Wolfeie

I have 2 Radar 68" MPD's in good shape. They are 3-4 years old. Each only skied one season. $100 and I will throw in shipping UPS ground. Brad / H20Wolfeb@aol.com. Also have a 5-6 year old Goode 9700 with extra large bindings $300.00

My ski partner and neighbor at Ski West had an older Moomba (open bow) and it was one of the worst driving slalom boats on our lakes. The boat was difficult to balance, and had mushy wakes. Before he bought his 196 he would rather put gas in my boat and ski behind me than ski behind his Moomba

Its too bad you don't have about 5K more in your budget. I plan on putting my 2004 Mastercraft X7 (197 hull) up for sale this summer. This boat has a great ski wake, Horton used to ski behind it all the time (but he left me for Zero off).) It also has a nice recreational wake for wakeboarding, a tower, and open bow. Open bows are only good for very small kids, and you have to drive more carefully on open waterways with weight in the bow. The X7's/197 make great family boats, there are 3 on our private lakes.

The lake John was skiing on was Paradise Lakes (the west lake) which is over 12 feet deep. With the depth of the lake there is not any bottom disturbance with the clay bottom which effects coloring. When you factor in the dye is injected into the lakes everytime water is pumped in the lakes, it maintains a deep shade of blue. I believe most of your water comes from run-off which probably adds sediments and natural earth tones into your water. Plus paradise only has two lakes compared to your four.

I pay $226 through Auto Club for 500K liability and 1K deductable on a 2004 Mastercraft X7 used at private ski lake. I bundled all of my insurance (home, auto, etc) for first time.

The towers at Ski West were actually made probably 20 years ago out of metal and cemented into the ground. When we re-dug the lakes they had to be removed and one member came up with an idea to put them on wheels. This has worked out great and other lakes in our area have borrowed our towers for tourny's.

Ski West & Paradise (the dark blue lakes) have more owners to spread the cost of dye. Ski West and Paradise also their own wells and have the dye injected into the water when it is pumped into the lakes. The other lakes which are greener share a well and do not have the injection system. They also have about 6 owners per lake which makes the cost fairly high.

Horton does not "hear" anything....he is too busy talking (yapping)

Forgot to mention X7 comes with tower and open bow, better for resale value of boat. Closed bow boats are harder to sell, pretty much limited to private lake users. Tower adds the weight of one passenger, so I only slalom with driver and passenger, or driver and 150lbs of ballast on passenger side, since at private sites don't need observer.

Does your family or friends do more than slalom? I know on this site "wake boarding" is a dirty word. But if your looking for a great cross over ski boat the Mastercraft X7 is a great boat. There are about 5-6 X7's at the private waterski lakes in Arvin, California and everyone loves them. Great ski wake (same as 197 tournament hull) and decent wake boarding. You won't get Zero Off in your price range, but Perfect Pass, binimi etc... will be included.

I own an 2004 X7 (197) with PP. I have been extremely happy with this boat but was looking to upgrade to ZO. I took a ride behind a 2010 197TT promo boat and was very surprised at the wake at 22 & 28. It was much bigger and harder than my present boat. I can see a problem with pulling skiers just learning to run the course at lower speeds. It is making me re-think my decision to upgrade to a 197TT

Believe me you are not alone in tackling 35 off for the first time. Last fall I was in your position as far as 35's were concerned....usually getting 1-2 balls and an occassional 4-5 balls. The difference was that I was running the 32 off over 90% of the time. You need to be patient and get to a point were you are running 32 off much more consistant before you expect to run 35 off. Another method is to put a switch piece on your rope and start working on 33 1/2 off. I started running this rope length many times, not even thinking about 35 off. Last fall at the end of the season I ran a half dozen 35 offs, a couple off the dock. Now I usually get deep into 35 off (off the dock) and I am now running it fairly often. But the keys have been certainly working on my 32's so that I rarely miss one, working on the 33 1/2, and keeping the same basic start I have on the 32 on the 35.

rq0013....I have not had a chance to compare the Razor to the Strada, although talking to John they sound pretty close in comparison, I certainly would like to. The current Radar I am on is one of the 60? skis that were made out of the Senate mold (a little wider) with the Strada materials.....I still don't know what to call it. It has been a great ski, but it may be time to move on as I get on shorter line lenghts.

One of the added benefits of being a owner at Ski West Village in Bakersfield (besides great skiing conditions) is that John Horton calls Ski West his "unofficial home lake." Through John I have been able to test drive many different skis over the years. Many of which I have purchased after riding them. To give you a quick bio....I am a typical weekend warrior, trying to get as many sets possible over a 2-3 day period each weekend from March to November. I am 55 years old 5'10", 180 pounds in excellent physical shape. I don't compete, however my average "off the dock" ball count is 2 @ 35 off, 34 mph. My PB off the dock is 2@ 38. I have been riding various Radar skis over the last couple of years. This weekend I was able to jump on the Razor after hearing so many nice reviews on it. The first set ( six passes at our lake per rotation) the ski and I were learning each other just riding it down the lake at 22 off the first pass not worrying about buoys. Then as I felt more comfortable on the ski, I ran a 22, a couple of 28's and a 32. The ski felt very stable and fast across the wakes, and the ski turned on a dime on both sides. I could not find anything negative to say regarding this ski. I felt a little more line pressure since the Razor had a wing on it and I have not been skiing with a wing for many years. After only six passes I could tell this was a ski I would be interested in purchasing, It felt light on the water, tracked great and turned without a lot of effort. With this ski if you maintained your handle control and body position it did the rest. On the second set I was able to take eight passes, and I got deep into 35' off three times and ran the 35 off on the last pass. On my third set I ran 1.5 at 38 off the dock. Over the weekend I probably took seven sets on the Razor. I am a left foot forward skier and I do not remember having even one bad "one ball" all weekend. With this ski I can see running 35 off the dock much more often and starting to nible a little deepeer into 38. I did try one set without the wing per John's suggestion, but felt much more comfortable with it back on the ski. This is a ski I would certainly like to add to my ski collection.