UWSkier

I try to carry the handle out to the buoy line at the lengths I'm skiing also, but just holding on to the handle longer is only half my battle. It's keeping the handle in close until I start my reach. Life-long battle.

Listen to them at 1.75x speed when you're driving.

I was watching the stream and noticed that too.

If that's a standard Johnson pump, they're super easy to rebuild. Just drift out the shaft with the bearings on it, slip on a new oil seal (what the O ring is called), and drift it back together. You don't need a press. I ordered a spare pump when mine started leaking a few years ago, then rebuilt the other one. Easy peasy.

I actually put an adjustable fin on there and someone wiser than me told me to take it off and try it with the freeride fin first. It worked fine with that setup for what I'm looking for. No problem with holding power when I bobbled a 4 ball turn and mad scramble pulled to get to 5.

Last year, I made the switch from double boots to RTP, and my skiing has not been the same since. I was regularly running 22, getting well down the line at 28, and occasionally getting into 32 on my double boots. Unfortunately, I was faced with the options of hip surgery, or start kicking in on my starts, which is how I skied until college. Easy choice. Go RTP. But after making the switch, I've gotten into 28 once in close to a year of skiing. I miss my opener 50% of the time. I started skiing tournaments again last year after making the switch, was kindof an embarrassing waste of money. At 250 lbs, I can't really slow the boat much below 32 on my Senate, and I actually ski better on it at 34 MPH. As luck would have it, the-house.com is going out of business and had some wild deals on their in-stock inventory. I picked up a Radar Terrain for $137 and put an old binding on it, thinking I'd be able to experiment at slower boat speeds with it. It's a little humbling going from a 34 MPH, 32 off skier to a 28 MPH, 22 off skier, but it's actually super fun to run the course with some time to think about more than a single key. The idea is to reconstruct my muscle memory with better habits and techniques before going all out again. I never thought a wide-ride could be so fun, and hopefully helpful. Anyone else ever tried this? The "Camo Cruiser" with my Senate Pro. She's a fattie!

They call it ceramic hyperwax. Buzzy words.

I use nothing but Chemical Guys. You've seen my 22 year old boat in person... :) I use the two stage boat rubbing compounds with my DA polisher, then use Hydroslick SiO2 "hyperwax." It's a pain to remove but it lasts a long time. Wipe-down spray is a dash of vinegar with Meguiars spray/detailing wax but I've used Chemical Guys for that in the past with good results also.

If they had it slammed and listed for surfing, it's possible they oil starved the engine. I'd look for something with the Diamond hull if shopping Malibu, personally. The OG Sunsetter was on the SV23 "wake" hull, which can be an excellent ski hull if you put it on a crazy diet like @DW did with his Echelon.

I bought my 2001 with a fresh long-block 5.7 (Malibu Indmar Monsoon) that had about 100 hours on it. I've had it since 2018 with zero issues. Runs like a top.

I'd guess closer to 40% for the ProStar, 10% for the Nautique. I know of a couple public water original owner ProStars. I don't know a of a single stealth pug.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Pitted in a turn with a massive hit, yeah, easy to toss the handle, and something you don't need a release for. Shoulders forward into the wakes or a lean lock, sometimes you're better off holding on and riding it out than dumping the handle at max load.

This is my rationale also. I have been on double boots since 2001 and double Vapors since 2016, but a health issue necessitated a change to one foot starts, meaning kicking into an RTP like I did as a grom back in the 90s. I never ever ejected from my double Vapors. I had some nasty falls and hurt ankles a couple times, but nothing I couldn't walk away from. That was with both feet in. I fear the destroyed ACL or spiral fracture enough to take the chance on the release.

the reason we haven't been able to keep up with the snow-ski tech is because they don't have to stick a back foot right behind the front foot.

Toe bar is in the center. This is V1 of the Radar plate that doesn't have the offset toe bar mounting locations. They released that about a week after I bought this one.

This varies by state. In Arizona, if you buy a used boat from a private seller, you don't pay sales tax. If you buy from a dealer, you do.

Moved the release forward slightly. Will see if this works better. Side note, when you're doing the step-out testing and it doesn't release, it hurts like hell when the top edge of the ski bashes your other ankle.

already in the front hole on the mount (arrow in this photo). Going to experiment a bit more this weekend.

I'll see if I can move the release up into the "size 12" hole and run the wishbone in the rear hole of the mounts to get enough forward "push" when engaged.

I think I have something else going on. I can't forcibly step out of the release as it's set now, so the vertical motion is fine (actually tighter than it needs to be). The mechanism seems to slide off the back of the boot without much force though. One finger with moderate pressure slides it off. I don't know if it's catching some spray or what's pulling it off, but it's not usually coming off from some violent action. I was in the middle of a routine offside turn this morning when I felt the wishbone hit my toes, so I pulled up on that turn and ended my pass. I feel like a weak rubber band around the cuff of the boot to the release would be all I'd need to hold it in place. UPDATE: I started researching old snow ski forum posts about the Silvretta release mechanism and found something that said heel height is critical to the proper functioning of the system. I went in the garage and fashioned a 1/16" shim and the improvement is dramatic. I believe this is due to two factors. First, you get more spring engagement with a slightly raised heel. Second, the orientation of the heel flange is such that it's "pointed downhill" somewhat, meaning that for the release to slide off, the spring has to compress slightly. Going to safety test this a few times, then give it a ride.

Reviving this thread. For others on this setup, how tight are you running your Reflex spring? I have my heel locked down tight with the heel screws, so there is next to zero motion of the boot shell, but I'm experiencing random pre-releases. I suspect it has something to do with the fact I'm in the biggest boot they make, but running at "7" on the Reflex spring scale, I've had a handful of these events. Fortunately, I know what it feels like now and know to stop skiing before I die. Wishbone bar on my back toes = stop skiing. This is my first release system. Any tricks from the Reflex veterans I'm not considering?

Only time I might involve a second hand is going around a really tight turn island, otherwise, it's thumb and index finger on throttle, thumb and index finger on wheel. This is how I drive old boats and new from the big 3.

Paddlewheel gauges speed against the water surface, which is moving. GPS gauges speed against 3D space, which is stationary... but if the water under the boat is moving, your speed relative to the water will be fast going upstream and slow going downstream. @Sethro why not just use RPM?

If it's a Morse MV2, you should be able to source a new spring for it. Same thing happened on my dad's Malibu last summer.

Same here on the G10 plate and reflex release. Dead nutz on center hole.