crashman

doesn't malibu still make a closed bow version of the response that is a "bare bones" model?

went digital 1.5 yrs ago- went back to paper because my wife will never relinquish the ipad

there's a lake close to me that is electric motors only- but it doesn't say anything about speed. It would be fun to get an electric 200 and go around the country dropping into electric only lakes.

better yet @Horton, strip mine it, fill it with water, put in some buoys and ski down it with the coal powered CC200

In Indiana we have coal fired power plants- so it's a boat that runs on ...coal- not that there's anything wrong with that.

I definitely don't want to own a boat nicknamed the "death star" so I'm thankful for this forum for leading me into a better decision. A West Coast ski trip is sounding king of awesome right now- but actually I have a shot at getting a '99 196 from somebody I know if I can only convince him he needs a SN200

wow that is a nice looking one- I wish it was closer to me- or maybe I should move to California!

so it's probably time for me to admit that I'm going to keep my V-drive boat as my open water/family boat/laker. I looked at selling it/trading it but for the price I can get it's just not worth it to me- especially since in order to get a family boat that is a ski boat I need it to seat 10 or more since we commonly boat as a 10 pack with my brother's family- rules out an LXI as my only boat; Trading it in on a new outback was going to cost me 15k- so I thought heck for 15k I can get a really good closed bow ski boat that does exactly what I want on the ski course- our course is tight so a small boat is ideal, and it's a private lake so I won't have to register it, plus I can keep my "laker" that does what I want for longer trips and family gatherings. My wife actually is in favor of this "2 boat system" so everybody wins. His boat/Hers boat. Don't shoot me- storage space is cheap in Indiana. And thanks for all your thoughts.

@ OB I'm in Muncie IN- we ski at the Muncie Waterbowl about 45 miles NE of Indy; it's a bring your own boat club. What club did you ski at? Krlee- let me think about it- I made fun of my neighbor for buying a Supra Launch site unseen from California- of course we took it to the lake and it didn't start; I'm not sure he'd ever let me live it down if I did the same thing so I suppose I'd have to fly other there and take a few sets behind your boat before I would buy it.

@krlee if only I were closer to you! (I'm in Indiana)

@ OB- sorry I didn't see your question about price- I'm looking to spend around 15k; The malibu I mentioned is asking 13,500 but doesn't have any speed control which I would have to add since my wife is sometimes the driver.

wow thanks for the replies. @6balls you're correct I'm hoping to spend a lot of time at 22 off. I'll start looking for a 196 97 or newer. It sounds like even if I spend a little more on it I can resale it more easily due to the strong following!

I'm looking at used boats to pull me down the course on a private lake and these are the ones I'm considering thus far 1999 Prostar 1999 Supra Comp 1997 Response I'm currently skiing at longer lengths but hope to improve; My closest ski partner skis 28 off and hoping for 32 off- so performance at -35 and shorter isn't important at this point in my life Presume similar condition and price. So the basic question is this: I know the 1998-2000 prostar is not a favorite hull, but would you put it behind the comp and the response? I know the real answer is to wait until spring and ski behind each of them, but I appreciate your thoughts.

portion control, TRX, playing lots of tennis with wife (this buys me extra ski time for the summer), swimming laps, working extra hours to help pay for a ski boat, watching videos on BOS, watching West Coast Slalom DVD... looking at the new Radar Vice I won in the BOS drawing keeps me motivated.

I always go to the Indy Boat/Sport/Travel show at the end of Feb. They have it at the fair grounds and they do me the favor of firing up the fryers and there's plenty of beer.. It's like going to the fair in winter, only with boats.

we could have a whole thread dedicated to what "the skiing lifestyle is" but to me it's the relaxing aspects of "lake life" juxtaposed with speed and intensity required to run the course. I could envision a Versus broadcast where they show the amount of force on the rope and skier's speeds at different points on the course- even non-skiers would be impressed by the strength and precision required to run shortline. For me skiing is to the watersport world what open-wheeled racing is to the racing world- exciting, fast, precise, and a little bit crazy.

I like the effort the Indy skiers have done getting people on the course at a low cost by partnering with the local parks dept- there's a lot of passion in that club introducing new people to the sport. http://www.indyskiers.com/

I'm glad that 2 yrs ago the guys at my club decided to grow the sport by one- i.e. me. I'm sure you can all relate to the countless positive impacts skiing has had on my life. It drives so much of what I do. My motivation to grow the sport is to help pass on what has been given to me. If it means I have to wait a few extra minutes at the dock hopefully I can look back on these days when I'm just starting out- then again maybe I'm just spoiled as our club rarely is busy.

@purdue- is your course the one on Salamonie- that's the only public reservoir course I'm aware of in Indiana and I'd like to ski it sometime (I'm in Muncie). If that's the one I'll pm you to see if there's a way I can help with the setup and maintenance as I think a public course is a very worthwhile entity. I also want to learn how you get the permits to install it. @Taelan- this site would be a good way to hook up with a local ski club- I'm sure they would let you help repair the course so you can learn how it works. Imagine showing up to the ski club with a boat and a ski partner 1 hr before sunset only to learn that 2 buoys are down thanks to the wakeboarders who didn't repair the course after they ran over it picking up their rider. Suddenly 2 sets a piece turns into 1 set. right now the weather and lack of a non-winterized boat is holding me back

actually got one of those last year- I have seen videos of people doing superhuman things using both the TRX and Indo

I got a TRX trainer for Christmas- anybody use this device to stay in shape in the off season? I'm just starting to play around with it to see what exercise I can do but it seems like a good way to build core strength. It came with the "rip trainer" which looks like a long pole attached to a bungee cord meant to work on rotational strength. Many of the exercises seem like they could be done with other equipment but I got it as a gift so I might as well put it to use.

the only politics I want to get into is how will I get the local politicians to grant me a speed variance for the local reservoir and install a public slalom course

wishing I could find somebody near me with a boat that's not winterized so I could try out my new vice 66" and let ya know. I'm told there's a group of guys who ski on a lake in southern Indiana every new year's day- I'm thinking of driving down with my dry suit, ski and a few cases of beer to see if I can get a pull.

good to know there are some seasoned skiers on here. I turn 35 next March and I'm kicking myself because I just really got into the course last year. I'm just thinking where I might be if I had been doing this all along, but then again hopefully I have some good skiing ahead of me.

awesome all my loot is here and I can't wait to get out on it. Thanks again Horton and BOS!http://static.cl1.vanilladev.com/ballofspray.vanillaforums.com/uploads/FileUpload/d4/125b26b29ab061952a00dbabc50a36.jpg