andjules

The Radar sequence plate also fits, and apparently works with HRT.

I'm only 175-180 (on a 5'7" frame) and I'm noticing a difference too. At least I think I am... the obvious factor that's difficult for any of us to isolate is how with each successive time on ZO, are we — consciously or sub-consciously — learning to adjust to it. I think the Nautique I usually ski behind is a 2014. A couple of weeks ago I had a run behind a 2019 and it seemed much softer. A few years back I took a bunch of sets behind a 2012 and it seemed a lot harsher than what I was used to. Granted, each of those boats were on different lakes with different water.

I think it depends on a little on what you're working on, and what your common faults are. I tend to rush the turn, so at the apex, I try to look down the buoy line for a moment. I've seen some skiers who load too hard and a coach has told them to look at the pylon and it's helped them. However, for most -15 offers learning the course (and learning to lean aggressively enough), I still think the old fashioned advice of picking a tree across the lake and pulling for it works. For me, I ski best if — after I complete the turn — I try to look 20' early and 5' wide of the next ball. When I do that (not often enough!), some part of my brain that I'm not aware of magically gets my body to do things that help me get there.

I think there are two aspects to this: 1. shape (+ size) 2. stiffness/materials 1. I think there is a benefit to being on a less-than-pro shape/model when you are a less-than-deep-shortline skier. As others have stated, a ski one-or-two levels down in the product lineup will be more stable, forgiving, and ride better in the turns at slower speeds. As @Stevie Boy hints at, your boat speed affects things, so when you see a manufacturer's size chart, if your weight is near the upper limit for a particular size of ski that is designed for 32-34, you might want to consider sizing up a little if you are going to be skiing at 28-30. 2. Despite all that, if you are skiing the course, in my opinion, you still want a relatively stiff ski made with good materials. Lower-level skis are often made with little or no carbon fibre and cheaper materials to save money. If — as is becoming more common these days — the ski you're looking at comes in two versions, one with cheaper materials/layup and one with stiffer, choose the stiffer one. When you finish your turn and need to get to the next buoy in a rush, you'll be thankful. Stiffer, lighter skis (combined with good technique) take a lot less effort to generate speed.

2 sets, 5-8 passes, 30 minutes min rest (90 minutes seems to work better for me, but I'm not as fit as I should be).

Is it just me, or does it feel weird to give @ROBOT a 'like'? Does it get a warm cylon-glow and sense-of-virtual-belonging when it sees its 'likes' & 'awesomes'?

As a marketing guy, I think this is a bold departure from the other companies' promo videos, and I love it. We're such a small sport, and a new ski is a significant purchase, so going full-geek (vs other companies where you're lucky to get 30s of design-thinking) with a detailed, passionate argument for a distinct thesis (combining the best of low-riding and low-drag characteristics) has some risks (both boring the viewer and giving all your design tricks to the competition), but I think it works, because it's structured like a newspaper article (the opposite of a good murder mystery): the core thesis is in the intro, so if you don't watch the whole thing (and even for me, 10 minutes of ski geeking is a lot), you still leave with the main ideas. Bravo.

I'm with @Than_Bogan... -22. As a marketing guy, if you've got a sport that's struggling to grow, the last thing you want to do is make common terms more-and-more exclusive, and make the budding enthusiast feel like they'll never be part of the club. -38 is deep or extreme shortline. The day you run your top speed -15 pass, and they pull you into -22, you feel like a king/queen. Enjoy it. You're part of the club. Get addicted.

My 2¢: I think both @eleeski and @klindy's comments point at the possibility there is a kind of 'competency bias' that may be working against you in the scoring. We've seen great trickers and we recognize the body mechanics of a clean and properly done trick. The second skier stands tall, confident, and advances himself on the boat with his rope leg, just as you'd teach the trick. Surely a good judge is watching for 90º on the ski, but everything about the skier's movements suggests he's going to do the trick properly, so I'm inclined to "see it". My guess is that if you start keeping your shoulders higher, and more importantly, pull your rope leg in with a more pronounced movement, you'll get credit more often even if you don't turn your ski any more than you do now, and it may prove a kind of bias. But if you advance yourself more on the boat with your rope leg, it's also probable that you'll find it an easier trick to complete.

@eyepeeler while true Nate had an injury, he is coming back: he skied - and won - last weekend at the Canadian Open.

@Horton you may have misunderstood me; I don't disagree: any kind of outboard rig is an oddity to us here; we're a pretty specialized community. I think @DynaSkiPete's ideas are interesting to a level of skier/towed-sports enthusiast broader and below most commenters on this thread; I think both sides of the conversation would do well to keep that in mind and try to have fun thinking in that box and outside ours.

There's a wild disconnect in this thread. @DynaSkiPete unfortunately you're mostly talking to folks in the top 2-3% of this sport, who want to train with the exact parameters they will be facing in competition, the exact parameters that their peers ski on. They're telling you, of course, that Mercury Speed Control on an outboard ain't gonna do that. Everybody else remember that at some point you were a 15-off-er. Some of you grew up in the club/private lake environment (in which case, this thread ain't for you) but a lot of us grew up on public lakes, doing a range of towed sports. In fact the gang I skied with up until the last couple of years had a few showskiers as well. If you don't compete, and ski anywhere up to -28/-32 off on public water, your life won't fall apart from not being on zero off. A little experimentation is good for the community. I just had my first set behind a 2019 ski nautique. It was wonderful, but the list price in Canada is very close to what a nice cottage by the lake cost two decades ago. If that's the only possible future of waterskiing, we are in trouble.

@Chef23 I sometimes wonder if putting a 60lb kid on a 40" trick-ski is very different than teaching a 160lb adult on whatever single 42" ski is lying around. On that note, maybe @eleeski is on to something re: clocking some time getting comfortable on a big ol' wakeboard.

Radical (and unproven) idea: assuming she's a comfortable slalom skier & you've got the equipment handy, I'd recommend training half the set on two, half a set on one. As others have hinted, it takes a while to build much of a repertoire on one, and progress goes faster on two. That being said, the skills/body position to ride solidly and comfortably on one is what you're ultimately after.

Maybe just move it forward .003"... especially if the temperature drops 10º.

Speedy recovery. The nice thing about Muskoka is even if you can't ski, just sitting on a dock watching a sunset with a cold beer makes the whole world better.

Connelly seems to be going all-in on Europe.

@RINLE you're right it's not just a ski boat issue. It's a whole "lake life" issue. 50 years ago, the percent of household income required to own a boat, trailer, and maybe even a cabin by the lake... well, it didn't require you to be a C-level executive.

+1 for soft waterski bag inside soft alpine/snowboard bag cheap alpine ski bag (fits towel, rope, shorty, vest) Took this setup to Florida, Portugal, Spain & Thailand. No issues.

It's interesting how many people on this thread (myself included) would like a Ford ski tug, not a Mercedes. And yet, over the last 20-30 years, the ski/wake/surf boat market moved way upscale, and every time a company has tried to make something with a little lower price, with a little simpler finishing or a little broader audience — from (wakeboarding's) Wake Tractor to the Moomba Outbacks to even the slightly-less Centurion Carbon — we didn't show up with our chequebooks (at least not enough of us did to make a difference). So we're left with this funny two-tier market, where the (financial) elite continue to buy the Mercedes (uninterested in paying a little less to get a little less), and the rest of us understandably troll the used market for the best affordable compromise to suit our needs. We tend to discuss characteristics that help one boat ever-so-slightly stand out from its competitors (subtle tracking improvements, hole shot, response curves), but if all the manufacturers went bankrupt tomorrow, and all the boats made in the last 5 years were confiscated and destroyed, it would take our sport about 5 seconds to adapt to simpler, older times, and 50% of us would probably be relieved (and the other 50% would eventually come around).

@Chef23, just to be clear, I agree — for most skiers —22 off is fine, but my point is that 28 off starts to get unforgiving of a long pull, in my experience.

I agree with @Chef23 right up to the "once you can run 28 and 32 off at your max speed" part. Indeed, 35 off is unforgiving of a late transition, but I think 22 off is the last line length that would work if you're pulling through the white wash. I had a long and unhappy relationship with 28 off until I started getting disciplined about an earlier transition. Then we fell in love, mostly.

But only if you have clear and consistent answers to these questions: What is the statistical formula and threshold for "unexpectedly high scores"? What, exactly, will be scrutinized, and how, exactly? Who will be responsible for the work outlined in the answer for #2? Sure, a significant, meaningful statistical deviation may beg for something like a) a proper post-hoc course survey b) assuming video from an appropriate perspective is available, verifying segment times from video to ensure that the boat was doing what ZO said the boat was doing but unless c) the governing body is i) going to fund and do all the work, with no expectation of compensation, with the only goal of protecting the reputation of skiing as well-governed competitive sport, and ii) treat the site-host with great respect, with any doubt going in the site-host's favour, and never accusing the site-host of malicious intention unless it can be fully proven... all of the above can be expected to hurt the sport of competitive waterskiing.

I have heard Europeans make occasional criticisms about generous driving at some of their local tournaments, but I've never heard any one cast doubt on the Botas' site, nor Ricardo Botas' driving (I don't know if he was driving these passes or not; but he's usually behind the wheel at important Intl events hosted in Europe). The guy has built a great site and a great reputation.

Before returning it, the other thing to try is lowering your boat speed. If (for example) you ski at 34mph, try 31 or 32. You may find the 67 sits a little deeper in the turn and turns more naturally.