Razorskier1

Yep -- wave with my right hand. Unless of course it isn't functioning, in which case I wave with my left. If neither hand works, then the boat knows to hurry back.

If it works, use it. There are great skiers out there who two-hand, and great skiers who one hand. Find what works for you.

Early edge change matters a lot and JD has some good advice there. Start doing that at 28 and 32 -- push it earlier and earlier. I also agree with bmiller and OB. I ski a ton of 32s, and optimally you should be 100% (or dang close to it) at 32 before beating yourself up at 35, in my view. If you can make yourself do that, then 35 will come more quickly, and with less risk of injury. The one thing I notice most at 35 and 38 is that I need to slow down, like OB says. It's odd, but I can feel really slow going through the gate, and my pass is terrific -- early to the ball, tight line, easy transitions. I can run 35 with a fast gate too, but it feels like a scramble the whole way down -- sort of turn, pull, turn, pull, turn, pull. That is not the way to run 35. Relax and slow down. Contrary to what we all think, you don't need to fly through the gates, and you don't need a long pull. Start as wide as you can, turn in slow and easy, and keep your handle with you as you edge change off the second wake.

that epoxy putty is really good stuff. I have an old EP that I use as a barefoot step ski. About 15 years ago I stepped off and footed one way, then the driver said I should deep up and he would pull me back to the ski. The tail of the ski, behind the rear toe, got hit by the outboard skeg. Nearly sheared it off. Got some putty, put it in and cured it. I still have that old EP today, and it works just fine for what it gets used for!

I called -- the owner wanted $37k and Son said the boat had about 100 hours. Nice boat to be sure, but I couldn't swallow that pricetag.

OK, for the first time all season I have logged 7 straight days in the course. In MN you take every good day because you never know if you'll get another. At this point it is possible that a rainstorm would be of use. Last two days ran tournament sets first set up to 38, then back down to 35 and 32 after a couple 38s. Second set was the same both days. 28, 32, five 35s and a 32 to finish it off. Finally feel like I got my gate back at 38 today, so I'm pumped. Friday's forecast? Calm wind becoming SSE at 5. Looks like another 6:30AM splashdown. Time to start running 38, not just starting it!

An intervention? Possibly. I'm lucky to have great ski partners willing to put up with my abnormally long sets. Fixed my public lake course this morning with my wife, then ran one set: 22, 28, 32, 35, two shots at 38 (inside the 3 ball on the second one -- darn it!), another 35, then six straight 32s, another 35 and a 32 to finish it off. Weather looks good tomorrow -- either an intervention occurs or I'm skiing two sets in the morning!

I'm not smart enough to screw around with this stuff. With me it goes like this. Step one, buy Razor. Step two, ask Volker to set the fin to the "factory" shortline settings because I don't have a caliper and don't know what I'm doing. Step three, ski on it that way in all kinds of water and all kinds of weather. Step four, work on my position on the ski, width at pull out, and handle control. The season is short around here -- I don't have time to waste trying new fin settings when I could be spending endless hours trying to figure out how to get my shoulders moving with my ski, or how to keep my handle low and tight off the second wake!

Summer sucked until about Friday. In the last five days, I've skied over 130 passes over the course of 12 sets. I want more. I think I'm addicted.

I run C2 on all boats and run the same scores on all. Don't over think it.

He runs 41 early. Crazy! He seems to take a lot of angle pretty early, but is still able to maintain outbound off the second wake. For most of us if we take that much angle early we lose it to the boat off the second wake. Kid has a great understanding of using load and angle correctly. Is it too much for a baller to ask than to just feel that good one time?

Had a message from thager in my inbox. It appears he was first to the line. My wife is now happy that I have gotten one more ski-related item out of the laundry room!

OK, this wasn't a tournament excuse, but this morning I was at 35 off heading to the 5 ball. Looked up and there were four geese, two just inside the ball, two at the ball. Now, I don't like Canada Geese (crap factories) any better than the next guy, so I had to choose. (A) try to take out two with the ski and two with the rope, (B) just try to get the ones with the rope and then let go before you crash or © go really wide and lift up the handle, sparing the wildlife. I chose C, which meant that I did not complete the pass!

Kelvin -- thanks for the photos -- very cool!

I have a 68 inch Fisher Orange that I put on the shelf last fall when I got my new Razor. Two of the inserts need to be re done (I have filled them but not put the inserts back in). It would be a perfect candidate for someone who uses velcro bindings. Ski is in good shape and still skied well -- I just didn't want to deal with the inserts. First $50 gets it, plus shipping to your location.

I agree with what you said on handle control and body position. The ski doesn't need you to work very hard for it to do exactly what you want it to do. Just stand tall over the bindings, lean, maintain light handle pressure and the ski does the rest.

Not sure how he does it, but it's great to have another young guy coming up through the ranks with such unbelievable determination and skiing ability -- our sport needs a regular injection of quality youth.

RD -- you don't want the MOP. That leads to the WOS (walk of shame, as my son calls it). MS -- I'm sure you'd make the 22, and positive that you'd love the hump!

Horton -- thanks for the pictures. I learn something every time I see pictures or video of great skiers. The pictures of Nate Smith approaching the wake from the 3/5 side, in the wake, and exiting the second wake through the edge change are particularly helpful.

JD -- the ski is fast enough that what it really needs is for you to get the edge changed early and then just ride it out wide to the ball and back in on the inside edge. I can run the passes holding the pull longer, but my speed at the ball is way faster than I want it to be. When I switch edges right off the second wake, almost "popping" up, I find that I am both slower at the ball and in the right position when I leave the ball. Now if we could just get it to stop blowing and raining!

I agree with Shane. Sometimes in the pursuit of a buoy count we try to run the next line b4 we really have the line we are on perfect. In WSM this month I think it was Forrester who said run the pass until it's perfect b4 trying the next one. I probably over-do this. For example, at the end of last fall I was running 35 90% of the time and 38 about 50%. The majority of my practice time, however, was spent at 32 and 35. This spring (which has been crap in MN!), I am certain that I ran well over 200 32 off passes before I shortened to 35 again. Probably a little more conservative than I need to be, but I like the pass to be perfect before I shorten. I just started running 35s about 10 days ago. I've now run around 20. Thus far I have looked at 38 only twice, but have been to the 5 ball both times. So maybe it isn't that you run 38 like you run 35, but I do think that it is more similar than different, and that perfecting my 35 is the key to running my 38. Hopefully another few weeks and I will be able to see that theory work!

I know a skier who has skied both speeds (M4) and consistently runs 38 off. I asked him once if going down to 34 helped his scores. He said he is within a ball or two at either speed. That isn't true for me!

OB, I think that's right about your 38. I used to get amped up and lean harder, turn harder, etc. It sucked! Now I just try to relax, ski it light, and let the ski finish on it's natural rythm. Not like I make them every time, but I sure feel better about them now than I did before. Seems mostly a state of mind to me. If you can run 35 with consistency, you just have to get your head to believe that you should run 38 just like 35. Someone who skied with Mapple last year told me the best advice he gave them was to ski your first pass with the same intensity as your last. I find that helps.

I like skiing 34mph. 36 was fun, and is still sometimes a fun training speed, but 34 is much easier on my body, especially when I make a mistake. There is obviously a lot of personal preference here. I think if a M3 skier wants 36, let them ski it. Otherwise, go ahead and make MM a 36mph division. Choice is good, within reasonable limits. As an M4 skier, I want nothing to do with 36mph tournament skiing!

I find that the less amped I get about running 38 the better I ski the pass. It seems that 38 is the first line length where timing matters a lot. For the pass to run well, I need the right rythm, not more speed at the wakes. If anything I would say that when I run it right, it feels like I am slower at the wakes, but that my speed is more constant through the ball (instead of the fast-slow rythm). I also find that if I do it right, I can still be on the backside of the ball. However, when I'm not, the best thing to do is just relax and run the pass with a later rythm instead of trying to get it back by overturning (which is my natural tendency at the 28-35 line lengths). I have played with both "intermediate line lengths" and taking a tenth or two out of the boat speed when working on a new length. I think I prefer the intermediate length. Slowing the boat down creates issues with rythm and timing that I don't like dealing with. I have the switch segment with the clip still in my boat, so if I want to do an intermediate length, I just take the line off the pylon and clip it into the switch segment.