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Lots of stories in the Eastern Region about how good of a skier Bruce Jenner was back in the day.

I guess the username @JosephSmith would have been too obvious ...

Did those hypothetical Radars and Ski Nautiques not deliver the performance they promised because of manufacturing quality problems? If so, then yes, you should get a free Radar and Ski Nautique.

The Eastern Region has only one (regionals), maybe 2 (pre-regionals warm up) Ls a year ...

"All the stretchiness issues seem to be resolved, and the shortening segments are color coded so you can again tell rope length when watching from shore." So it's the old rope but at a brand new price, right?

I still have a ways to go until I drop down to 32, but I have heard multiple skiers say to keep skiing 34 as long as you can. That after a short honeymoon period where you "gain" a bunch of buoys, your skiing tends regress back to the same score, just now it's 6 buoys lower.

Good luck @Alberto Soares

@MrJones yeah crowds are really eating up the 12-hour tournaments we normally put on.

@Zman wrote "I'm sure Willie, Freddie and Nate will love starting their rounds at 10.75 all the time." Maybe not, but I'm guessing they'd like pro skiing to be more interesting to more people, thus more lucrative to them. Let them go to R tournaments that nobody watches to get their scores in.

@klindy They won't take a third pass. Each round is always just down and back and that is it. If they ran both passes they are still in, if not they are out.

I would say a hard "no" for regular events. However, I've always thought a cool pro event concept would be to have all skiers go down the lake at 35 and come back at 38. If they made it, they got off the water and advanced to the next round. If they didn't they were out. Then second round everyone would go down 38 and come back 39. Everyone who made that gets off the water and advances to the third round. Then they'd go down 39 and come back at 41, etc., etc. Eventually the field narrows down to the champion. It would be an easy way for the general public to tell who is winning, i.e. if they made it back to the dock they were still in it. And yes, I know that it would be tough for skiers to go off the dock cold at 38 or 39, but it would be a show that determines the winner for that day (with the crowd the priority), not an event engineered for maximum scores.

@mmskiboat Ski Paradise in Mulberry, Fla., has winter-only memberships. I believe you can either keep your boat in a lift or parked under a cover.

I own a '94 ProStar 205 and used to own a '01 Malibu Sportster so I'm actually pretty familiar with two of the boats you are looking at. Here are my two cents: 1) The wake, believe it or not, is better on the 205. It's bigger than the Sportster at longer line lengths and slower speeds, but much better at shortline, although at 38 and beyond you'll have side spray issues. The Sportster's wake is small, but quite hard. 2) The 205 is wider by a few inches and the open bow much more usable, so if room is of concern to you, the 205 should be your choice. The Sportster is really quite small. 3) The Sportster is an absolute blast to drive. Think sportscar on the water. The 205 is probably more like an Oldsmobile Cutlass. All that being said, the newer Sportster is probably the best bet, especially since you say you aren't too picky about the wakes and your kids will appreciate the Sportster's smaller wakes at slower speeds.

Goode Ski Lake in Ogden, Utah.

I think for pros the answer is probably mid 30s. Not many (maybe only Mapple and Rodgers really) can really keep competing at 36mph well into their 40s. The pros are at such a high level it's hard to stay there (or improve) as your physical skills decline. For amateurs however, I've aways thought 50-52 was about the peak area. We have much more for room for improvement so if you stay healthy, avoid injuries and take care of yourself, you can keep improving until around those ages.

@One_Ski you write "in my experience, they tend to err on the side of the accused." Would you care to elaborate? Do you have any real experience with them? If so, I'm sure many on this forum would appreciate your insight.

@John Brooks I respectfully disagree. I spend a lot of money on this sport, and I may be interested in where companies I give my hard-earned money to stand on important issues. I have children in this sport, and I may be interested in learning whose behavior poses a potential threat to them. I am a big fan of pro skiing, and who I root for may involve factors other than performance on the water. This is a big issue for this sport (and many other sports and, well, society in general). I wouldn't be interested in a forum that purposely only focused on the small issues.

@lakeside7455 So only 39 off skiers, or into 38 and beyond?

I don't know if being given the award of distinction means that you are not eligible to be elected to the hall of fame at a later date, but April really deserves to be in the hall of fame.

Thanks for bird dogging this @JeffSurdej. Quick question: it looks like the Nationals cut off score is the same for Girls 4 as it is for Girls 3 (56.7). Is that correct?

@escmanaze Any skier using any combination of mini course buoys cannot exceed 5.5 buoys (5 full buoys, 1 mini buoy) for a score, ever. Running a full pass that includes mini buoys does not give you credit for lower speeds/line lengths, such as in your 17.4mph example. And as mentioned above, when a skier elects to use a mini course buoy, they forfeit any continuation (second pass).

I think adding a mini-buoy course scoring option is one of the best rule changes AWSA has made in years.

This is just my experience but I've had ZBox for the last few years and I run the same ZO setting on it. Never noticed a difference.

Awesome, welcome back to skiing. i had a 2001 Sportster and those are great boats. I'm in Norwich, so about an hour north of you. Direct message me if you'd like to ever come up and ski with us.

@Andre that link is from last year. This year's tournament info is here. FYI the tournament is full.