gregy

Second @Ntq206, I'm 180lb on a Strada 67". If I keep my weight on my front foot I find it comes out of the water easier than any ski I've been on. I would think any of the newer skis that are wider would be similar but I can only speak for the Strada. The Radar Vice uses the same mold but supposed to be more forgiving. I think @Horton did a review on it. Senate C, I think is even wider than the Strada. I've had some shoulder issue and getting out of the water is one of the most painful things especially if the driver nails the throttle. Idling along for a second or so seems to help me.

I've got the same issue with ski partner. His very comfortable on a ski. Body position is his biggest problem right now IMO.

I'm 6' 2" 180 and have a 67" Strada, 2011. Ski at 34mph. It seems plenty big. Feels bigger than my old 68" ski.

This is where I ski. Frameswitch ski lakes north of Austin Tx. Skied here in the late 80s and early 90s and just started back last year. It's kinda of a mud hole compared to all those beautiful places above but its just a few miles from my house and leases are very reasonable.

I'm in central tx. Anything thats not an open bow around here you just about have to give away.

I bought some last year I like. Looking at them now, says billabong platinum x stretch, recycler series.

At the private lakes I ski at the winds are generally cross winds and tolerable. There's a light wind quite often but the other day we got there about 5pm, water was great. However, there was a dark cloud getting closer quickly. Before we could get the boat uncovered the storm hit. After the rain stopped the wind continued to blow right down the lake producing 2 ft white caps on a very small lake. We got my step daughter out, who is just learning to ski. She had a good time we packed up and left.

What about the Response FXI. Its supposed to be a good compromise boat? Never skied behind one but Malibu claims they have a world class slalom wake.

Wish my edge change looked like that!

Greg Youens 46 from Austin Tx area. I'm do maintenance and repairs on Automated equipment. I grew up skiing at Lake Travis were my family had a lake house. First tried skiing when I was 7 and had some bad experiences, Hated it. Year later may family talked me into trying it again and I was hooked, I went from 2 skies to slalom within weeks. I never had any instructions and learned everything wrong and have been working every since to brake all those bad habits. As a Freshman at University of Texas I met a guy on my dorm floor that was on the Ski team. I had made may parents take me to the Pro Tours when they come through Austin so I had always wanted to try the slalom course. I tried out for the team and didn't make it but went to Bennett's that spring, talked my dad into trading in the Sea Ray for a tournament ski boat. The next year I made the team and kept sking into the early 90s. I was a Mastercraft Promo member for several years, I got busy with life and sold the boat for a down payment on some land and just kinda unintentionally quit skiing. Last year I was looking for something I'd stick with that be good exercise, I'd been missing skiing for years. I pulled out my old Obrien LaPoint water ski and headed out to a evening ski school ran by ToddL. A friend documented may 1st time back on the water after nearly a 20 year lay off. Kinda funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10nQqcOEn0Y&list=PL2D6928FAA2C5B171&index=4&feature=plpp_video I meet some friend that ski, we've joined at Frameswitch ski lakes. I bought a Radar Strada from ski-it-again. I'm starting to run 22 off 34mph and making bad ill fated attempts at 28off. My goal is to run 28 off by the ending of the season. BOS and Youtube has been great for furthering my technique. There's so much more information out there than when I was skiing before. Its no wonder the up and coming kids are so good now.

Hey east or anyone else, every have any experience with the corvette motors they put in the MC in the 90s. Our lake has pretty tight setups and my friends 94 205 with TBI, you really have to give a lot of throttle. I love the wake though.

The water moccasins love to hang out under the jump ramp at our lake. They make me a little nervous. They usually just stay there when you get on, no fear of humans. Cows like to swim across the course, they're not exactly wildlife though.

The newer lxi Malibu response. I ski behind one some. It has a nice slalom wake. Drop the wedge down it has pretty big wake. I've been told the newer ones have a little bigger wake than older one.

I've been thinking of ordering a 13" bent handle from them. With the grip density they offer a "standard" and an "ultimate custom grip". Anybody have any preferences on these or info to help me decide?

One of my ski partners has a water sack about the size of an ice chest with an electric pump he uses in his prostar 205. We put it back toward the back of the boat. When finished just let it drain in the bottom of the boat. Works good. Not sure where he got it.

He's looks better on a trick ski than I look on my slalom. So much for all the fin settings I worry about.

Right arm. When I concentrate on left arm I tend to close my shoulders more to the boat. I'm thinking it would be better to have shoulders more open to the boat and level with a balanced load on both arms, but I'm certainly no expert.

Anybody have any experience with these. There's a 2004 Tige 20i I ran across that in good condition for considerably less than the Big 3 boats of similar year. Are these boats any good for Slalom? I know Rossi and Jamie B. use them.

I'm interested in seeing where this leads. I've been free skiing and working on nothing but cuts and trailing arm pressure recently. I'm Left foot forward and my 1,3,5 balls have been terrible. So I went out in the lake and just made some cuts and I discovered I was pulling mainly with my right arm regardless of my direction of cut. It took several days at the lake to make any progress to change this habit. I practiced a lot of gate like cuts and I can really feel the difference in acceleration when I'm getting it right.

I bought a EZ slalom last year. Works great. Our lake has a lot of weeds in it (like 15 to 20 ft of it). We were having problems with stretching the course out. To solve this we tied heavier ropes on to the achor with a turn ball on the other end. This really helped.

SN 196 Open bow. $25900. That over $10k more than the same year model Responses I was looking at. Those 196 really hold there value. http://fortwayne.craigslist.org/boa/2961323523.html

After Reading Crashman's thread. I back to thinking 2000 range Response again. I did see an Open Bow Nautique 196 before. Not sure what years they were made? I think it had a step-over like the response.

I'm a 15 off skier right now (34 mph age group). Hope to get better this summer, we'll see. I was also thinking about a 90's Prostart 205, I ski behind a 93 regularly and other than spray issues the wake is nice. I remember hearing some of the late 90's Prostar 205 had really bad wakes. Anybody know what years to avoid. Thanks for the replies, Greg

I was looking for an open bow boat. I was thinking Malibu Response around a 2000 year. I ran across a nice low hour 99 Sunsetter Lxi. Is the wake decent for slalom or should I keep look for a Response? Anybody with first hand knowledge of both boats?

NE has some nice areas. New Braunfels is nice also and right between San Marcos and Cibolo.