Ilivetoski

@Chef23 when did you decide it was a good idea to introduce them to the buoys? Pretty much as soon as they were comfortable riding around on a slalom, or did you get doing some wake crossings first?

@eyepeeler i agree, but I’m trying to hide him as much as possible from the cost of skiing until he really decides he loves it. He’s a college student, his family isn’t poor but they aren’t going to be giving him money for water ski coaching. When he starts running the course I’m just going to give him my old HO V type along with some gear that I’ve outgrown... we have a number of 35 & 38 off skiers at my lake so I would hope we can teach him to run the course at 28 mph

He’s been using a slalom that was part of an old pair of Connelly combo skis. His dad has an old Connelly HP that he is going to start skiing on, ive seen it one time and if I had to guess I think it’s a 67... he weighs about 130 so that’s a plenty big enough ski. He’s on a family vacation right now, I think he sent me 7 texts yesterday asking when we could ski next/ telling me when he gets back in town he wants to ski the next day... He’s got the bug

@DynaSkiPete if a boat pulls me at a constant speed of perfectly 36.0 MPH the whole way down the course, that is not a good pull.

Any tips on the best way to teach someone to run the course? I have taken my friend skiing twice, once at the private lake where he got up on a slalom and made some good wake crossings. Then I took him to the public lake so he would have more time to ski without having to drop, he is a natural and doing very well for skiing a total of 4 sets. He is falling in love with it, wants to learn to run the course, and is already talking about skiing tournaments within 2 years. I have some ideas, but I’ve never really taught someone to run a course before... what are the most important things for him to focus on? Also, if I’m coaching someone it’s almost always in the 22-32 off range, so I don’t have a lot of experience explaining things to someone new, is the best way to just break it down as simply as possible?

Wood stringers aren’t all bad.. better for noise and vibration, if they have been replaced since it was a new boat you’re good for another 25 years....

Use PP... don’t upgrade to Stargazer or Zbox IMO unless you have a very long setup

Why have twin 150s? Why not just 1 300? 2 engines is more cost, an extra engine to have a problem with, extra fuel, extra weight

@DynaSkiPete you can look at a boat and tell pretty quickly how the boat was treated. If everything on the boat has gone to hell in a few years, I would think that care would translate to poor engine care. If it’s a 20 year old boat that’s has obviously been cared for, I would bet the engine has been cared for. My brother bought a used rental car. Yeah people can be tough on them, but those rental companies won’t let a car off the lot if it needs any maintenance. They won’t let a car off the lot if it’s 3 miles over due for an oil change. I have actually had them tell me I couldn’t get a particular car because it was 3 miles past due for an oil change. I don’t know one person who will get an oil change when they are 3 miles past due. If I could have found the car I bought recently on a rental dealer lot, I would have bought it.

I’m not a TC by any measure, but I am 99.99% sure surveying is the only way or I would have seen a lot less of it

Note- I could be totally mistaken I just think I’ve read that on here

@BraceMaker if I’m not mistaken I believe that they have a contract... if I had to take a guess idk that O’Brien would renew that. Unless somehow some way that’s driving combo sales, I don’t see the upside for them

We own a 1998 196 and our last boat was a 2004 LXi. The LXi is a much better boat, the 196 skis good but the spray is bigger, and it doesn’t drive as good. I have driven 4 or 5 of the 98-01 196 and not one of them has been a really good driving boat. They move around a lot more than the later edition of the 196

@Horton but it’s hard to create speed, without creating load. And the way I read what you said, it sounds like you need speed to get an early edge change, but if you load too much, you end up pulling long, how do you balance these two?

How voluntary is the edge change? I have read both that you are pretty much in control and I have read that it’s really not up to the skier. Also what would cause a skier to have a late edge change on one side of the course and have a good edge change on the opposite side?

From what I understand the cut off is used for people who are not level 8. If you’re level 7, and the cut off is 96 buoys, and before the cut off deadline you ski 96.5 buoys you have qualified. Level 8 automatically qualify

Senate would probably work better at 32... Bump it up to 34 and the Vapor will be a completely different animal

@scotchipman the boat is high off the water, and the pylon is pretty tall...

Was able to ski the boat Friday, Saturday, and today... The boat skis just fine. IMO no better or worse than a 200. Wake was pretty much the same. The pull felt the same as the 2010 200 I ski behind weekly. The drivers said that the boat would rock side to side when I got to 32, and I don’t pull hard so that was interesting. From what I heard it tracked good. Still not a fan of how the boat looks but I’m happy to ski behind one. I use B3 on all the boats I’ve skied behind this year which is our 2012 carbon pro, a 2010 200 and a 1998 196 w Zbox, I used B3 on the Nautique and didn’t think I needed to change anything

Depends on the boat but typically B3

@skierjp you cannot compare the car and boat market. Virtually everyone is, at some point in their life, in the market for a car. When that Corvette gets up to $100K, the people who can afford that level of car consider purchasing it. I guarantee the people who used to be able to afford a corvette when they were $50K are in fact complaining about the price of a new ZR-1. I’m not too sure what your point is about the price of these these things. Yeah you can spend $90K on a pickup but you can spend $30K also... the ski boat market is all F-250 King Ranches that will sell for that $90K... there’s no F-150 base model for $30K

@swc5150 They haven’t always been expensive premium products... a guy I know works at the Ford truck plant in Louisville on the assembly line. Ford pays well for factory jobs, but he isn’t a wealthy person by any metric. He bought a ‘99 Nautique brand new back in the day. No way he could even consider upgrading to an 8 year old 2010 model now bc of price.

@scorban2 as someone who will be entering the used market for a boat within the next 7-8 years as a first time buyer I could not disagree more with your post. Look at the prices of used boats. It is 2018. You cannot find a 2010 big 3 for under $35K. Maybe if it has 1500 hours it will be cheaper, but I don’t care how well it was maintained, 1500 hours is a ton of use. If I am LUCKY I will be able to afford a 2010 Nautique 200 (and I will be willing to spend more than most 30 year olds would be on a boat). More likely than not I will end up in a 2008-2009 196. The best argument I think you can make is the value these boats hold. But that being said, you still have to make the payments. If I took out a loan for a boat and agreed to make $500-$600/month payment, sure when I go to sell the boat it might be worth pretty close to what I paid, but I still have to make that payment. And not many people can afford to throw down north of $30K cash on a boat. Tournament water skiers are some of the wealthiest people I know (on average) and even most them take loans out. The fact that I don’t know in 7 years if I will be able to afford a 2010 model year boat is a problem.

I am. Very good ski. struggled with the offside, put my fin & boots at @Luzz numbers and the ski came alive

$50K would be great. If you could buy new for $50K, you could probably get a 6 or 7 year old boat for around $20-$25K. Could you imagine finding a 2012 boat without a crap ton of hours for $20-$25K?? Quick look on SIA most boats in that 2010-2012 are closer to $40K