grab2go

@BMG73‌ It's easy to measure to 1/32" (about where my aging eyes start to fail). I clamp a 4" machinist square flush against the back of my ski with the blade touching the fin block. This gives me a reference plane with the tail of the ski. I put the end of the tape measure in the notch on the powerplate and measure back to the wide portion of the square that is flush against the tail of the ski. You just have to carry a few extra tools in your "kit" I wouldn't go back to a binding system that does not allow micro adjusting the bindings...

In the 60's my dad had some spring loaded reels that slid into some brackets that were screwed onto the boat. We had two, one mounted on the transom on either side of the outboard. They worked great for pulling kids. They would wind up 2 75' ropes in a couple of seconds. Anyone else remember seeing those?

@gator1 - You hit on something that I wish everyone was aware of - a loaded line is a very dangerous thing. It can be a slalom rope loaded by a skier or a cable or chain loaded by a piece of equipment. A heavily loaded steel cable can cut a man in half when it snaps. Lots of energy stored in loaded lines...

@ozski - Jeff Hartwig jumped 5.7m (18' 8.25") when he was over 40. Lots of old guys still jump (it's a high that's hard to get off of). See http://www.mastersathletics.net/fileadmin/html/Rankings/All_Time/polevaultmen.htm

Jumping - either off a ramp or off a pole.

@jimbrake - I suspected as much. You're a SUPERDAD!

@jimbrake - If you have the opportunity, you both will enjoy this. http://www.polevaultsummit.com/pole-vault/

@jimbrake - 11' and into 32 – that’s really great! Sounds like he has a lot of drive and passion already. For some more inspiration, Nick Frawley was 5'9" or 5'10" when he graduated high school and maybe 150 lbs. When he first jumped 17, I think he was only gripping 14'9" – good technique goes a long way! You've got a lot of fun times ahead of you. He'll be jumping at the collegiate level and running 39 before you know it.

@jimbrake - Yes it was. I think he jumped 11' coming out of 8th grade. He had good, but not great speed (coach didn't insist that he compete in any other events). He was kind of small for his age, but he was smart and wanted to learn. He had a place to jump anytime, he had coaches that were willing to help, and he always had a series of sticks (4 or 5) that increased in stiffness about 3 or 4 %. It was amazing to see what happened when his dedication and focus were combined with the opportunity he had available to him. Sounds to me like your son can get there too in both sports!

@jimbrake A friend of mine's son started jumping when he was in the 6th grade also. He bought an old pit and set it up in his backyard. He didn't know anything about pole vaulting either, but they had a couple of good local coaches and an unlimited supply of poles. Fast forward a few years and the son jumps 17' in high school and gets a full ride to the Air Force Academy where he jumped over 18'. It was a lot of fun watching him compete through the years. Also, the dad's a pretty good coach now...

Jim, pole vaulting rocks, but it's kind of like running 38 - it can take a long time to learn how to do it. Good coaching, lots of practice time, and LOTS of poles. If you're lucky, you might have a club in your area that your son could jump with. I hope you both have lots of fun with it!

Has anyone moved from the foam cored CX to the aluminum honeycombed core CX? How much different do they ride? Any thoughts or comments about either ski are appreciated!

Horton, how does 29.25 feel?

Hugh, a Wiley front plate will probably change your front binding plate placement. The Goode hardshells are pretty thin compared to most rubber bindings. I measured where my heal was in relation to the back of the Goode hardshell ~ 9/16 in. I had switched from Animals which were about 1" from my heal to the rubber above the horseshoe. My guess would be to start at a little over 29" and go forward or back from there. I've never measured the Wiley plate...

I've been on a 66" 228amp for about 3 months and I'm up a full pass. It seems to be working really well for me. I'm almost 190 lbs. and my bindings are at 29.59. I know thats forward of stock, but it seems to work maybe because I'm on the light side for a 228amp. With standard calipers I'm at 6.923 length (tips), 2.501 depth, and .716 dft. I haven't tried the ventral, because I doubt that it would do much for me...

I've been on a 66" 228amp for about 3 months and I'm up a full pass. It seems to be working really well for me. I'm almost 190 lbs. and my bindings are at 29.59. I know thats forward of stock, but it seems to work maybe because I'm on the light side for a 228amp. With standard calipers I'm at 6.923 length (tips), 2.501 depth, and .716 dft. I haven't tried the ventral, because I doubt that it would do much for me...

Pole vaulting rocks! I'm 187 and recently switched from a 65 mid right to a 66 mid left. Bouy count is about the same, but the 66 seems to be easier on the body and less work. I'm not "good" enough to tell the difference between the right and left...

A friend of mine still has his '96 with the GT-40. It came from the factor with a tiny cast bronze rudder. Wouldn't spin and would barely turn. He complained and the factory sent him a fabricated stainless rudder that was a little bigger. It helped, but the boat still wouldn't turn as well as the 196. He pulled it off and welded a couple more inches of plate to the bottom of the rudder. That solved the problem. It runs great. You have to stear it a little more with big skiers, but it's a sweet little boat. Not hard on fuel either...

Glad to hear that it's working better for you. So as I understand, you are now foward 1/8" from factory recommendations. I would suggest that you try moving your fin forward .008" (.125/15) from the factory setting and see how it feels. This should help your offside if you're loading up the rope too quickly and getting pulled forward out of position as you cross the wakes going into your onside turn.

The .010 is based on a 1/15 ratio of fin to binding. In the example above the bindings were moved forward .150, so an intial fin setting can be .150/15=.010. Just a place to start...

I know it sounds like an absurd amount, but that's correct. With the inserts you're not going to have a lot of flexibility. You put it as close to stock as you can, and then try 1 hole forward and 1 hole back. Remember that if you move your bindings forward from stock, your fin probably needs to go forward as well. Vice versa for backwards. For example if your bindings are forward .150" from stock, try moving your fin forward .010". Bindings forward will probably help at 32 off and longer. At 35 off and shorter, it's harder to get width with bindings forward. You just need to experiment and find what works for you. I'm on a mid as well, and back .25 seems to work well for me. My driver likes the stock setting. If you don't have much water time to experiment, put it as close to stock as you can and ride it...

I went through this last year when I switched from Animal bindings to Powershells. You need to know where your heel is in your bindings relative to the reference point of measure. My reference point of measure on the Animals was on the heel rubber just above the horseshoe. Your Animal binding is exceptionally deep at the heel when compared to a Powershell. What I discovered is that there was about 7/16" of difference between the reference points of the two bindings relative to where my heel was. I would recommend that you SUBTRACT 7/16" from the Goode recommendation to obtain the stock setting. Use that as a starting point and then move from there to see what works for you.