I struggled for years at deep water starts... STRUGGLED to the point at tournaments my thoughts were nothing about the course, just getting out of the water. There were times when I made 4-6 attempts at starting. It was explained to me by a very seasoned skier that a huge portion in the success of a skier is the driver when it comes to deep water starts... His quote was "if the boat outruns the skier out of the hole, the skier will likely fail, since it takes an insanely strong individual to hold on to the handle if driver gives the boat a full or aggressive throttle movement"... My thoughts and my style when driving is a soft and progressive movement in the throttle. I am well over 200 lbs on a 68" and don't require hardly any power to get out of the water. In fact the lighter the better for me. I can maintain position behind the ski while in a power and balanced position and follow the ski. Just a thought...