Dusty

Am in favor of "F" classes and getting new skiers involved- and until late, have gone out of my way to greet and mentor potential skiers as participating officials. My issue with some of the rule changes and technology type solutions, is that it adds complexity for little added benefit- and complexity increases costs, and tends to discourage new people. But... Q.- Maybe my sampling is in error- going back to say 2000, are Regional and National skier entries going up, down, or steady? i.e., In 1996, Western Regionals had over 120 M3 slalom skiers- most of them are (M5?) now. I didn't see 120 M3 (or M5) skiers at the most recent (2012) I attended. I know there are other factors--- just wondering...

Really? Seriously?

Technology is like clutter- it reproduces somehow to fill any available space. The 'trickle down' from R's will be much more than that soon enough. Someone will have to buy, install, maintain and train the officials at every site, at every tournament. I suspect we ought to be ready to start paying maybe $120+ per head to enter a three round "C" slalom tournament. Not going to be so family friendly when mom, pop and two kids need $500 for entry fees... missing gates is going to be pricey entertainment!

What Chef23 said. I have participated in both. At its onset, I felt INT had some issues with providing quality rides- I think that has become a non-factor. In addition to the above remarks, if any family members are wake boarders/knee boarders et al- INT has events they will be able to enter and have fun. Most AWSA tournaments these days are not 3 event, and tricks and jump are not an area that novices are likely to want to try- the frustration level in slalom is high enough!

Re; review periods- I vote no!- If it takes longer than the skier is allowed on the drop, they should get credit for them, and be able to continue. Sitting in the water getting cold or becoming gator bait, waiting for the gate dithering is B.S. and affects skier performance negatively and without reason. We call it waterskiing- not water-treading or water-logging, or water-waiting, but I guess we could change the name...! :-)

Uh- (I have missed my gates on opener and other times too for that matter,) Not in favor of the rule change. I'll go with Horton on this one. Like he says, putting two judges in the towers at record capability tournaments sorts out the gate bashers pretty quickly... :-)

As long as you're careful, it can go any of several places. i prefer it at the pylon end of the running line so that it doesn't get removed and lost or confuse the rope monkey when swapping handles... :-)

>700 (by at least factor of 2) but if we are talking boat gas- about a gallon a set, give or take, depending on engine displ./hp...

A ski buddy maintains that a perfect one hand is arguably better than a perfect two hand gate- BUT, I have seen the one-hand create some issues for some skiers. For many, a pretty good two-hand is more consistent and 'better', than an inefficient, or ill-timed one-hand.

Defintely agree with Shane. Start at stock settings for fin and bindings- (I think no wing is fine at 32 mph...) I am LFF- when my ski overturns at 2 and 4 it is normally from 'being lazy' after my stronger cut, letting the handle out, and allowing my upper body to move forward onto the ski. The ski is designed to turn with the forebody in the water. and it will slow down and (over)turn out from under me if I move around on it on my off-side turn. Keep the handle in until buoy line with hips over bindings, and shoulders level. The ski will turn fine. Ski back to the handle and repeat as necessary...

JJVDMZN- Re: slowing down... maybe... slower usually equals longer pulling and more tension at the buoy. Much harder to maintain position when pushing more water. As a drill to learn and maintain body position it works but it is a lot of work and it's sort of like running the course from a deep water start position. Builds 'character though...!

What Horton said! Moving around on the ski to get it to do something is not the most efficient way. To me, if your stacked position is pretty good, it could indicate one or a combination of several things are happening- wrong ski/length, incorrect binding location or tuning issues. I forget where I first heard it (and they were no doubt quoting someone else) but paraphrased- "There is one 'best' skiing position (for you), and there are two turns"... The 'weighting' changes happen kind of automatically, based on accelleration, decelleration and skier path more than anything else. Another 'nugget' various coaches have yelled at me about is that if the line is too tight at my turn apex, the ski can not finish and have usable angle. Meaning too that I did something wrong well before that turn and needed to 'create space' first. 15 off is a pass where the boat is well out in front of you at the buoy, and you are not easily getting, 'free of the boat'. Try skiing it like a shorter line pass- work hard spray to spray, and keep your ski position, with the handle in and down on a turning edge,until you are out to buoy width, then release and finish the turn. You will get space and wont need to move around on the ski much at all.

Actually- I'll change my vote- the one which has most recently impacted something 'unyielding'- car, wall, boat trailer, top of ski etc., hurts the most...

Unsure how to weigh in on this- As a judge and scorer though- it is possible to get 6 @ -39 without continuing to -41. "0 @ -41(10.25)" infers the -39 pass completed and next pass attempted for "0" score- for one of the two reasons as mentioned... Seeding score for another tournament will be the buoy count of the 6 @ 39...(114?) So- both of you are right!

I got the same reminder from Melanie. Still haven't decided. I keep looking back to the reminder- "including but not limited to"- what does that mean? what sort of second tier set of rules are we not privy to? (In criminal law, such vagueness re: prohibited conduct is intolerable.) Are open container rules universal across the country? I have reason to believe they might not be. Too- suppose a driver's license is temporarily suspended for say being in arrears for child support or other family court ordered issues- no driving for 3 years? (There ARE ways to get suspended that have nothing to do with driving an auto- at least there are in Washington.) Start as a Senior, end in 3 years with nothing. Nice! Great way to keep continuity. keep folks happy and involved, and grow the sport. As mentioned, COMMUNICATION will no doubt get better. As amply demonstrated by last year's fiasco, it could use improvement... Others note that the association appears to be run/managed in a less than financially sound fashion. Are some of the disciplines/programs (still?) losing money? New blood may get something accomplished, I truly hope so. Was it Einstein that said 'doing the same thing over and over, the same way and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity'? My folks called it "good money after bad". Lastly, I, for one, would like to see that the sort of blind-side that occurred last year can not happen again. A by-law/rule change or other should be a priority. It would demonstrate to me that USA-WS understands they should have done it better, and that we are (still) annoyed with the process, and the virtual contempt shown an entire group of the membership. The tire marks from being tossed under the bus are healing but, I still remember the impact. Maybe that new rule ought to have some language directing the removal of an officer of USA-WS found complicit in withholding information from the membership?... Viva the Darwin Waterski Association! 2013 Rant over.

I could easily pick any two already mentioned, and I am convinced "counter rotating" is misunderstood and often mis-applied. To paraphrase a ski pal- "there are probably a half dozen ways to do that- (counter rotate) and five of them are wrong"... What I take from that notion is if I am already balanced (however unlikely) over the ski then an unnatural movement with trailing arm, shoulder, hips etc, means some kind of recovery will be required, and is not a recipe for success...

Nice! One of my ski partners once said that 36/15 is just an awful run. Said he'd still had issues with it even after he was normally pretty solid through mid 36/-35 off...

A lake builder friend, (in Western Washngton,) told me there had been nearly 40 separate agencies that had to sign off or 'approve' his build. Wasn't even wetlands per se, other than the fact that is pretty much what western Washington is... :-)

+1 What Bruce, OB and Shane said. I don't think the pros are really trying to turn at 55 mph... I'm pretty sure slalom skis are not designed for that- but we should probably ask Andy, Chris Rossi, Marcus, Denny Kidder, and a host of others about that? I know that from physics, faster turns = more g's-, and water will not really 'support' those g's at useful turn radii. Also, line tension is a force- (F=ma), and that mass is us- the acceleration is in a direction towards the pylon, slowing things down?

I am aware of some very cool helicopter video of Marcus Brown and others- filmed in '07 I believe- some of it was used in one of Marcus' videos. Has good overheads, side by sides etc. Belongs to Marcus- maybe ask him for permission to use some?

Maybe AB- But i have watched my share of boat path video and two paths can be visually centered amd straight, On the surface, exactly equal- same boat and conditions, different rounds- but... I have polled groups of skiers, and their opinion of the rides did not hold them equal at all. Some subjectivity is expected, but "once is happenstance, twice coincidence, and three times a pattern?"

AB- You're not doing it wrong. From skier input, that's the way we are supposed to be doing it. Getting known as a "hard ride" tends to destroy skier confidence and scores. I think it creates tension and makes folks edgy etc. The sport is supposed to be fun isn't it?

Hey! You guys are going to have all the TC's standing at off ramps with cardboard signs,,, TC's need love too! Seriously, lots to be said for 'do it once, do it right'...

Haven't had any real success yet with it but a coach described it like bike riding- to lean right you need to kind of push the bike left first, to create the separation/balance thing

I don't think any issue with the paddle wheel is affecting 34 mph. I have seen one Malibu do exactly what you are describing- Somewhere in the set-up I recall an engine setting- that may also be one of the problems. A friend of mine changed props and it completely changed the character of the pull- same times once calibrated but way better pull. Sorry I can not recall whether he had more or less cup on the prop change. A lot of the posters on here are way more informed than I on stuff like that. One other thought- are you running a switch? Check for broken, or jammed springs, and a freely working micro switch- could you be getting an extra 20% all the time?