Nando

The question was mainly intended to get Adam (or one of the other techies on the site) to weigh in. Wonder if he has anything as weird as my short fin with a 0.75" tube in place of a wing that I had a bike mechanic weld up. I was young and stupid and had no idea if it would work- I just wanted to try something different. At least I didn't hurt myself...

Well, John, the allure of a super cheap UGLY shirt is almost irresistible- where do we find those?

When I took my boat to storage, I looked around at a few others and considered how much tracking fin and rudder shapes have evolved over the last several years. Conversely, the shape of the fins on our skis has changed very little. In the 80s, I tested a bunch of different shaped fins for EP and we never really found an improvement over their standard "modified D" shape. Around that time, Connelly shipped their skis with the "tournament fin". After my first set on a new Connelly, I always replaced that thing with a standard fin, with great improvement in performance (and they sent me a stock of the "regular" fins and metal, rather than plastic, wings that were a significantly different shape). Others have come up with fin designs over the years (remember EP's tubular wing? cutouts on the trailing edge? the flat-bottomed Maha and Saucier fins way back when, and, of course, carbon fins, but we're talking shape, not materials here), but nothing seems to be an improvement that gets adopted. Anyway, my question is, is there performance to be unlocked with new fin shapes? Maybe something really radical like the keels of America's Cup boats? We spend so much time tweaking our existing fins to .001s of an inch, is there a more fundamental change that could be a significant improvement?

All of the above- I ski what's virtually a private lake (no public access, only 4 homes and only 2 boats), a couple of public lakes that have a shared course, and some open water.

mmosley889, yup pretty sure it was your film. mwetskier- looks like BLP is wearing the famous Turbo shorts. They (or one of their shorties) were what everyone had to have for about a year when I first started. No enemas with them, but no padding either.

http://http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5318488.pdfHere's a patent that was issued to a buddy of mine in the '90s. He brought the prototype to a couple of pro tour events and some local tournaments. Once you got the hang of it, it was a pretty effective dynamic slalom workout and actually was kind of useful for working on technique. It really worked the same muscle groups. It was also really complicated and heavy.

Doc gave me the okay to begin working out again on Friday, so I went to the gym and did three sets- first set 20 (not maxed out, but could I have done another? doubtful), second set 13, third 9- gotta get back in shape... 5800?!? In a day or what? That's nuts! I witnessed Lucky doing one-armed ones once- not sure how many, but just messing around he did a bunch.

There's been some discussion of winterizing boats and as I was putting my ski stuff away for the season, I realized I must be much more anal retentive than normal skiers. Before I put my skis away for the winter, I: Measure and remove the fin. Remove the bindings. Clean the ski bottom.Wax the top sheet (I know, I know, but it takes about 30 seconds), fix any dings, check inserts. Clean and lubricate fin screws. Replace and re-measure the fin. Replace bindings and replace any bad binding screws. Other equipment gets a kind of going-over so it's ready when spring comes. What do others do? Oops- this was my first attempt at a poll and I left off some of the options, including "what's winter?"

The Wisconsin law used to read that a "qualified spotter" was required. Near Siren, a guy was pulling his kid through the course with only his yellow lab as a spotter. The water partrol pulled him over to issue a citation. He had a copy of the statute and told the water patrol that the dog would bark whenever the skier fell. The guy anchored his boat and rode along. When the kid fell, the dog barked and he got off without being cited, but was told the law would be changed to define a spotter as . The "competent person" language was added shortly afterward.

Even in college I drank better beer than the swill the survey asks us to rank. Gotta love the overloaded shelves in onside 135's fridge- the sag is kinda scary, a lot of fine brew could be spilled if that top shelf gives way.

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After checking out the site, I'll have to get the book- it's not just fin and ski setup, the logical explanations are helpful to understanding everything about how skis behave. Almost everything I've gotten before this on ski setup has neglected the "why" part of it.

A dive mask strap works pretty well- trim to length and attach with the regular binding screws.

@cruznski , just to echo Ed_Johnson's comments (and thanks, Ed for the reviews, these are great), I made the switch last year from Animals to a black cuff Reflex with R-style rear, primarily to free up my rear foot and hips, but also to get the control of the hard shell. The adjustment takes a bit, for sure. The main things I noticed at first were that the Reflex, by eliminating the thick sole plate of the Animal, transmits a lot more feel through the ski, which I like. It also is sensitive to how tight the buckles are- the flex of the hinged cuff is altered quite a bit by the tightness of the top buckle. Starting with it quite loose helped me adjust to the greater sensitivity of the system; I now ski with it a bit tighter, but loose enough to maintain flexibility. Likewise, the R-style rear can be fine-tuned a bit with the buckles, as has been mentioned.

For what it's worth, here's an opinion: Wiley's are extremely well crafted versions of 1970s bindings, made with the best materials they can get. Animals are the evolution of Herb O'Brien's first HO bindings. Animals generally give the control of a Wiley Pro Wrap. Neither releases easily if worn for maximum support. Animals, for my money are the better binding. (Of course, I ditched mine for Reflexes...)

Radar- style release or no release?

But EFW, I like skiing. It's good exercise, it's fun, and it lets me hang with a bunch of guys I really like. My life is pretty simple, but when I've had to quit skiing for a while, I've missed it and want to continue. Thomas, it's in- I had a huge battery of tests and my condition was not treatable without one, so it's in there and I'm done for the rest of the year. Someone suggested it was broken when I dropped my youngest off at your alma mater, but I won't blame SJU, though I think I'll be wearing purple the next time I'm up there ;) .

Thanks, guys- that's reassuring. Mine was a similar story- pulse was so low no one in the ER would believe me when I said I felt fine. My cardiologist says eight weeks without any strenuous activity, but when I asked about skiing, he kind of mentally calculated the date and said, "Well, are you a dry suit guy?" Kind of screws up my fall, but looking forward to next year.

I think Kyle actually got his after winning it. Guess I can't use my condition as an excuse for my performance this year :D

So, my season ended yesterday- I had been having fatigue issues since late July, but a physical showed nothing. Still, I was getting gassed at the end of each pass (and with any other (exercise). Doc recommended a stress test and we were going to set that up, but I was on the road and working out on equipment with heart monitors and where my pulse would normally have been 120-140, I was at around 62. Got an ECG and after a battery of tests to make sure there wasn't a cause treatable without a pacemaker, yesterday I got one (thanks Gerry Lindner, Darren Janzig, and the crew). No strenuous exercise for 8 weeks, so I guess I'm done for the year. Cardiologist, who knows skiing, said no problems getting after it next year, but are any of you guys skiing with one and have any advice?

If you are able to sink a portable with a marker buoy or some other way of finding it, I've found that it can be quicker to snap on the buoys than to install the entire thing. We just have two buoys on the end of a 4-5' long rope, slip it under the cable, and pull the guy installing the balls from one end to the other. You have to flip the rope under each diamond, but it can be pretty quick. (You also have to have a boat driver who is aware enough to stay away from where the main line is near the surface, but that's another matter.)

WBLskier, if you're able, run over to Bald Eagle Lake and check out the permanent course there. Pull up a buoy and you'll see that they use 12 ounce cups filled with concrete as counterweights and simply run them through a loop attached to the buoy. This allows movement and when the water fluctuates, it self-corrects. I believe the anchors there are screw anchors in the bottom. This method was used at a bunch of courses around your area. WBL is generally not too deep, so installing through the ice is a good way to go. If the bottom is mucky, we've used concrete anchors molded in highway cones- they go in straight and the shape helps them stay in- they need to be heavy enough, though. Screw anchors through the ice are possible, but it requires a long pipe to drive them. If it's a sandy bottom, they are the way to go, though.

Thanks OB1.

...and it certainly looks better!

I still ski occasionally with a couple of the guys from my experience, but a few bad apples...