Jody_Seal

Lets be real, USAWS/AWSA has become a welfare institution. when the average cost of the new boat platforms are better then $100K. When ski prices are on the verge of gouging we see where the old guard has been all but forgotten in the organizations investors/sponsors. When this happens that a organization cant hold their own and need outside semi government help. Why? is this intentional or just plain bad business? I would like to see how the grant propositions/requests look like. are their not any conditions of foreseeable growth with these contractual agreements? it's a scare tactic, kinda correspond with the bottom line of the books? @JeffSurdej yep! but a lot of misdirection and failed delivery..

great question and yes they have. and when many of them were stepping into leadership roles they were squashed and replaced with the elderly.. take rule's committee for example, look at the board. driver committee if it were not for the aac representatives the rest of the board and committees would be eligible for medicare, or are! no that one dont fly either... the grip is tight among the seniors!! like it or not this sport got old!!

Nailed It!

3 event/AWSA can not be equated to any other sport or programs. except with the Safe sport extortion. 3/ event is a sport dynamic all its own, how other sports are organized and run for the most part can not or should not be emulated. no other sport requires or utilizes multi million dollar facilities for true amateur competition. @JeffSurdejHow come you did not bring those ideas to the table when you were president of AWSA? the level 10 mandate you were pushing took a number of great skiers and pushed them out of the sport. "So what can we do to make it better?": 1. eliminate the safe sport mandate for all members/skiers. most every member/skier will agree that anyone coaching, chaperoning juniors or jr team personnel should maintain a level of education pertaining to the overall safety of junior participants. if the organization wants to install a similar requirement for judges and drivers, put together a presentation with the mandatory officials maintenance clinic's, use that as part of required officials maintenance. 2. establish a membership pricing scale that is not a one size fits all. many many officials have not been on the water for a long time, especially older scorer's. there are officials in this sport who really never learned to ski yet provide excellent ability as an official. why charge them $90 a year to volunteer a couple times a year? 3. Jeff said it, the ideology has changed as has the membership numbers. this is not the early 90's when there there were 110 mens 3 at a southern regional's. It is time to re think the competition groups. be realistic in abilities as these skiers from the early 90's are the biggest age groups in the the organization today, (men 6,7&8). for example, combine men1&2 call it men's division, same with women's 1&2. these are probably the smallest two divisions today in our organization and they compete under the very same rules. combine men 3&4 allow the current men 4 to jump under the same rules as men three and combine them. our age platforms, rules and policy's have not kept up up the technology or the athleticism of today's competitor. 4. Does the leadership / membership really want to see some growth? any Growth in the sport? i dont think so as reading into our past AWSA president's comments. However if the organization truly wants to see growth and returned energy into the sport it is time to create opportunity for the many many skiers that continue to operate on public waterways as well as even on private ski lakes. one only has to peruse Facebook, Instagram and the other then Ball of spray internet forums that are available. this is a gold mine of skiers that may want to participate in the AWSA but avoid the entity due to the many reason listed above in other comments. create or utilize current platforms that encourage membership growth and or membership sustainability. 5. if the organization wants to publish a magazine then for god's sake come up with new content and information. the hired gun executive directors first attempt at an article was not one that inspired members for sure! get regional information in the pages. try some lifestyle articles. highlight in the trenches skiers and officials. get the magazine into the mainstream news stands... something different then the same old bend your knees articles.. I have more but again type very slow and type poorly, so off to the lake for some on the water fun... it's a trick day.. Too be continued.

sure you want me to splain gimmick technology?

I do the same thing in my fishing boat, 20' shamrock. I have a lantern from Sam's club. stripped the stereo out of the 196. Just did not need it when it got rebuilt. it never goes off the tournament lake anyway, Ski Tractor!

you want to avoid the Bryant built 200's. thin hull substrate, poor assembly as well as utilization of incorrect grade of fastners on the underwater gear. the engine will have a raw water cooled 6 liter that will degrade the circulation pump as well as the dissimilar metal between block and heads. have one here at the shop now that has had so many repairs that I warned current owner to dump this pig if you have to give it away. bottom has numerous cracks emanating from the rudder port into the hydro gate slot.. if you are looking for a reasonable priced new boat I would look at the pro star or find a 2018 and older used 200.

if I was to give up my current 196 it would not be to buy a new 200. maybe a 2018 or older 200. sold my red 196 a little over a year ago only because it oxidized so bad it was turning pink from buffing off the oxidation.

Really??keep that guy west of the Mississippi. He's to feral for Florida..

John its time to change your catch line, I love you too but you are part of the problem in the sport with that type of come back or response. what the problem is one size fits all! that means that the direction of AWSA is same as wake,barefoot,any of the toad watersports. well the dynamics of AWSA is far different then that of the walley sports. 3 event is competition or at least should be. the dynamics of the other sports are to each individually separate also. What is the business model for AWSA when you get the off the wall directive as posted above it will not work when the exodus and bleeding of membership has an impact on offering potential skiers into the sport. we put a ton of time , effort and money into a junior development programs only to see the youngsters go away after they are no longer a junior only because our pro level is really not a pro level. our organization will call skiers pro's but in reality there is no support nor want to have an impact as to supporting professional 3 event skiers. no professional backing, no business model. there is not a drive like other sports to stair step to the national championship. nationals are really the only competitive event for amateurs in the usa. leadership with in the awsa continue to believe that everyone gets a trophy with the rankings ideology. one does not have to beat an opponent to get to the championship level. all one has to do is go to a setup tournament and get their rankings score.. Oh an go to a BS mandatory regional s again as a participation event at least for the most part. To many age groups for the amount of members in the sport. men women 1&2 have the same set of competitive parameters. same with men 3&4 (at least in slalom an tricks}. same with juniors, 5 age divisions has depleted the overall quality and level of performance overall. getting new skiers into the sport under current over the top policy's, rules and politics has shown to be fruitless. let alone getting previous skiers back in the mix. Sadly the obvious escapes the leadership and for the most part the leadership is happy with status quo. ok well this would not be right with out some ideas. lets start with a business model: What are the long and short time goals? What are the demographics are you targeting? How can it be made to be more enjoyable as well as more accessible? what parameter's policy's need changed to achieve these goals? how can the cost to participate be brought down? And for Horton, no i am not over it i am over the sweat equity with no foreseeable benefits. i am over the anal policy's and rules that exclude participation and or stymie participation. and yes been there done that but will do it again if there is a set of goals established other then financing some skiers "score" more to come......

having moved to the 32 mph era and being a little heavy I go back and forth on wing or no wing. on the senate I was riding I eliminated the wing as the line lengths I ski 28-32 off had zero effect. now I recently got off the senate and back on a older Vapor that I am running a 8* wing on. the vapor is a whole lot more responsive and faster then the senate so I think I will leave the wing on for a while anyways. our water is cold and fast to begin with so, an anomaly for Florida. deep and cooler in peak summer then most all southern area ski lakes. I may pull the wing when water starts feeling slow.

Before I go in with my dissertation i would like to thank BOS for allowing and providing an avenue for AWSA members to openly speak their minds, offer suggestions as well as even bitch and rant over issues with in the sport. Thank you as AWSA does not have a platform outside of trying to deal with the powers to be within.. AWSA and USAWS, One size fits all. I received a copy of the new water skier over the weekend and read through the rag. nothing new, typical information basically akin to bend your knees, same old content that the rag has been printing the last 25 odd years. But what struck me was a article written by the new executive director for usaws. in the article Mr. Michael and i quote, "to put it simply, we need you on the water and we need you teaching first timers how to enjoy this great sport. and after that, I am asking for your help in getting these new skiers to progress and even join a team or enter a tournament.. And there we go;:)" you are all now appointed to our new membership committee Well i have a few questions: Why? why be on the membership committee? how does it benefit me? dont get me wrong, i have and continue to introduce as well as reintroduce young and old alike. so far none have decided to join a team nor enter a tournament.. yet some do come back just to ski....it does nothing for me as a member of awsa, yet awsa and usaws make it more and more unattractive to be apart of. some of you may know i do online tech work now for Nautique parts.com as well as ski-Dim (Cheap plug). at least once a week and sometimes more then once a week i am recognized and i also recognize old friends and ski acquaintances. in conversation with many of these customers the topic of tournament skiing comes up. i often ask are you still skiing? 90% of the time it is yes. are you still entering tournaments and again 90% of the time it is no.. Why one asks. most the time the answers are internal politics, excessive rules as well as just the over the top costs to participate. i also get, i like to ski rather then sit around and watch others ski. I now ask, be apart of what? Where again are the benefits to being a member of AWSA. Volunteer hours of time as well as spend my own money to attend what is referred to as competition that in reality is not. spend and donate to others advancement yet not be either recognized or are belittled because your talents do not come up to what some in the organization say is their standard. What benefits the membership if we are on the membership committee? What benefits the Organization if we boost membership and how does that benefit existing members? i will stay away from the protection scam they are running. you know take USOC money's and pay it back to the the safe sport mafia. about the only members getting any benefits are the 6 or so "Elite Athletes" who get their health insurance paid for. Where the one size fits all comes in is is this the business model for AWSA? "you are all now appointed to our new membership committee" Now this might work for the Toad group of enthusiasts but the three event crowd i think are happy with the current direction as a failing sport and have managed to whittle down the AWSA membership so as that the affluent have it all to their own. kinda like polo ideology. "you are all now appointed to our new membership committee" If this is Mr. Michael's business plan the organization is truly doomed! There will be an addendum for sure as i type slow and currently need to move onto other aspects of the daily routine. I am sure some will get butthurt as well as some will chime in with their assessment. What would you like to see the organization provide for your participation in either three event or Toad water sports? What could they provide other then "you are all now appointed to our new membership committee" ??

no epoxy for exhaust. epoxy will soften with heat. standard fiberglass and boat yard resin will withstand 500 plus degrees before ignition or melting.

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Here are some hard facts. The materials that are utilized to build boat hulls are based on petroleum, Petroleum prices are sky high. Transportation costs of these raw materials are sky high. Engine package's are near double of what they were in 2020.( same as petroleum prices.) these manufacturer's now have a lot of mouths to feed just to keep up with the technology. the amount of personnel that is currently being utilized to get a boat out the manufacturers back door is grossly bloated. As is the facility's that are producing them. in with the bloat the boats are really not structurally designed well as compared to 5 years ago. the Leggo style of boat building vs a monolithic style leaves a lot to be desired in linear strength and durability...I digress.... Sadly for us the sub 21' ski boat market, the manufacturers have figured out and rightly so that the big weight component boat has far more advantages of profitability then that of the mid mount ski boat. Why take up the manufacturing floor space for a far lower profit margin product? Crazy laws for manufacturing as well as epa compliant regulations have increased and continue to impact end user prices. increased taxes and the increased taxation of raw materials have impacted also. Crazy unrealistic laws have been put in place to start to limit production of the internal combustion platforms that have come into motion for the real near future. I see tough time's for the inboard industry as we know it. like it or not elections have consequences. this subject matter is a testament to that. not going down that road but it must emphasized and made clear and this year is another election year. in this election year the cost to borrow money is astronomical. speculation of what the next 4 years will bring has deep impact on how boat manufacturers will proceed. we have one inboard based company on the verge of chapter 11 protection (just one's opinion). manufacturers are going to get it while they can, however don't be suprised about hearing more industry lay offs. my thoughts are if you want to continue skiing at a reasonably economical level, stop with the ideology of new boat technology being needed to increase your buoy count and concentrate on keeping the current ski tractor in top condition. it wont be long before the top tier affluent in the sport will start second guessing the idea of a $200,000.00 ski tractor... Blame the covid all you want I have other knowledge

must be a compound mount set up?

@Horton(* The word of a PR guy is as valuable as the word of a politician.) A little fringe there, gotta keep politics out this!!

"Me and Mick are going to wing on over to London and jam with the Stones!

yes the Scarpa Deal. was not so much Scarpa wanted to go to another company , he did not have the same equipment that was being utilized in competition. The "V"-Drive Barefoot boat was a dog all the way around, it stayed on the trailer more then it was being utilized in competition. CC dropped the model around the time the perfect pocket skiboat was introduced (176). CC kept Ron on for quite a few years but being Ron had by then acquired a relationship with malibu he asked permission to not renew and signed on with malibu. Ron did keep the 176 for his ski school though, one of the few GT-40/11A combinations..

put the system in rec mode and run the boat. check and see if rpm drops out any time. if that is the case it is loosing canbus circuit..

i have dual exhaust on a 08 196. Skied with the boat friday...32mph i thought i was at 36... where does one get those cool down tips? are they 4" exhaust or 3.5"?

want to race boats?

what makes you think it is a joke? do you know the boat? it could be an extremely low hour hermetically sealed trailer queen...?? what's it worth to you?? what would you pay for it??

here's another one, an x7 basically the same as a 197. if you know the bottom dollar. then money talks BS walks and loose change rides the bus. these are all nice boats under $60k. perfectly capable of delivering tournament quality ski rides...aint that what all this whining is about?