sense injected into how we govern our sport.

The main problem is the business model of Nationals hasn't changed in spite of declining participation. Therefore, they simply raise the costs on fewer and fewer participants all while attempting to maintain an unsustainable model. It would be similar to a business raising prices in a futile attempt to regain lost marketshare.

Come back for record in September - we'll get that average up!!

John - really curious to read your yellow/blue comparison.

Hey....my ski isn't in the pic at Cottonwood either!!! Highest tournament average in 3 years riding the Vapor!! Maybe because....you weren't here in June?

@thager - @skidawg got a 68" to try and I really liked it. Then, it was sent around the region for folks to try. Hope it comes back soon!