JGray

2001 Malibu Response LX. Love the boat. It skies great, drives great and if I could put ZO in it I would in a heartbeat.

The only flaw I see in @matthewbrown rules are I don't see where the TC's get a mandated swig of kilo kai? They should at least get to when a spider covers the camera lens!

That spider will go down in TC history. Probably should always tell that story at any and all future TC clinics.

Thanks! It was a big job but the event seemed to go pretty well with only the normal bevy of tech issues we normally see. Also want to add a thanks to all those who helped out and the hospitality shown to us by all those out at SMRR.

I use the Eagle One Wax as you dry about every other outing or so, and then paste wax about twice a year. The Eagle one wax as you dry seems to help a lot and you can pick it up right down the road pretty cheap. Quite a few people use the Babes which is probably a better designed product for our use but I am lazy and never order any. And so just pick up the other stuff at O'Reilly.

First glad to hear you will be back soon. I have been through quite a bit on my knee over the years (blown ACL, torn MCL/PCL, torn meniscus, and a bone fragment floating around, then my knee cap decided to become two pieces instead of one.). I have tried a few braces but the biggest issue is finding one that doesn't make you ski straight legged. I ended up not using them for that reason. Either they were to loose and wouldn't stay in place and not help or to bulky/tight and made it hard for me to be fluid. I did just buy one the other day as my knee is really acting up bad again, and hoping it helps. But it only gives a little support. Hopefully someone on here has a better solution that I can use too! One thing I have found the loose ones when they move cause your knee cap to not track right and can cause all kinds of funky/uneasy feelings. Good luck and if you find anything that works good let me know.

Had a blast at Ski Texas with Seth and the gang over there thanks to all! Yes if there was video of Jim you would want to spend hours analyzing his OTF technique. Maybe even watching it to help visualization before each set. I think he will be coaching the pro's in no time!

I use and have used for years the gold standard 100% Whey from GNC. Double rich chocolate only and have been happy with it. I can definitely tell that I have a faster recovery time when I drink it. I mix it usually with just milk but milk, ice, and a banana in the blender and you have a nice dessert smoothie. It is probably full of sugar and that is why it taste good. It is a sad story but when my mother in law was in her last weeks she couldn't keep food down and thus would feel worse. So I bought them a canister and mailed it to them to try it. Gave her something in her system but wasn't food. And she actually enjoyed them and basically lived off the stuff until she finally passed. And she did rave about how it actually tasted good and she felt much better having something in her system. She was done and didn't want to go to hospital for I/V's and such.

I will be up there this year. First time back to regionals since I blew my knee out 5 years ago.

Congrats to Horton. Must have been some of the Big Dawg skiers smooth sking that rubbed off on us because Horton, myself and atleast one other I know of PB'd Sunday. There was some awesome sking on both lakes (head 2 head and Class C).

I have similar things happen to me sometimes. Ski really well with a light chop and then suffer in glass. Here is my 2 cents on it. The chop breaks up the water tension between the ski and top of water thus you can carry speed better. Same idea of the stepped bottoms they are putting on some skis today. Slick water is more sticky and thus a bit slower and will slow you down more comming into the ball. For me I try to make sure to keep my elbows in and drive the ski through the second wake (I didn't say pull through drive through), and slow down the release. Keep tension on the rope just a bit longer. What I find is I get better angle out of the ball and end up really early and if I don't keep the speed up I will just fall over in the turn due to to much loss of speed. Hope it helps some, but no you are not alone. It seems so counter intuitive we always want nice smooth water and are upset with wind then we we do get it we can't ski in it. Were I live near the Texas coast we almost always have a breeze so unless I get out early don't see glassy water. And most of the time when I do it is at a tournament!

I had the FM's a few years ago and when they were right I loved them. However as someone said they require a lot of maintenance and I tend to run out and ski real quick. Had a few tournaments get screwed up due to the setup needing tuning etc. Have to say I loved the control and the release was GREAT when everything was right. However I have since gone to RS1's (now Strada) and they are a great mixture. Not as responsive as a full hardshell, however not as maintenance either. If you have time and like to tinker with your ski then FM's are a great choice. I don't want to steer you away from them however as many/most hard shells you have to keep more of an eye on them and check things (spacing, etc) more often. I just didn't have the time anymore with 3 Kids running me ragged!

We use a combination depending on what we can get away with and what all we have to have for the tournament. Cables are great if you can...less chance for failure. But we have had good experience with wireless also.  We have even set up a camera and wireless trasmitter off a car batter and AC/DC converter and transmitted back to a dock on the other side of the lake. A few notes though. We have had problems with some of the newer higher end transmitters/receivers.  They obviously could not stand the heat and humidity we have down here in Houston, but our older ones seem to do well.

Not to hijack the thread but to add to the life jacket comments!  I have an oneil hybrid suit and I wear my eagle pull over tournament vest under it for warmth and rib protection. Add's a little extra impact protection(not much but some) and it also adds a nice layer of insulation right around the core to help keep the body temps up.  Also for whatever reason it just doesn't feel right to NOT have a vest on! Guess I have had to many bad crashes!ÂÂ

Hey sir here is hoping we can get out there this weekend. I am jonesing to hit the water since we had the freeze. Tired of just watching water ski video's while lifting weights!  I don't know how those up North can stand it. I wouldn't make it a month! Lets keep in touch as the weekend gets closer and I will touch base with Todd and Brad and see if they are going to be around and availiable.

Bill, I wear a 13 shoe myself and the boots work as long as my knees are bent. They definitly have a pre molded stance and if you fight it to stand up straight then my toes press against the front pretty bad and is uncomfortable. But after breaking them in and being in proper ski stance they work well for me now. I only notice it when I go free sking and start getting tired/lazy and locking my knees and my front foot starts feeling reall cramped. One thing I noticed also and it is due to having big feet is I run the rear boot really loose so I can lift my heel up and get better pressure on the front of the ski. If I don't and keep my rear heel down on the ski I tend to ski very straight legged and on the tail alot and my front foot feels cramped due to no knee bend and toes getting shoved forward.  That is not specific to the RS1 for me as I have done that with all my bindings, but took me a few passes to really notice that I had the rear a little to constrictive for me to do that. James