lpskier

The committee that did the hiring was very impressed with Kevin. We are very fortunate and happy to have him on board. 
 

I understand that there were several great candidates. 

Well, it looks like someone still has an immigration problem. So much for being part of the Commonwealth. 

@jnan66 You are correct , sir! Mike ran 39 on October 29, 1988 at Okeeheelee. Cox, then, was the first American to run it. 
 

Good catch! 

There was a $200,000 price difference between the gas and electric models, I believe. ($150,000 vs $350,000)
 

Ingenity, Correct Craft’s all electric brand, makes an extremely cool 27’ electric Hackercraft triple cockpit runabout. It gets 1.7 hours of run time per charge. That doesn’t sound like much, but assuming a Natigue would get about the same run time per charge and if you don’t “idle” the boat when the skier drops, (or whatever electric boats do), you can get a six pass set in eight minutes on the motor. That would be a little over 12 sets a charge, and that doesn’t sound bad. But for me that extra 200 grand is a deal breaker. 

@Horton Maybe, but it only takes one to cause a big rule compliance problem if you aren’t prepared. I get to CJ a bunch of record tournaments every year, and one of my primary goals is to avoid unforced errors. For what it is worth, my other big goal is to make sure every skier has a positive experience (within the rules). 

@Horton What are you complaining about? I haven’t skied since August second. My billables are up though…

One thing we will have to do as tournament organizers is update our handle measuring devices to comply with the IWWF rule for measuring handles, which provides that the handle end of the device is no more than 2 cm wide ( and should fit through the slot in the center of the T Handle “yoke” to measure the length of the handle section). The 3.5” wide end piece allowed under AWSA rules, often a piece of 2x4, won’t work with this handle.

And while a “normal” handle has a +2.5 cm tolerance, the T handle may not measure longer than 150 cm. 

@Taperflex True, but significantly less than you might think. Hence the beauty of the attachment of the rope to the handle. 

The T handle, developed by Jason Peckham of NY, has been approved for tournament use. See IWWF Rule 5.11. Congratulations, Jason! 

@mike_mapple Mike, Jeff ran 41 at 34 at Little Mountain in NC in September 2012 at age 45. He ran 4.5 the year before at the same tournament but got his thumb stuck in his life jacket hooking up out of four ball. He still made it over to five. 

@RAWSki I can only think of the following that made both snow and tournament water skis. Are there others?

1. Northland (Warren Witherall autograph) 

2. Hexcel (KLP)

3. Goode

4. Hart (bought EP)

5. K2 (just got my ankle replaced from a crash on one of those babies in 1973). 

@skialex Actually, Wade Cox ran 39  (1@41) on June 19, 1991 in Miami, FL, breaking Bob LaPoint’s record of 5 at 39 that had held since 1984. Jeff tied the record on July 1 of the same year in Madison, Ga. Jeff, of course, was the first to run 41, both at 36 and 34. 
 

These are, of course, record tournament scores. If you know of a Class C score of 6@39 or better prior to 6/19/91, I stand corrected. In my book, that would still be a first and the score would count (no ranking list back then, though), but it would not be a record and would not go in the books as such. 

I was talking to Rossi some time ago and mentioned it was too bad there wasn’t a good book on water skiing, and he said “There is. Warren Witherall wrote it.” I said I knew Warren wrote “How the Racers Ski” about snow ski racing but I didn’t know he’d written a book about water skiing. Rossi said “That’s the book. Just add ‘water’ every time you read ‘ski’ or ‘skier’ and you’ve got it.” 

@BKistler It was a ski pond until just a few years ago when the Goodhue’s sold it. Whether the new owners ski on it or not, I don’t know, but there are no more tournaments there, or anywhere In Massachusetts for that matter. In fact, I think there are only four tournament sites left in all of New England: one in CT, two in NH (one private, one on public water) and one in VT (on public water). Two of those sites have jumps. 

You can barely walk due to a lifetime of accumulated injuries, but you can still count on your -35. Or in the case of my friend LH, Boy Scouts help you cross the street but you’re still good for age group national records and gold medals at Senior Worlds. 
 

And the most important option in your car is the seat heater, even if you live in Florida. 

Chris Goodhue from Massachusetts and an Eastern Region skier sold his product, a skateboard brake, on Shark Tank last night. 
 

https://allsharktankproducts.com/shark-tank-products-sports/viberide-skateboard-brakes/

@Than_Bogan Don’t you have to submit your “record” and pay a hefty fee to have it verified? 

I suffered from golfer’s elbow for years. Since going to a larger diameter radius handle and the Masterline Optimized 2 rope, I have had no elbow issues whatsoever. However, a couple weeks before Regionals I switch to the regular black ML rope and ski it through Nationals, and I can hear my elbows just starting to talk to me by the time I switch ropes again after Nationals. Once I switch back, my elbows almost immediately recover. 

Lucille Borgan skied Nationals at 94.  

That is, I believe, an older prototype of the “Peckham Handle.” The 3D printed connection between the handle and the rope is the same, but the photo shows someone else’s handle section. Jason now makes his own handle featuring a carbon core. @Rednucleus Don’t worry. The current handle is so light it floats. 

I don’t disagree that an RTP is preferable in terms of performance. However, from the injury avoidance perspective, I think a double boot of some sort is likely safer than a front boot and kicker. With a kicker you can have a fall where your back foot comes out and your front foot stays in, leaving your front ankle exposed to serious injury. Perhaps the best option is a kicker with a releasable front boot, such as a Reflex. 
 

I will also say that changing back to a kicker after years in a double boot (hard shells in my case) is very challenging. 
 

Below is the 2023 aftermath of a 1973 fall where my back foot came out and my front foot stayed in. 

I’m sure someone (maybe his wife) told Edison that his “light bulb” thingy would never work. 
 

I’m fortunate to ski with a bunch of different skiers who, from time to time, experiment with all sorts of stuff. Granted, many are involved in ski design, but they aren’t shy about trying new ideas. Extra layers of carbon, bondo, changing bevels, different fin shapes, cutting down, softening or stiffening hard shells, etc.  I watched KLP and Parrish come up with the idea of attaching the Radar boot to a Reflex plate and then stiffening the boot with some carbon  The point is, thank God there are people out there thinking and tinkering. The only difference between them and @swbca is the supply if skis or bindings to work on and a market for whatever ideas work out. So don’t be such Negative Nellies. I for one am interested in hearing @swbca’s report and maybe seeing some photos. That information may, at some time, for some one of us, be helpful. 

@ALPJrOseetah Lake , part of the  Saranac chain of lakes, Saranac Lake, NY. Here’s another view:

Uploading this video from my iPhone was a snap. 
 

This video was the morning of August 2. I haven’t skied since. 😞

Isn’t the Wrapped ski sort of a next gen Fischer? 

I have been advised by experts in the field that a Fischer and a Wrapped have little in common other than both being water skis  Having ridden neither, I stand corrected. 

https://www.wrappedusa.com/skis/