clemsondave

MS, that is crazy. They must have had a lot of 36mph skiers or a really heavy foot ;-) Another tournament, I pulled a round and a half with a 2min wait time b/t passes (apx 30 skiers per round). I drove part of that and would occasionally shut it down during the wait time. I bet they could solve a lot of the rpm issues by changing the trans ratio. I like having 10x the power of a MC, but I'm sure many would sacrifice some of that for lower rpms. Hell, I can pull up our largest guy with less than 1/2 throttle. The MC takes almost full throttle for everyone over 150#.

Our club has the same issues but we don't have a club boat. We've talked about dividing up the property into sections and each member would have to maintain their section. Then it would be obvious who was not doing their part. In the end though, we're happy doing whatever it takes to have such a beautiful place. Another lake here has a great solution to the gas problem. They made a board in the boat with an hour meter for each member. Each hour meter is controlled by individual keys. When you ski, you insert your key and turn on your hour meter. They then charge by the hour for fuel/depreciation/maintenance. Of course, they have a large fuel tank on site.

I hold 2-4 tournaments at our lake each year. Let's use your numbers ;-) $112.77 more in fuel. 32 skiers with 6 rounds each. So, each skier pays and extra $0.53 for each round. Ask those skiers if they are willing to throw in an extra $2 per tournament to have the 200. If they are short line skiers like most of us, they may not care one way or the other. But ask those longer line/slower speed skiers.... Hey, everyone has their own opinion and needs, which I can appreciate. I'm not trying to convince you that the 200 is for everyone. I'm just trying to stop some of the misinformation. We have very few 36mph skiers around here (3 at my last tournament). Maybe there's some difference there. I think a lot of this is b/c people don't like change. I love having the latest and greatest and appreciate the superior engineering in the 200, both interior and performance. I'm all about saving money where I can. That's why I've been 'engineering' for the past 2 weeks. We're holding a night tournament tomorrow and I didn't want to pay $60/buoy! I've got it down to $6 plus the buoy. So, I'm a little cheap ;-)

This is exactly what I'm talking about. One unscientific number was thrown out and suddenly this boat is the BP of water skiing. 20% was not my calculation. If you had to spend $210 more because the 200 used 20% more fuel, that put your 'pre-200' fuel costs at $1050 with other boats for that tournament. I doubt that is the case. That's also assuming all 210 pulls were 6 passes with relaxed wait times. That would be impressive. I think it is way less than 20%. I have not noticed hardly any difference from my 196. At one of my tournaments this year, we pulled 32 skiers in one round and it used about 1/2 a tank. I remember b/c I filled it before then next round. Another tournament, my boat was used just about all day. We never had to refuel it. I'll make some notes at State's this weekend. There will be a 196 there too. Auskier - 2009 Corvette Z06 to a 2010 ZR1. Yes, it's comparing apples to oranges, but so is comparing a 196 to a 200. The 200 is a significant improvement in '3 event' performance. Our sport is not anywhere near sensible; otherwise we would not be paying $1500 for skis and $800 for boots. These negative posts about the 200 totally confuse me. The response my boat has gotten every where it goes has been remarkable. Mine sold after the future owner skied it one time. Malibu and MC owners drool over it and picked it in a tournament where they had a choice. One of our club members owns an '08 196. He now wants to sell his and buy a 200 b/c of the wake and everything else. I have not heard one negative thing about it other than the price.

That could be true. I have not noticed a difference in what I take to the lake or during tournaments, but I have not specifically measured it. I'll try to do that. Even if it uses 20% more fuel. That's like $1 per set. Not sure about ya'll, but I'd pay and extra buck to have better wakes and easier for the driver to keep it straight.

Mark, you must have better sources than me. I have not heard of any substantial changes. I could be wrong though. FYI, after 130 hours, my fuel economy appears to be almost identical to my 196's. These things spend 90% of their time at idle. I don't think an extra 500 rpms for 17 seconds makes much of a difference for fuel economy or durability. Hell, I spin my stock engine corvette (with a blower) to 7000 for short periods of time and it's no worse for the wear. I hear a lot of assumptions on these forums from people that have spent very little time in one. If you don't like it, I understand, but these assumptions are all over the place. Promo or no promo, I love this boat and think it is a HUGE step forward for our sport. I'll admit it's not 100% perfect, but what product is? Every year for almost every product, things will get better. I wouldn't call that making us beta testers. My '99 was better than some friends' '97s. Does that make the '97 a beta?

Polyform. I just wish they made orange.

Slight set back. I think I broke my foot. Crazy thing is that I have no clue how. It wasn't skiing. OB must have stepped on it when he came up here. I tried skiing today and there is no way it's happening. Guess I'll be the designated driver for our night tournament this Wed.

The hydrogate is down in the slalom position, up in the trick/jump position. I checked it on an '08 196 and my 200.

Jack - I'm on a 66" Z7.

I'm hosting a last minute tournament next Wed. One round in the dark with my own lighted buoys. I'm hoping to convince the boss to let me try the Mid after that.

Your back will love the Z7. I loved the X5, but it definitely took some effort. Not sure your time frame, but if I like the mid, I'll probably sell my Z7.

Shelby, OB flew all the way up here to brainwash me into a mid. Hoping to try one soon. Oh, he also said ya'll were going to join our club. I think that X5 is still in demand. I assume you have it listed on ski-it-again?

Yea, I'd love to try them all, but this time of year, time is limited b/t tournaments. I'm mainly looking for some consistency that seems to have disappeared. Of course, it has to be the ski.... ;-) If that doesn't work, I'm going to go steal my '06 X5!

Sweet! I've got it narrowed down to 3! ;-) thanks everyone, guess I'll just have to give one a shot.

Interesting.... Thanks JD. Size chart says 63.75" 168a. Wow, that seems short!

thanks for the help guys. My style - - I pay a lot for these skis, better use ALL of them! ;-) I do ride the front quite a bit and counter rotate. The guys that are on the Mid and Wide, are they old school, new or mixed?

Stevie, I use SJ3560. Usually get it from itapestore.com I think the 400 is SJ3551. dave

Thanks Boody. I was leaning towards the mid, but no reasoning behind it. I'd be happy with 1-2 buoys, but 6 would do as well, heh heh. I have my own creation for bindings. I used rollerblade boots for a few years, but got tired of them falling apart. Now, I'm on Reflex boots, my own G10 plate and dual lock.

Considering trying a Goode. Seems to be several Goode skiers over here. How would I choose between the 3 (wide, mid and regular)? I'm a new school skier, 34mph, avg 5 @ 38, 174#. What are the attributes of each? dave

Not sure if anyone here is on planetnautique.com, but I sold my 200 OB promo at my tournament two weeks ago. My buddy's in-laws skied and she was sold after skiing it one time. They have an '06 MC now. The wakes alone sold it, but they also enjoyed driving it. I have the 5.7 and cannot imagine needing more out of the hole. I have not used more than 3/4 throttle and that was only for a 220# guy. Usually 1/4 throttle gets everyone up. Have not tried the 6L so I cannot compare. dave

I spoke with CC for you. They recommend the 422 prop for the 6L; not the 668. I think that is where Shane was going in his recommendation.

I skied behind an '08 196 with the 6L in practice at Nationals last year. I loved it. Felt very smooth. I heard, though, that you needed the right prop. I'd call CC about it.

I'd prefer something slick over something soft that might add resistance when the ski goes over it. Not sure if anyone caught my comment about water in the buoys. With a one anchor per buoy and water in the buoy to reduce the buoyancy will allow it to move around more with waves, wind and such. We had ours filled with about 1/3 water. I was on shore cutting grass and noticed the buoys were off by at least 3feet. I hopped in and easily moved the bouy 3' in each direction. I then put in an air filled buoy and it didn't move as easily. TW, have you experienced this? If so, gotta fix? We have a single anchor with a hard line going to a sub. Then about 1' of surgical tubing (from skiertoskier) going to the buoy. dave

I just took a nasty fall. Out the front and to the side. Got locked in and had to bail before hitting the rocks. Was testing new boots on my dual lock system. They worked perfectly. I released and never knew it happened. Not even a twinge in my ankles. Of course, f'ed up my shoulder pretty good. Glad it's the off season. Dual lock works perfect for me. I put way more than I need to because I only want to release in the hardest of falls. My only complaint with the DL is having to replace it every now and then. Kind of expensive. I have seen just about every system out there and this is the only one I'll put my feet in.