Ryno

@usaski1 The stump would have to first wipe out the prop and rudder before hitting the wedge, so in that scenario I'd say the boat would be pretty second hand anyway. But that's why we pay for insurance!

I thought the idea of this thread was for a simple water injector! Well this is what I just used... 10 squirts of water in each buoy seems to do the trick! A narrow ball pump fitting screwed straight into the end of the 60ml syringe.

Over the years my olds have owned a 2001 LX and a 2003 LXi, both boats have a much better long line wake than my mates 2008 X7. I'm not baised to either make, I'm just giving my opinion, and if you want a boat that is good for both slalom and wakeboarding you'll be very happy with an LXi with a wedge. Malibu did a smart thing by copy-writing the design of the Wedge, as it's the perfect tool if you want a boat that's good at both, without having to pump in a ton of ballast.

Go the Malibu LXi (with Wedge). It has a better slalom wake that the X7/X5, and with the wedge will be just as good for wakeboarding. ie. the best of both worlds. The X7 slalom wake at 18.25m is horrible.

@Dirt I'm back flying Seahawks. Our Navy uses an Aussie variant of the Bravo, but we're replacing the fleet with the new Romeo in a couple of years. The Kiowa warrior looks like it'd be great fun to fly. I did instructors course with the Australian Army a couple of years ago (they use the standard Kiowa/Jetranger) so I got a taste for the little bell machine. Our Navy uses the Squirrel (or A-Star as you yanks call it) as our basic trainer - I much prefer it to a standard Kiowa/Jetranger, but your OH58 with the better engines and rotor head would be cool.

@Dirt What do you fly?

@Dirt Four Breaths! I get around 2 minutes out of the model we use in the Aussie Navy. The bottle is slightly longer than the model pictured above though.

@Brent Glad I watched that before you removed it... Very cool

@StevenHaines It will also mean that when you do mess up your body position and stand on your back foot, the centre of pressure will be slightly further from the rear of the ski. So hopefully the ski will still complete the turn.

I'm getting binding envy... Lucky I'm not keen to drill holes in my SR2, or Connelly could have some money coming their way!

Mine are Red and Black and so are my mates (which have split in the same spot). Of note only one of the gloves has split for each of us - we'd still have one good pair between us, if we wore the same size!

Denim gloves... Now that would be an interesting look The part of the glove that split is a 5mm wide section of suede, so I think it would be very difficult to patch. As per the advice from @thager - I've stitched it up, so I'll see how long it lasts.

@6balls I've heard other people complain about the tracking of the Flightcraft, but my boat has awesome tracking. In fact it gets pulled around less through the course than most inboards I've driven. It think that's because my ski pole is rear mounted (only a couple of feet ahead of the outboard). I like the look of the platforms on the back of the Centurion, as the look longer than the ones on my Flightcraft. Mine are only good for helping you climb into the boat, and not large enough to help put a ski on. Maybe I need to rig up an extension of some kind, as putting on my double boot ski is a pain.

@6balls Have you got the Centurion out of the shed yet, to start the Stargazer project? I just did an image search for "Centurion Falcon Barefoot", it's a pretty cool looking boat. The stepped section in the underside of the hull is interesting and the option of open bow is pretty cool. It does look like it would be a little heavier that my Flightcraft. Any idea how the wake compares?

@Taelan28 You'd think it wouldn't effect much, but for me the split kept getting larger until it was the whole width of the thumb. This then rendered the top strap useless, so the glove would be loose over the palm. The rest of the glove shows hardly any signs of wear, so if it wasn't for that fault I'm sure I would have gotten a lot more life out of them.

Bought my 2nd boat sight unseen on eBay (as it was a 16 hour drive away)... A little bit of a risk, but it was the model I was after for an awesome price. Turned out to be an excellent buy.

My HO 41' tails, split in the suede section that joins the thumb to the strap on the top of your hand. A mate with 41' Tails also split in the same area. A shame, because they are great gloves. I just received my d3 Enzos to replace the 41's and I can confirm that are slightly larger, so order a size down. They look good though, so hopefully they prove to be more durable than my old gloves.

SR2 ... best ski ever - EVER!

@jackski It stands to reason that as more of the buoy is under the water it would be more susceptible to movement from current, but any buoy will move to the max extent available from the securing line with current, so it's probably a non-issue. However, as less of the buoy is exposed above the water it would be less affected by the wind.

So if they make a 67" they should be able to cover most skiiers. @Horton Do you know if Alex is planning on making a 67" in the future?

@ShaneH I can understand your pain, I only weigh 152 lbs, so the 66" is perfect for me. It is a shame they don't also make a 67 and 69, though maybe you could try a 66" SR1 - as the stiffer flex could suit your weight better. I did notice that compared to my old 66" Sixam, the SR2 is slightly smaller (both in width and length).

I should also note that the ski cost me double the money of the usual retail price, as my wife demanded that if I get a new ski, she gets a thermomix (cooking machine). Even at $4000, it's worth every penny!

I ride a 66" SR2, with the carbon fin on stock settings + a front ventral. My front binding is just forward of the recommended binding placement line on the ski. I cannot fault the ski, it seems to match my technique perfectly. I'm a full pass better on this ski vs my old Sixam SS (14m @ 58kph). Sure it is fast, but I love how much confidence it gives you in the turn - I can't think of an area you could improve the ski. It's awesome. When I open water skied after I first got the ski I struggled with the pre-turn, as I couldn't get my head around the extra speed I was generating through the wakes. This would result in me trying to initiate the edge change too early, and copping a heap of slack rope. But now I've got used to the speed and use better handle control in the edge change, it's unreal.

Good choice... My wife uses a Lyric on the front of her Sixam 2.0. Very nice binding.

All I'm hearing is "WhaWha, WhaWha, WhaWhaaaaa."