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Do yourself a favor and upgrade to Stargazer w/ZBox. I have an 03 RLxi(335 Monsoon) and it tamed the beast. Stargazer by itself was a bust for a short setup but adding the ZBox made it settle in quickly, deliver good times at all bouys and not run away at the turn balls.

My experience with the ZBox makes me think it was the best $400 I've spent in a while. I have an '03 Malibu RLxi and with Stargazer it felt like it was running away from me at the turns and the surging experienced by myself and others on short setups was annoying to say the least. After I added the ZBox the surging is gone and the boat maintains speed much better. It may have something to do with me(6'3" 220) but it is a much better ride and that coupled with the fact that magnets are no longer needed made it well worth the money. I do not ski tournaments but I have skied behind ZO a few times and it feels pretty much the same. I ski 22-32/35 at 34 so I'm not all that good but I definitely recommend it.

how about a 2003 RLxi with zbox at 0630 ? I live on the east side on a lake with a course. And after 7/12 I'll be out of work and home all day until I get another job so later would work.

I changed my mind. After trying to reach the hose clamps at the transom I came to the conclusion that it was impossible without tearing the entire rear out. That gas tank is ridiculous - who needs 41 gals of gas ? Am I going to Bermuda ? I saw one of those Natiques with the Vernay(I think) single port exhaust just yesterday. Awesome quiet. I have mufflers but to put a silent rider system in looks like major expenditure. I like my neighbors, just not that much.

@wish - here's where I got them: http://www.bakesonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=756

@dtm8119 - just what I was looking for. Thanks!

I used to have chronic pain in my lower left side by the end of the season(left foot forward) that seemed to be aggravated by skiing. I found one of my wife's yoga dvd's and gave it a shot out of desperation and it fixed the problem almost immediately. It seems to originate from my hamstrings and working on those really makes a difference.

Much to the delight of my neighbors I bought these in the hopes it would quiet my Monsoon down during those early morning runs. Now the issue is getting them installed on an 03 RLxi. Anyone installed these and if so do you have any words of wisdom ?

@Ajskier - if you find the web site or any other info can you post it here ? I might be moving to Wilmington and will need a place to ski. Thanks

Also, if any have a camera they use to film their skiing that they really like I'm open for suggestions.

I am/was considering buying a GoPro Hero3 black but as I am researching I am seeing a lot of negative feedback about it and the older Hero2s also. Bad battery life, lock ups and terrible customer service to mention a few of the issues. I know some of you have one of these, what do you think ?

Anyone have any contact info for the makers of the Trakker besides what's on the web site ? emails are bouncing and phone number not accepting calls. Thanks

This is the best place I've found yet: http://www.reddenmarine.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=spongex Last time I checked skiertoskier stopped carrying them and only have the inflatable plastic ones. I bought a few and they are ultra durable but at $14 per were too much.

So many funny people on this forum. I was asking if it might be an indication of a problem like excessive cavitation. from the lack of any serious responses i guess not. thanks.

I was looking under the boat and the prop seems to have lost some luster. Instead of being the nibral color it was originally it seems to have turned kind of gray with a little bit of a purple hue to it. Anybody else ? It's a Acme 515 circa 2006 on an RLxi.

I agree on the Strada's being large. I'm 220 and bought a 69.5 and have come to the conclusion it's too big for me at 34(22-35). Ended up on a 68 Fusion and digging it.

Anyone have any experience getting a thermostat out of the housing on a 2002 PCM 330 ? It looks/acts like it's held in the housing with a metal sleeve about 3 inches in diameter and about the same in depth. Skidim says try and get the sleeve out to replace thermostat but I don't see how to do it without trashing the sleeve. Ideas or experience welcome. Thanks

what drysuit ?

If your partner's boat is anything like my '03 lxi the tank holds 41 gallons, half a tank of fuel is ~20. I'd run it with a lot less if that's the case, might make a difference.

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I have not seen that on mine but I have mechanical linkage. Used it 50-60+ passes and it locks in perfect every time. Talked to PP about it ?

@WBLskier Never been to Cory's so I don't know what goes on there but I have lived in FL(Orlando) my entire life and all I can say is there are gators(and snakes) in every body of water here. There are even gators in the salt water rivers(e.g. Indian River). This time of year is also getting to be mating season so the female gators will be aggressive if you get near their nests(mounds on shore near water line), otherwise they will leave you alone for the most part. There are some idiots who feed them after which all bets are off. Also beware of stub tail looking brown snakes in the water. They are probably moccasins and they are always aggressive - and poisonous. But other than that ....

@Texas6 No, what I meant was - when I first got Stargazer I had the hot at the gates slow at ball 3 or slow at the gates and taking off after 3 ball syndromes. I finally got over that by marking the throttle arm about where 34+ was and pulling back just north of that after the beep. Also tweaked pre-gate, ball 1 and ball 3 and I mean tweaked. Way lower than what came default. Don't remember exact numbers but significantly lower. After zbox I have not done anything to adjust it. I'm pretty sure my tweaks are gone due to code upgrade(V8) but I haven't looked. Straight out of the box, zbox is much "nicer" to me. I'm kind of a big guy(6'3" 220) and when I got behind, SG felt like it was running away from me. I don't feel that at all with zbox and when I'm driving we're running right at 34.2 when skier is turning. We have a very short setup on one of the courses - barely 55 before the 55's so very little time for it to settle in. Performing the above actions got it to settle in right. Now with the zbox it settles in right and is easier to ski behind.

I finally got my SG tuned to a short setup. I just added the zbox and what a difference on my 03 Lxi w/335 Monsoon. It settles in immediately and the drop back adjustment it makes is pretty noticable, almost throws me forward a little. Best $400 I've spent on speed control yet.

add a zbox to your stargazer and you won't need magnets anymore. as an aside, zbox on my 03 RLxi smoothed out the pull like I can't believe. No more feeling of the boat running away from me.