JGray

Measured a lot of ropes. The rachet ropes from home depot are great for pulling tension with a fish scale. Pull to 44 lbs and push down on the rope a few times it will drop down a bit and re-tension. A fellow TC built us some nice cables to accommodate for the handle length.

Got my son one of these and he LOVES IT! He is started running the full course (not just the mini). First set told him go out and ride it and feel it, and instead he goes out and PB's first pass! It was scary to watch as he had NO proper form but was all out going for it. But the ski stayed with him and at the end of the pass he was pumped and asked "Dad how was my spray????" Told him "Son your throwing some big spray now" and he was pumped! Had him have some fun on the mini-course running 28' and 32' off on it. He was all smiles. He is skiing enough now that he has to stop to let his hands heal back up.

To add to my note, we were also on a private ski lake and the boat was and kept in very good mechinical condition, so no worries about other boat traffic etc associated with open water environments.

In our old Malibu LX I put stainless attchament points in under the passenger seat and had the car seat strapped in facing forward to protect from a flung handle. Also required anyone skiing to use a shock tube when sking to keep it from wrapping around in the boat. Between the attacment points and some straps the seat was anchored down pretty well. Take it for what it is worth. It was what we thought was safest.

I have a 2014 TXi myself, pulled my 8 year old slalom 18 mph last night just me and 50 lbs under the passenger seat. 2x25lb weight plates in a bag. Wake was nice and even both sides. Can say at that speed a bit of weight up front would probably help with tracking. I was driving out of course with a decent cross wind so holding a straight line was not paramount, and I was watching him more then worrying about my boat path so I was weaving a bit. Tracking was not that bad though, did pull him through the course twice and was able to hold a good boat path with little effort compared to someone at 34 mph which is really no effort.

1: Won my first medal for skiing, 3rd in M3 slalom at SCR Regionals. 2: First time to qualify and ski nationals!

I bought one of the new plates and nationals, and mounted up my older (blue) Vapor bindings no problem it is the same mounting locations as the old sequence plate, just different material, and different system to attach to the ski. The plate is awesome. And FYI it does NOT use the collar washers the old plate does.

Tried the short and deep setting finally, and it does seem to fit me a bit better I think. Only have a few sets on it and then apparently my back decided I had skied enough so need some time off. But first set ran 28, b2b 32's and 35 on my first attempt and that was in a pretty tough wind. I did like the long and shallow and felt it was less effort, just didn't allow me as much opportunity to scramble and recover. The short and deep seems to allow for more of that, but still retains the basic feel and awesomeness of the ski.

We should start a new off season 'crossfit' training program around here. Sheetrock Slalom Strength Training. I thought I was in good shape until I spent days doing tear out at friends places. Have not even started the rebuild parts!

It depends, how many days has it been since we last skied? But honestly here we are blessed with really only a month or two (Jan and Feb) that can be hard to get a set in and honestly we do ourselves a benefit taking those off and cross training and recovering. But also we are not as tough when it comes to cold as the guys up north. We don't do ice, but they don't do sauna water temps either like we do in the summer.

Honestly I think this is a great topic. I have found that at times a simple idea such as "chin up" or "palm up through turn" or "left arm pressure at gate" helps me actually get my body to do a much more complex action such as "hip to handle" or "counter rotate" that for some reason I struggle at actually implementing while on the water. But yes I have used all three listed above to simplify a more complex thought and has helped me achieve those at warp speed on the water trying to scrap out a hard pass.

@Bruce_Butterfield and @Razorskier1 thanks for the responses and I hear you there and will give short and deep a try this weekend when I have time to do a short set on one and short on another to back to back feel them. I was honestly surprised at how well the long shallow worked for me. But yes I am also a "C" settings skier, and really my biggest gotcha is when I get to 35 or 38 is pushing on the tail and finding myself face down in the water at the ball. I know I shouldn't do that but you don't realize your doing it until you are not longer attached to the handle. But if I keep from doing it, it really rewards me! Question for both when trying the various settings did you move the bindings too? Shows decent placement difference on their website.

@Horton Curious on your impressions and pro/cons of the two different fin and binding settings they are showing on their site. I am ridding a 67" 2018 Vapor and loving it. Was hit and miss running 35 on my previous D3, and after a handful of sets on the Vapor I have run 35' the last two. Took a look at 38', but just don't have the full out comfort level I did on my old ski to do much with it yet but getting there. I am on the long and shallow settings (Brooks set it up a Nationals for me) and bindings at 30 1/8. I tried the bindings back a bit as it was searching some out of course but struggled on my harder passes, so living with the searching for now until I can find something I need to change while running buoys.

As stated above many of today's high end skis are pretty forgiving. There are some a few years back that were less forgiving so definitely get opinions/feedback when/if you narrow your list down. When I was where you were I bought a D3 X5. Which I and a fellow skier still tell people starting out is probably the best ski to get you from starting through really whatever you want, but will find at some point you want something a little faster. But they seem to be indestructible mine is an 05 and my wife was skiing on it until recently and you can find them used here and there pretty cheap. There are a lot of good skis out there, but would say being at slower speeds, make sure you get a ski that will carry you. A 66" high end ski might be tough at 28 mph. But a mid level ski or longer ski will build confidence and carry you. Once you get to shorting the rope at 36, that is when you will start feeling you want something more and you will know when that time comes. PS: Budget in good comfortable bindings. That can make long sets so much better. When I moved away from ultra tight rubber bindings where I had to quit skiing when I couldn't feel my feet to comfortable bindings where I had to quit skiing when my muscles gave out was an awesome day!

I have a few rides on mine now and settling in. I played around a bit with binding placement but settled on exactly where I started. Amazing to jump on a new ski that is totally different than my last and be right where I left off and start moving forward. I haven't gotten where I am good enough to scrap out a higher score yet, but I am running my normal passes so much nicer and easier. I tend to screw up because I get so excited how well the pass is going!