Dusty

My ski partners suggest that at -35 and shorter, if your eyes can look down the 1-3-5 or the 2-4-6 buoy lines at the turn, you already missed it. Commitment to the turn gets crucial. YMMV...

Slack didn't seem that bad but slack is caused by riding a ski faster than the boat. I think the ski needs to settle in or remain carving a bit longer.

Q.- Was there a kind of threshold date that skis began using particular types of cores that are more resistant to heat degradation? Reason I ask has to do with a Duvall that I owned- Didn't hold up for a whole season- several skiers suggested it was due exposure to sun/heat- it was nearly unskiable by September. Much softer flexing than new. Maybe some other factor was in play?

Haven't skied on an A2 or Strada- owned a System 8... we did not play well together. I bet either of those two skis would be a huge improvement.

Has opposite effect on me- makes me sleepy.

I recall a discussion about the flags a while back. Some folks involved early on in promoting the flag rule later regretted the way the rule was written and implemented- they said in retrospect that drawing attention to the boat and not the downed skier was the wrong (more unsafe) way to go. Having nearly been run over by another boat, while the towboat (w/the orange flag waving like mad) returned for me- I suspect they are right.

What @Ilivetoski said. If you are getting slack at the buoy you are pulling too long, making a 'lazy; (slow) edge change, or reaching too soon, or maybe a combination of the above. -28 takes a more intense pull for a shorter amount of time. If you are pulling through the white water after the wakes you are definitely pulling too long. Commitment to edge change and handle control are big keys for me.

Lot of good advice posted here- what works best for me was mentioned by @OB and @ShaneH. Look across at the next ball out in front of the boat- keeps my eyes level and head up and I can see what angle I need. (You don't need it all- (41 off kind of angle), you need just enough...) I try to imagine skiing to a 'point' about one boat length before the next ball?... ); and dropping the outside hand to the back pocket keeps my upper body countered, gives a better release and shapes the turn easier, and without excess deceleration. For me, a lot of other good things seem to kind of follow from those two keys.

Have owned a '93 PS, and a '98 196. Both great boats. Nautique will driver easier in the course, ahve a little smaller and softer wakes, less (like none) side spray, and if it matters, a little better in rougher water. If you need to dance around docks etc, or have tight turns or set up, the MC will be a bit nimbler. Both with PP will be nice forgiving rides.

Ski (and towboat) rides higher- sort of an amplified salt water effect. If you want a set-up JUST for those conditions- what @AB recommended ought to work to keep the tail from blowing out. The engineer types could explain the 'compression' (not really but can't think of the right word...water is sort of difficult to compress...) effect of the ski lifting and skiing 'shallower'.

When asked if bears are dangerous- an old timer said- "depends on the bear"- I think boats can be individual as well. Hull hooks, prop choice, size and pitch, interior load distribution, water depth and temperature all make a difference. YMMV

Had to leave early for my nap but I hear @richarddoane might be our newest senior slalom driver?

I think can recall an old article about how the America's Cup, 12 meter yacht racers had gone to a 'textured' (?) hull to increase speed- but wasn't it like longitudinal grooves or something? Anyone?

@jlittle- -38 will go down just like -35 did. "you don't need it all, you just need enough"... if I might be so bold...

Hard to tell who that skier is but I have a suspicion... Must have filled his tag already...?

My partners work on binding location first, before adjusting fin from nominal stock specs... You might try moving rear binding back one hole, leaving front the same. Kind of a 1/2 hole movement at first. If it improves the on-side turn a bit move the front too, and see where that goes? Maybe then fine tune the fin specs.

Not really sure what sort of 'curve' it is but I do know that adding parametrically, a straight path (down course path of boat) with a circular path (rotation of skier around the pylon) you get an approximation of a sine curve. I have a video of Marcus Brown and some others taken from a helocopter reasonably direct overhead and you can defintely see the sine curve-like shape of skier paths. Even directly behind the boat, you are getting dragged boat speed down course- and shouldn't the smallest change in direction (straightest path) be there at centerline?

Best advice? Maybe. There are a LOT of variables as mentioned. So to get a baseline, you are going to need a LOT of data... and probably a way to toss out anomolies like hitting a carp/gator/whatever, ski delam., or suddenly discovering your fin block is loose or something benign like that...

Not being very flexible, I work on thinking about ankle bend, and standing such that my COM (about 2" behind the navel) is centered up over the spot midway between the balls of my feet- or thereabouts...

They tell me cold fusion is only a decade away- THEN we'll see some torque! Anyone else hearing those voices?... :-)

Check the history for why the gates are where they are now... At one time the course dimensions had the gates the same distance from one ball as one is from two. They 'studied' where skiers were crossing the wakes between one and two etc, and came up with an average (about 88 feet) we use now. I think they made some adjustments on the gate/boat guide width in there too. I'd bet Ed Brazil and others can better clarify those changes?

Red/green/yellow= stop/go/go faster... just like driving!

I think it will work out well-if for no other reason, there will be a real-time sounding board, or an immediately available reality check for USAWS. My only reservation? In my line of work, "partnership" means- 'you guys do the heavy lifting and we'll take the credit...'

Unless time starts running backward, I will probably never run it, but one of my ski partners maintains- "at -35, if you get to a point where you can see down the buoy line, you already missed it". Seems reasonable, given the geometry involved?

Whatever buoy I use, I keep them inflated at min. diameter, and I keep them pulled down to at or below minimum height exposed for practice and just at legal minimums for tournaments. Seems to keep the injuries down a bit, and doesn't affect scores much at all.