h2oSkiJunkie

@vtmecheng @sixmilelaker @BraceMaker I would like to clarify the handle scenario. The reason I am using a Masterline handle is because I prefer an ARS (anti roll system) handle and S-Lines does not yet make one. I ABSOLUTELY prefer S-Lines ropes and use them at my ski school and for my training. Next year S-Lines will have ARS handles and I will be SO thankful. In my whole life I have never had a handle measure long. This year, it has happened 3 times with this defective Masterline product. Each time, I checked the handle first, adjusted it (shortened it) even and the stupid thing just continues to stretch and far more than I conceived possible. I would caution anyone skiing record tournaments to make this handle about 3 inches short of the out line, if they want to be careful. That's what I did for round two and the finals. I had to hold back my frustration on the webcast, but I will say here that once S-Lines is producing ARS handles, you will never see me on tour with a Masterline. And just for the record, their is no package deal with S-Lines and KD. I happen to believe that both brands are the best and at this point in my career, my only interest is to ski with what works best for me. I see both brands as "start ups". I am in it for the long term growth of both and for the good that they will bring to the sport. At this point, I have not taken a penny of payment from either brand, other than good dealer margin on the product and free personal product. I trust that as I help these brands grow, they will take care of me in kind.

The S-Lines X-Series is the best rope currently on the market. You cannot go wrong with this one.

Hey! Virginia is a great place to be a water skier! I would disagree with "hacker" and say that I offer EXACTLY what you are looking for. I have dozens of club members who ski regularly at my place (2-4 days per week). Of course, I have dozens more ski school students who are not regulars but the variety makes it fun. At Peace, Love & Waterskiing, the sport is truly thriving. Over 14 years, we have built a truly strong and caring community around the club. I don't know if you will be in the area this fall, but we will be continuing to operate into early November. Come check it out if you get the chance. Otherwise, I hope to see you in the spring. Good luck with the move. Please visit my website for more information and don't hesitate to shoot me an email with any questions. peaceloveandwaterskiing.com

I know Becky drove that batch in Sesena: Pigozzi, Sasha, Will, JT Will has run it behind multiple drivers, of course. Andy many times, obviously behind various drivers. Same story with Nate/Freddy/Will - lots of drivers to credit (Eller, Badal, Kepcha, Patrice LeGay, Pat Bloodworth... that would be a long list) John Sheeley drove JT's other 41 and Will Asher's first 2@43. Scott Greenwood drove Will Asher's 2@43 last season at Travers. Who pulled Beauchesene through 41? A Frenchman named Nico pulled most of Sasha's 41's. Will Bush was driving for Dane Mechler at the World's for Dane's runoff 41. Les Todd was driving when Nate tied the world record (his) in 2016. Brian Detrick - Greg Badal I have one behind Gilbert and also Tommy Harrington. I'm curious about Beauchesne. Who has the scoop?

Hey Gang, This is my boat. It’s a good one. I looked around at other boats and prices and tried to land in a fair place. Admittedly, I started with a higher number, because I know I am not going to be able to ask anymore. That said, I am flexible when it comes to making a deal with the right person. Delivery and other factors all come into play, so left myself some wiggle room. Regarding warranty, there won’t be any MasterCraft transferable warranty but I think there could still be engine warranty remaining from Illmor. Happy to look into those specifics if it becomes salient. My thought is that this boat would be someone’s forever purchase. Everything is in good shape at present and the boat could be re-powered (new engine) around 3,000 hours if the owner wanted to make It a brand new boat, as the hull, vinyl and structure is all in good shape. I understand that you can sell a used 6.0L engine for a decent price and end up with a brand new boat for a reasonable investment. I also see no reason that with proper care, this beast will keep pulling PB’s for thousands of hours. It has always been kept in a cradle and stored covered in a barn during the offseason. I believe there is someone out there for whom this boat will be a perfect fit.

There are far too many comments in this thread to read them all but I want to throw my $.02 in the mix just for the fun of it. I think the Safe Sport mandate for all members is ludicrous. Talk about a way to drive our numbers DOWN... Running a ski school, I engage a lot of recreational skiers each year. Many end up becoming members of USAWSWS in order to participate in my Fun tournament. Some are on the fence but when I egg them on and they only have to go online and pay a $35 membership to sign up, they are willing to do it. A number of these folks have become full fledged members, and they come back year after year. All it will take is an hour-long online training to halt this matriculation. Moreover, some on-the-fence members will find this an easy reason to bail out of the organization. Heck, we even have long-term members threatening to leave, because it offends their sensibilities. I don't know about all that. If you are decade+ competitive member or official, you have probably already given your time to something more useless than this (though I agree another waste of time is just that). I have done the SafeSport class and the refresher course. As a coach, it is good to have in my back pocket, though I must say the content is all pretty much common sense. I can't say I really gained anything from taking the course. I can see why we would mandate this training for any coaches traveling with international teams, especially junior teams. I can't say that I see a reason to subject our officials to this mandatory training. Again, officials can be hard to come by and this is a disincentive to maintain or get an officials rating. If we are making recommendations, why do we think this is important for a slalom judge or a scorer to have? Maybe a "Safety Coordinator" official should have to do this, as they may have to lay hands on a person or this sort of thing would fall within their purview, though I still think the course could be voluntary, due to its lack of practicality. This course is not really about protecting the youth. It's nothing more than a CYA for the organization. Taking this course is not going to stop the rare bad actor from doing something out of line, and may even teach them how to cover their tracks or find the shadows where they can act. I can plainly see why USAWSWS affiliated coaches and coaches leading teams on trips should complete the training. An adult leading a group of minors overseas should be given every tool to keep them safe and know SafeSport's universal boundaries of conduct. Is there any reason that a jump driver needs this? I am all for fair play and a healthy competitive environment, I just don't believe that having members or officials complete this course will actually have any influence on preventing an "incident". Overall, we have a very healthy, community-driven culture in this sport. Our primary objective should be growing our membership base, while trying to make our sport safe and wholesome. We can do exactly this without subjecting our members to an impractical course to shelter USAWSWS from any potential liability claims.

Thanks for sharing your stories and stoke! We really couldn't have been more pleased with our first Class C tournament. Looking forward to doing more. Right now, we have fingers crossed that our annual Fun Tournament - The Buskey Cider Cup can happen this year. It's a big event so we'll have to see what sort of crowd sizes will be allowed/appropriate for June.

Thanks guys. It is one sweet boat. Thanks, @Horton for clarifying the 50th anniversary part.

Reading this thread, I feel like I've tried it all. I'm always looking for what can give me an offseason edge. Being a Virginian, I'm usually off the water entirely for over three months. Trying to come back stronger for the next season motivates me every year. After years of torturing myself with different regiments, I have found the most important thing is to do SOMETHING. In the original post, @blinddog said "I don't usually do much in the winter." Transitioning from not much to a crossfit addiction or the p90x/insanity blend is probably unlikely, and possibly unhelpful, unless you have a burning passion for peak fitness. I have found that the key is to identify the types of recreational and physical activities that you really enjoy or think you might really enjoy. If you enjoy something you will stick with it. For some it is joining a pool and swimming laps. Others take up running or rock climbing. For me, Yoga has been BY FAR the most beneficial off-water practice both during the ski season and offseason. Most skiers lack the hip mobility, balance and core strength to perform optimally. Yoga will change that, while also significantly decreasing your risk for injury and improving your focus. I have been a pro skier for nearly 10 years now. I have never been hurt once from skiing during that time, and I'm proud to say that I have not taken a single Advil/Alieve or the like in that time. That's from the guy who is known for taking the worst hits on the pro tour... Here are the other things I ENJOY doing in the offseason to improve my fitness: Hiking, Running, Riding my bike, playing tennis, little body weight circuits (push ups, sit ups, pull ups, lunges, squats, planks), climbing trees, slack lining, I have a battle rope, tractor tire and sledge hammer in the yard to play with, lifting free weights (yes I pop in the p90x videos from time to time, when I want to hang with Tony Horton). Then when I can I love to snowski/board or surf. Nothing is going to take away early season soreness - NOTHING. The key is to be as healthy and fit as possible when that time comes. What you eat will also largely determine how bad the soreness is and how long it lasts. More sugar = more sore, anti-inflamatory foods = less sore. Find something fun this offseason. If you can make a couple hours in your day in the summer to go skiing, you can make a couple hours in your winter days for some other recreation that you enjoy. Lately, I've been calling that time "recess". Instead of telling myself "you must workout for the next hour" I've been giving myself two hours of "recess" to just go outside and move my body. Is that as fun as skiing? No (well, arguably better than the frustrating sets that make you question your self worth, but nothing like the typical ecstasy). If it's peak condition that you are after, I'd get in touch with @bkreis

Hey guys. Glad to see such enthusiasm right here in the neighborhood. I run a ski school that is 10-25 minutes from Lake Anna (depending on what part you are coming from). It's in Bumpass, VA. I'm on a private lake, which is the most wind protected ski lake in the state. I have a new boat every year, and love meeting new skiers and getting them on the water for a set. It's a pay by set scenario, so you don't have any obligations other than to show up and have as much fun as you like. Thus, you can come and get world class skiing and be back to the family in under two hours. Alternatively, you can bring the whole family and lunch and enjoy some time in a beautiful, private setting - maybe even get somebody to ski for the first time. Anyway, I stay below the radar to avoid a lot of calls from wakeboarders/surfers, but I am here to fire you guys up, help you improve and hook you up with great deals on equipment. I'm in the process of building a new website that will have more info. In the meantime, feel free to contact me at h2oSkiJunkie@gmail.com. Peace, Love & Waterskiing, Corey

I suppose it all comes down to the skier and skiing style, but in my experience riding the ski and setting others up the deep/short has been the setting of choice. If you love the long/shallow, you have nothing to lose by trying short/deep for a set or two, just to see if it's even better. If you have only tried long shallow and this ski hasn't totally won your heart yet, get on those short/deep settings!

Let's not get too far off topic talking about the Big Dawg. The reason they did not fill was lack of organization. I was standing with two Big Dawg skiers who would have entered, if they had known that they could. They thought they were too far down the list to be considered in the top 40. They came just to watch, but would have gladly paid and skied if they had known they would be allowed. Apparently communication within the BD tour, is not far different from Pro Skiing. On the pro skiing front, it is absolutely the case that the skiers need to be the ones to step up first. If the athletes can form a united image, brand and voice, at least then we can have something to show sponsors when we ask for their involvement. The skiers are what unite the several strong events that are going (Malibu Open, California Pro-Am, U.S. Open) and the new ones that make attempts (Atlanta Pro-Am, Malibu Cup, Australian Open). These events, as well as the Moomba Masters, World Championships and the Masters are essentially all organized by different, though sometimes overlapping, groups. The only thing that ties them all together as a "pro tour" is that the same skiers show up. If these skiers had a brand/image/organization, like PWA (Pro Waterskiers Association), there could be a central hub of information on the PWA website. The site could introduce the athletes to the public with head-shots and short bios, show the world rankings list, show prior "pro tour" results, show upcoming tour stops, explain the sport to lay people, have a condensed video archive of all prior tour stops (which skiers could own or lease the rights to if they had an organization). Industry sponsors would find a handy place to advertise. Then, we could present this bundle to next level sponsors to show what they could get involved with. I have no delusions that we would land Bud or Coors in our current state of affairs, but those are something to strive for down the road. Perhaps we could get 5-Hour Energy or Aflac or a health and wellness company. At least we could start knocking on doors and making calls with some degree of credibility. Another avenue that seems worth pursuing is connecting the pro tour with a noble cause or non-profit. I for one would be happy to ski in pink if we could raise awareness for cancer, hold a fund raiser at every tour stop and get the Susan Komen Foundation to publicize the crap out of us at each spot to turn out some locals. This is just one example but there are many organizations with massive followings and reach that we could try to partner and co-brand ourselves with. This thread is running quite actively on facebook as well. I don't intend on re-writing all of my thoughts from there in this forum or bringing up all of the ideas being tossed around. I would like to glean from the discussion in both places. If you want to see what else is being said, track down my most recent post on FB too. - Corey Vaughn

As I previously noted, I would like to make a few comments about the U.S. Open of Water Skiing, before it falls out of memory entirely. Also, as stated previously, I don’t want any of these sentiments to offend the many people who worked long and hard to make this event happen. I deeply appreciate your efforts, as I do the efforts of anyone who puts on any tournament – especially pro events. However, I heard a lot of complaints and dissatisfaction among pro skiers, and had some of my own. Most of these complaints arose around the contrast between the combined U.S. Open and Big Dawg Finals. It was not the first time that pro skiers and Big Dawgs shared a ski tournament. This happens every year at the California Pro-Am. It was, however, the first and only time that the Big Dawgs were treated like the main attraction, and the pro skiers (perhaps with the exception of Jumpers) were begging scraps from the Big Dawgs table. Here are some facts: - The Entry Fee for Pro Skiers was $250 - The Entry Fee for Bid Dawgs was $200 - For that entry fee, Pro Skiers got ONE record capability round for a preliminary. From this one round, 5 skiers would be taken to Lake Ivanhoe for the finals. - For their entry, Bid Dawgs received TWO record rounds at Sunset Lakes and got to take 16 competitors to Lake Ivanhoe for a head to head final. They also received a banquet, as is customary for all Big Dawg stops. - Pro Men’s slalom final took less than one hour to run on Saturday. - Big Dawg slalom ran over three hours on Saturday. - Pro Men faced the hardest cut in professional slalom history and received one of the lowest payouts ever for an elite event. - Big Dawgs not only took 16 into the head to head final, but paid 8 places, with medallions for those top 8 finishers and I heard a larger total purse. Now here is where I hope to surprise you. I’m not down on the Bid Dawgs. In fact, I say kudos to them. Most of the Bid Dawg skiers acknowledged that it was a strange state of affairs for them to be getting a far superior tournament experience than the Pro Men and Women. But here’s the thing… The Bid Dawg tour is a branded, cohesive, organized collaboration. Basically, they have their shit together in a way that pro skiers do not. They have a format that they run each tournament, and they stick to it. Thus, once the decision was made to merge the Big Dawg finals with the US Open, the shape and scope of the Big Dawg portion of the tournament was established before the tournament was organized. As a result, the tournament had to be sculpted around their format. Pro slalom has no unification or standard format. As pro skiers we just keep hoping that people will hold tournaments and then we pool our entry fees, which will eventually be divided up, along with a little sponsor cash, amongst the top 5 or 8 or however many that tournament decides to pay. This is not a good state for pro skiing, especially pro slalom to be in. We are talking about the U.S. Open in Orlando, the water ski capitol of the world. I talked with a couple of pro slalom skiers after the U.S. Open who live in the Orlando area and decided not to ski. They were heavily conflicted. They wanted to support the sport. They wanted the thrill of competition. They didn’t even have to travel to get to the event. Yet, they could not justify paying $250 for a one round record tournament, with slight chances of making it into the top 5. 16 pro men got into 41 off. Nate Smith had to run 41 off both in the prelims and in the finals to win – the grand prize of $4,000. I don’t blame those who did not ante up for this hand. I’m also not trying to put this on the sponsors or organizers and blame them for too small of a purse or the wrong format for the event. I would rather focus on the group to which I belong – pro skiers. I can’t help but believe that we can do more to improve our own situation. We need to form an identity. We need to be able to speak as a collective unit so that we have a voice. If we can band together, perhaps it would be easier for us to get a swell of sponsorship behind our events. I’m not even looking out at other sports at this point. I’m merely looking at what the Big Dawgs are doing and recognizing that it’s going better for them than us. I’m not saying I have the answers. I have thoughts, and I know a lot of other pro skiers have ideas as well. All I’m saying is that I’m ready to collaborate. I’m ready to work with the rest of the pro men and women skiers to do whatever we need to do to get to the next level. I love this freaking sport and I want to see it grow. I want to seize the opportunities that I feel like we are now missing. I welcome all ideas and conversation. VAMANOS!

Just when I thought I had one that I couldn't improve upon, the boat builder lures me back... I don't know that you or I need this one, but it is pretty fly. The one thing that's cool about my current boat is that you can't even build it on the boat builder... I've got the one and only purple carbon pro, and she is sweet!