SkiJay

The freedom to move of a rear toe loop with the security and feel of a rear boot. I think Radar struck the perfect balance and I love'm. Locking down your rear heal is probably not helpful anyway, and if I was starting over, I'd go rear toe loop.

Wow, tough room ...

I'm curious to learn a little about Nate's background. How did he get so good at such a young age?

Nice! I don't know why "tournament" ski boats have to look like water tractors. I LOVE the Naugtique 200, but the interior looks like they upholstered a picnic bench.

I don't think you need the tether if you have the floaty back door. It floats orange side up, and you definitely notice it leaving the ski in your peripheral vision so the likelihood of finding it is high. I personally leave the tether on, and when a buckle breaks, always at the wakes, I stop skiing before rounding the next ball. That seems to avoid most of the potential thrashing and I haven't found any sign of actual damage either on the ski or camera housing so far.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1530989/Waterskiing/GoPro%20Mount/Mount%20%26%20Tether%20Anchor.JPG This is a regular flat mount and the tether anchor from the surf kit. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1530989/Waterskiing/GoPro%20Mount/Tether%20Hole.JPG This shows a flat mount drilled so it can act as the tether anchor on my daughter's ski. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1530989/Waterskiing/GoPro%20Mount/Buckle.JPG These buckles are the weak link. They break. So don't put the tethor around the buckle. Put it through the camera case's hinge. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1530989/Waterskiing/GoPro%20Mount/Buckle%20Orientation.JPG Make sure the GoPro logo faces your bindings or you won't be able to angle the camera high enough. Also be sure to use the white vibration plug. It reduces vibration significantly and secures the buckle in the mount. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1530989/Waterskiing/GoPro%20Mount/Anchor.JPG The camera including floaty back door can be looped through the tether and tether anchor for easy installation and removal from the ski. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1530989/Waterskiing/GoPro%20Mount/Side%20View.JPG The finished setup. Use a Phillips screwdriver to tighten the thumb screw. You can't get it tight enough to stay pointed where you want by tightening it by hand. Ideally, the whole thing would be mounted 2" - 3" further back on the ski, but the Elite has an even more rounded top profile the further back you go. All the same, my flat mount has stayed put despite not being on a perfectly flat surface. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1530989/Waterskiing/GoPro%20Mount/Hard%20Edge%202.JPG Use a resolution of 960-30 if you want to see as much of what you are doing as possible and 960-48 if you want better slow motion. If you use 1080, you'll have to decide what you don't want to see because you will have to cut off either your arms and head, or where the water is breaking on your ski. 960 gives you both. You are going to see shots you've never seen before. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1530989/Waterskiing/GoPro%20Mount/Tunnel.JPG

I've had a GoPro on my ski tip for a long time. I heated a regular flat mount before applying it to a clean ski, and the mount has never budged. I've broken four buckles (the "neck" between the mount and the camera case), donating one camera to the carp before getting the orange floaty backdoor and a tether for the next camera, but the regular flat mount's adhesive has proven strong enough to make the surf mount unnecessarily. I also use a second flat mount with a small hole drilled in its side to run the tether through. It has kept the camera with the ski after buckle failures, but the camera can beat itself, and your ski, to death until you stop, so stop immediately (not good for tournaments). The GoPro tethers are really strong, and I've never had one break. The wake at 22 off is too much for the buckles, but you can ski 28 off and shorter for months between buckle failures. It changes the balance of your ski a bit, but I got used to that in a set. Set the camera for 960-30 resolution so you can see from your head to where the water is breaking on your ski. It's just about the best, most consistent, visual feedback you can get on your skiing.

I saw Andy run four at 43 with a legit driver in practice, and that was before he lost all that weight. He was developing the Elite at the time. I'd assume he likes his new ski at least as much and plans on making his 43's official.

Great idea Radar!

Interesting question. Are we talking the speed of the skier's head, hips, feet or the handle? I bagged a GPS and skied with it under my vest. It said my chest clocked a 57mph top speed. Oddly enough, it showed my lowest speed in the course to be zero!