BK

@Drago It was 2007. ZO was standard starting with 2008 196’s.

@Jody_Seal those fuel stations you see are nothing more than real estate grabs and ways to sell the more profitable items they carry. Gasoline is one of the least profitable…it’s just a way to get customers to stop, gas up, and buy big gulps and taquitos. It’s about the land and getting people in the store. And why gasoline? Because of massive population growth in those areas and the need for gas (the carrot to stop) is strong, and will be for a long time.

@Bruce_Butterfield you might want to research it a little more. Companies are driving demand for EV (fleet) in a big way. Amazon, Hertz and AT&T to name a few. It’s pretty simple to see why fleet vehicles would be a smart investment when their fuel economy would improve 4-7x compared to their current fleet vehicles. Of course government incentives can play a role but the economics make sense. Craziness like Washington state doesn’t have anything to do with these companies’ massive orders…they were in play long before that ploy.

@wettek69 the average miles driven in Australia is 36.4km. In the US it’s 64km. Most people in Australia actually do drive the way you think they don’t. 70% actually. https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/car-insurance/research/average-kilometers-driven.html

Traditional automakers have been getting them for decades: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-toyota-mazda-jobs-factbox-idUSKBN1AK2BI

@liquid d Ford did that years ago with their Ecoboost six cylinders. There was an option so that when you floored it, the sound of a V8 under acceleration would come through your speakers. Maybe they’ll add that to the Mach-E or their F-150 Lightning.

Hey fellas, been gone from AWSA for four year but just rejoined! Super excited to ski some tournaments, maybe watch a video or two What’d I miss!?

@skierjp You say he should show up early? He showed up a day early. And then a tournament official told him when to arrive the following day. And then once again, he showed up early. Congrats on your large nationals. Maybe you could work on your "welcoming into the sport" skills, and reading comprehension while you're at it.

The bummer of this thread is that the event, the Junior World Water Ski Championships, got no play here until there was word of a controversy. The event started last Thursday and this is the first thread on it, and it was posted Sunday night, after it ended. Congrats to Canada and all of the teams. 74 points (7472, 7406, 7398) separated 2nd-4th, and 218 was the difference in 1st-4th. So Ed, our democracy is safe.

Look for cracks or wear on the switches you have. And make sure you're properly threading the jump rope through the switch.

@sgregg I'm on a private lake and I have a 196. I can surf with a driver and an 80 lb ballast. I run as close to the gates (middle) as possible. But restrict me because I'm "surfing"? A 200 at trick speed with a driver and pinner pushes a bigger wake.

@klindy Do you even need to use X to get arbitrary groupings? Rule 13.03 implies (to me) that you don't. I know the CASS tournaments in the Austin area used to group based on ability instead of age. I wasn't a fan because my buddies were in one group, while I was on another dock standing three feet taller than my competition and getting my butt kicked by juniors. I even used to talk smack and it didn't help.

Instead of beating the crap out of this horse again, why not resurrect answers that are already there? Class X. You can sanction a Class C tournament with ability based groupings. 95% of skiers don't need it to be an R/L, and if the argument is better officiating/driving...the beauty is that you get to organize it with whomever you want on the towers and in the boat. After the format gets some traction, it could (hopefully) be a standard option for tournaments. Get after it! http://www.ballofspray.com/forum#/discussion/comment/189706

I'm one that's not a fan of d1/d2 idea. I'd be ok with lowering the barrier to include Level 7, but splitting 100 (or whatever) skiers into two groups and giving awards to 1st-5th, and 51st-55th is lame to me. 6th-50th outperform the d2 top skiers and the 51st-55th go home with nationals' medals? Sand-bagging is another concern I have, and it will happen. The difference at Nationals when they split M4 into two lakes is different than d1/d2; they still only gave awards to the top 5 placements. I've skied four nationals and had no chance at the podium. I was happy to compete with friends and those closest to my ranking. And for me, that along with being at the Nationals with everyone else was the fun of it. The US Open was a huge bonus, too...but that's another thread. Collegiate skiing is smaller than it was prior to the addition of d1/d2, at least it is in the scr. I'm not saying that it's smaller because of the addition of d1/d2, but you can't say it grew the sport in the scr. Qualifying for Nationals is a trophy in itself, give qualifiers a certificate or something. Lower level skiers should think of State and Regionals as an achievement, and a stepping stone to Nationals. I'm not saying we don't need some changes, but I don't feel d1/d2 is the way to go. I think @Kelvin‌ is onto something with allowing officials that aren't qualified to compete at the Nationals in exchange for officiating. Maybe with that carrot, you could drop some or all of the hotel requirements for those officials. Again, I'm good with lowering the barrier to include some or all of Level 7, but a d1/d2 "trophies for all" would cause me to rethink skiing in awsa tournaments. (Edit: rethink skiing in awsa Nationals tournaments)

@swc5150‌ waaay too early to make the claim that this is representative of the market. Only 50ish votes total, and it'd be important to know how many have actually bought a new boat in the near term (2010?) market to know whether or not they're a qualified segment (REAL typical buyers, not promos, or complainers and tire kickers...no offense meant). It's silly to get so worked up about it. The market will dictate what the co's do, not this thread. And the co's will adjust accordingly. Buy new if the deal suits you, or buy used. The Austin boat show had two Prostars, not only the one @ToddL‌ mentioned that started the discussion. And the one not mentioned was $8K less than what Todd showed. But that wouldn't be as controversial to show would it? I was less impressed about the stickers, because I know that's not what you'll pay...and was much more impressed that this sole dealer (Boat Town) brought TWO Prostars; I haven't seen that at the Austin show in years. Good for them, and us!