Ryno

Same deal happened with my old mans 04' Malibu LXi. We cutout the caps and replaced them with new alloy ones. However at the end of the day these engines have been designed for cars, and as such are not sufficiently marinized to handle a life in and out of the water. The best protection you can do is flush the boat every time you finish up for the day. Ensure the boat has been run long enough for the thermostats to open, then put a dose of "Macs" through the engine. The local river I ski at is semi salt, with a large ski/caravan park on it. Over the last summer we had 4 Malibu's go pop due to corrosion. Obviously your engine will last a lot longer if it's used in only fresh water. But if it's in salt and you're not flushing it properly, you'll be lucky to get more than two seasons out of a set of manifolds (let alone the damage it's doing to the rest of the engine).

I believe Kyle Eade once had a nasty slalom crash, where his head went through the handle. He was very lucky, in that he got away with a few broken bones in his face, and not a broken neck. The trouble is this type of accident is so rare, that it hard to justify the insurance of the guard. Does anyone have a link to purchase the clear arm guard pictured above?

It makes sense that more of an advantage is to be had when at the longer line lengths. I ski on the 14.25m and a 55kph pass feels like you are cheating, because you have so much more time. If it were only a 4 ball disadvantage, at my line lengths I'd take that handicap every time. Though at the end of the day, I still feel like a failure if I've had to drop the speed back to 55 to make the pass.

When I first started surfing this site, I was astounded by how many people on this site are running into very short rope lengths (38 off and shorter). It then dawned on me that a fair few of these people are running at 55kph, vice 58. My question is this; how much harder do you find 58kph vs 55kph? So if you are a regular 55kph skier and your PB is on the 11.25m, have you ever gone back up to 58kph to see how short you can get? Is this difference in speed worth one shortening or more?

My Sans Rival SR2 has a textured bottom from factory - very cool.

That mirror is 'High definition', not the standard 480p... I'm sold!

I agree with the above comments regarding the push in the back to ascertain which foot forward. The problem I find in chatting to most weekend warriors, is that they refer to left foot forward as "natural" and right foot forward as "goofy". The same as in surfing. This is the wrong way to look at deciding which foot forward as there is no correlation; ie, you stand sideways on a surfboard/skateboard/wakeboard/snowboard etc, and you stand straight with shoulders toward the boat on a slalom ski. I'm right footed/handed in everything I do, I surf left foot forward (natural) and yet I slalom right foot forward. Go with the push in the back method, and if someone starts talking about being natural or goofy footed, walk away, they're stupid.

@rico I agree totally, but... It seems most people that access this site are from the US of A and it's widely known that yanks miss the necessary smarts to work out the metric system.

I run a front ventral with a standard rear wing. Very happy with the results. My ski (SR2) now seems more stable/forgiving, without losing any speed, angle or turning.

That guy needs a ventral

I'm in the same boat as Jody Seal... I bought the wife a 64" O'brien Sixam 2 Point (The blue top). The extra width makes it easier for her to get out of the water, yet it is still a a top level ski made of quality materials. It's a ski that's forgiving enough for her to learn at her own pace, yet is good enough that she will probably never out perform it.

I'm in the same boat as Jody Seal... I bought the wife a 64" O'brien Sixam 2 Point (The blue top). The extra width makes it easier for her to get out of the water, yet it is still a a top level ski made of quality materials. It's a ski that's forgiving enough for her to learn at her own pace, yet is good enough that she will probably never out perform it.

Ed, I had my first ski on my SR2 this afternoon with the new fin setup as you recommended. Very happy with it. The ski feels like it's on rails, yet it doesn't feel like it's lost any of the turning or speed.

Ed, I had my first ski on my SR2 this afternoon with the new fin setup as you recommended. Very happy with it. The ski feels like it's on rails, yet it doesn't feel like it's lost any of the turning or speed.

Thanks again Ed, I just got motivated and cut down an old O'Brien wing to make a front ventral (rather than wait the two weeks for one to arrive from the US). So I'll see how it goes when I next hit the water. I set it up with the stock settings, but only 7 degrees of wing, as that's what I was running on the alloy fin. I live on the coast about a 2 hour drive south of Sydney, there's plenty of great area's to have a ski, but not much in the way of slalom courses. Glad to hear you're a fan of the area, we love it too.

Thanks again Ed, I just got motivated and cut down an old O'Brien wing to make a front ventral (rather than wait the two weeks for one to arrive from the US). So I'll see how it goes when I next hit the water. I set it up with the stock settings, but only 7 degrees of wing, as that's what I was running on the alloy fin. I live on the coast about a 2 hour drive south of Sydney, there's plenty of great area's to have a ski, but not much in the way of slalom courses. Glad to hear you're a fan of the area, we love it too.

I agree with what you're saying OB, it's all about the personal drive to improve. It takes a lot of drive to get through a military pilots course, and keep turning up to perform at that level everyday. It takes a similar level of drive to keep going out on the course day after day, making miniscule improvements to top a PB you may not have got close to in several years. I often see that same drive here in Australia when I have an early morning ski... It's usually only a couple of us slalom skiiers that hit the river at 6:00am before the glass gets ruined. While wakeboarders are still tucked up in bed dreaming about their next hair style.

I agree with what you're saying OB, it's all about the personal drive to improve. It takes a lot of drive to get through a military pilots course, and keep turning up to perform at that level everyday. It takes a similar level of drive to keep going out on the course day after day, making miniscule improvements to top a PB you may not have got close to in several years. I often see that same drive here in Australia when I have an early morning ski... It's usually only a couple of us slalom skiiers that hit the river at 6:00am before the glass gets ruined. While wakeboarders are still tucked up in bed dreaming about their next hair style.

It's surprising to see how many pilots are on here. It most be something to do with the challenge of slalom that appeals to that personality. My name is Ryan McGill. I started skiing as a toddler, as my parents were competing in Ski racing in North Queensland when I was born. I didn't start course skiing until I was 20, but have been hooked ever since. I'm now 32 and live on the South coast of New South Wales, Australia. I'm a helicopter pilot in the Royal Australian Navy. The most frustrating part of my job is when you have an early morning flight, then fly over the river and just see glass. I'd pretty much always rather be hanging onto a ski rope.

It's surprising to see how many pilots are on here. It most be something to do with the challenge of slalom that appeals to that personality. My name is Ryan McGill. I started skiing as a toddler, as my parents were competing in Ski racing in North Queensland when I was born. I didn't start course skiing until I was 20, but have been hooked ever since. I'm now 32 and live on the South coast of New South Wales, Australia. I'm a helicopter pilot in the Royal Australian Navy. The most frustrating part of my job is when you have an early morning flight, then fly over the river and just see glass. I'd pretty much always rather be hanging onto a ski rope.

I'm also after a Z box, for my Stargazer system. It can't come soon enough as summer has just started here in Oz!

I'm also after a Z box, for my Stargazer system. It can't come soon enough as summer has just started here in Oz!

Thanks Ed, Aside from the ventral on the front, were the rest of your fin and wing settings stock? I've gone from a Sixam SS to the SR2 and it's an incredible leap forward in performance. What I especially love about the ski (aside from the obvious speed and turning) is it's ability to ride through the chop. I found the Sixam would bounce if you hit a roller through the course and you'd pretty much have to abort the pass. Not so with the SR2.

Thanks Ed, Aside from the ventral on the front, were the rest of your fin and wing settings stock? I've gone from a Sixam SS to the SR2 and it's an incredible leap forward in performance. What I especially love about the ski (aside from the obvious speed and turning) is it's ability to ride through the chop. I found the Sixam would bounce if you hit a roller through the course and you'd pretty much have to abort the pass. Not so with the SR2.

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I've been skiing on an 66" SR2 for the last 6 weeks and absolutely love the ski. I'm currently running the alloy fin on stock settings, and am wondering how the ski will change if I swap it for the carbon fin? Horton you obviously have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to carbon fins, so if you could pass on some info, that'd be great.