Waternut

April Coble would probably know way better than any of us on here. However, @6balls is absolutely right. If you're asking, your mind is already made up whether you realize it or not. You want a new ski, you just want our support. You have mine... I always want new gear.

I went the other way actually. Went from a 66" Annex to the 67" MPD because I was skiing slow speed long line and had put on some weight. I wanted to try a bigger ski similar to my Annex because I was sinking at the buoys at 28-30mph and I didn't want to spend big money on something that may or may not make a difference. I really didn't notice any difference in the way the ski's felt but my skill improved dramatically just by having the correct sized ski. The longer ski felt like turning a bus at first but I quickly realized that it felt like a bus because I was able to get away with doing things half arsed instead of properly. I demoed a 67" 2012 Strada about a month ago as well and didn't really notice a big difference between it and my MPD except for the little things I was doing half arsed on the MPD had to be corrected. I think you'll enjoy your new ski within the very first set but the first couple passes may feel wierd.

Is a 67" ski the right size for a 150lb person? Sounds like a really big ski but I know it's a slower speed ski so maybe that's correct. Your bindings should fit pretty much any ski out there so don't let that persuade you towards any particular brand of ski's. Like you, I've got a major course bug and I'm constantly looking to upgrade. My opinion is that people are dumping ski's in favor of the latest and greatest and you pretty much have all winter to look for a good deal so do you really want to stare at a brand new ski all winter? In my experience, a forgiving ski is nice because I'm less likely to screw up. The problem with a forgiving ski is my feedback while doing something right or wrong is less obvious so it's harder for me to improve. If I get in the right pulling position on a high end ski, the acceleration is much more dramatic so when my eyes are the size of golf balls, I understand that's what I'm supposed to be feeling. On the opposite side of the coin, if I make a hard turn and can't hang on or can't make the ski turn, then my form is poor and I need to focus on fixing the problem. To me, it's a lot like golf. When I played with forgiving clubs, I enjoyed it but could never figure out why I was so inconsistent. When I changed clubs, I realized that the clubs were doing all the work and the reason I was inconsistent was because my swing sucked.

It looks really cool and appears that he's hanging on by a thread. However, if you put your handle in the first knuckle of your fingers instead of in your palms, the handle looks the same and your little finger is barely on the handle. I know it's preference but I prefer to grip the handle in that first knuckle as well.

@skijay gets an awesome for yet another well thought out response. Honestly, I was shocked when I saw that you didn't have any stars. I'll throw this out for what it's worth... One concept that may work better and would probably be less political is just to give a quick count of "likes" and "awesomes" beside each person names instead of stars. Another site I'm on would list total post count and total "thanks" and if you go into their profile, it shows how many threads instead of posts they've gotten a "thanks" to. So basically if you've responded to 2000 threads and been thanked in 20 of those threads, you're probably just talking but someone who's responded to 200 threads and has gotten 50 "thanks" is probably giving very helpful information.

Currently no boot is really designed to release in a rotational fall. I injured my ankle pretty bad many years ago and went to double boots that wouldn't release because of it. When I started getting injured due to not releasing I decided that both of my feet needed to be locked together in a releasable system. Hard shells will be a bit of a learning curve and you will go backwards for a little while but then you'll be right back to where you were or better after a handful of sets. I dont' know what your boots are but hard shell or not, if you use the Goode plate, I think you'd at least want some kind of boot that won't release to ensure the interlok tape does it's job. If not, you may come out of the boot before the tape releases making the whole Goode plate useless. Binding systems I know of that release both boots together are the Goode system, Connelly Stealth, and the HO EXO.

I think it's a neat concept, maybe bragging rights for some, and a way to tell you've been contributing to the community positively but I wouldn't really consider it a practical thing for newcomers. I'm fairly new to this site and I will say that when I first got on here, I thought it was pretty obvious which people really know what they're talking about. Before this post, I only assumed what the stars meant based on previous knowledge of those people. Glad to see you experimenting with new ideas though @horton.

I'm sure you've considered it but just in case... You will never resell that boat for anything close to what you put in it. I fully get this concept and I've put almost triple the original cost into my own boat but I have no real intention of ever selling it either so I understand. However, if you think you'll want to change over to something else in 5 years or so, this probably isn't the best investment since the number of people that will find this boat valuable will be very limited.

@usaski1 you are reinforcing my understanding. Everything needs tweaking and customizing so it fits your skiing style. I personally can't feel the difference between PP classic and a new zero off system but this is my first year really skiing the course. The people I do know who can feel the difference, can feel the difference between new mastercrafts and nautiques and thus have different ZO settings for each boat. If you're B1 on one boat and C2 on another, is C3 on a PP z-box really going to cramp your style? edit: I don't mean to derail this thread and I love that year nautique. Just trying to understand the point of the conversion.

I know zero off is certainly preferred by most but can I ask why you want to go through all the trouble to re-engine a boat and convert to drive by wire when PP z-box can be installed in an afternoon and costs $10k-$15k less?

Well I'm glad you got it figured out and you wouldn't really hear me complain about removing my wakeboard tower if I had enough skiers to go with. However, the simple physics just don't add up. A round tube isn't going to create lift and those things don't weigh enough to cause weight issues. If a tower created the issue of a poor wake, a bimini top would create the same problem only worse. Any chance people in the boat weren't balanced properly originally and they were properly placed after the tower was removed? Are you 10-20 gallons of gas lower this time than last?

I agree with @bracemaker unless you found this issue while changing the oil during winterization of the boat. If that's the case, now is the time to look into the problem so that you aren't battling a potential problem at the beginning of next season. If you're mechanically inclined and can get your hands on a torque wrench, you can change the head gaskets yourself. Gasket kits are like $40-$50. It's not a difficult task at all but the heads and exhaust manifolds are pretty heavy. If the heads are warped, you would have to get them shaved flat at a machine shop but even then, I'd rather do that in nov-dec timeframe than april-may of next year when you have that desparate itch to ski again. @ToddF makes a good point with the spark plugs too. You can also shine a light into the spark plug holes and if one piston looks really clean and the rest look black, then that is likely the one with the problem because the water steam cleans the piston.

This pic is a wakeplate. I'm not exactly what prop your specific boat takes. Acme and OJ will definitely help recommend a prop for your needs if you call them or you can search on correctcraftfan.com for first hand experience. edit: For clarification, I recommended looking into the prop just because it's very possible that the wakeboarders who owned it before you could've really pitched the prop down to better accommodate wakeboarding speeds and ballast.

@SocalWaterSki As a fellow aero guy, I understand your concepts of lift and drag but if the tower and wakeboards are generating lift, it's not going to be more lift than the extra 1-2 people sitting in the boat, even at 36mph. I ski behind a 98-99 CB nautique and it is by far my favorite wake, I've ever skied behind. I can tell when an extra 400 lbs of weight is in the boat but it's not enough to change my skiing. I'd really look into that prop. My guess is that's causing some weird stuff. I bet if you sold the tower, you'd have plenty of money to buy a nice machined 3 blade prop from Acme or OJ. Does this boat have a wakeplate installed on it?

Np at all... I wasn't sure of your intent. My whole purpose was to get stuff off the floor with cost and function being way ahead of looks and fashion.

I use the cheapo bookshelf L angles covered with EVA foam for all of my watersports stuff. If I were going make something to go on a concrete wall, I probably build an entire stand alone unit and just anchor it to the wall. I would probably use 2 - 2x4's as a base and use my same method. If you just have one ski though, dbski's rack may look a whole lot nicer.

Yeah the wakeplates help with the spray off the side because they lift the back end of the hull up which yields a shallower spray. It won't get rid of it but lowering it a foot or so could make the difference between it hitting your face or not.

@bracemaker The Bennett or Lenco adjustable wakeplates help knock down the hull or chine spray. They also fine tune the wake for your speed and line length. Best $500 I spent on my boat.

When I got my last ski, I moved everything to factory recommendations. No sense in making corrections to a new ski based on the performance of the old ski. I agree that binding location is the first thing to play with.

A ski that is too short will start sinking on you at the buoy and get you out of position. It's less noticeable at your speeds but it can still happen. The shorter ski turns better but because it turns better, I've found that it's easier to bite off too much in the turn. A lot of the decision should be based on your skill level but as a 15 off skier, my vote is go longer.....or better yet, wait until a ski becomes available in your size.

@shaneh That's why I asked in the first place because if I really get the ski on edge behind the nautique the wake seems to go away. When I do the same thing on the mastercraft I end up on my face. I plan to try again tomorrow. Maybe its an off day but I will work on getting the ski in front of me and bend my knees.

I've been skiing on my old Dixie direct drive boat with a wake plate and think it's an ok wake. I ski the course typically with a 98 nautique and love it. Over the past couple months, I've skied behind a 2012 and 2013 prostar and they kick my butt. I fully understand that I'm not a great skier but I can usually go from 28 to 34mph in a set. However, if I use good form, I don't notice the nautique or my wake. With both mastercrafts, it didn't matter how good I tried to ski, the wake would kick me off my edge every time and I'd go straight at the next buoy. Had quite a few OTF's as well which I haven't done in a long time! Any recommendations? Do I need to focus more on bending my knees and absorb the wake?

I'm trying to figure out the purpose of the triangle grip. Does anyone have one of these or know what the point of it is? Looks kinda painful but so did an elliptical handle at first but I love the elliptical one.

@tfriess I hope so because I just bought a vest off of that site a few days ago. I didn't see any complaints or scams for that site before buying though. If you want, I'll message you a reference link and if you buy something we both get $10. You'd get $10 off your first order which is nice. @espnman I don't think you can go wrong with any newer ski that is actually sized appropriately for you. The carbon version will probably be a little faster and will help you in the course. However, if you start getting addicted to the course, you're probably going to want a different ski in a year or two anyway so it probably doesn't matter what you get now. If you really just want to ski open water, I doubt you'll notice a difference between the two ski's.

Yeah I wish my EXO's could be mounted closer together but I was afraid to ruin them. After a few sets, it didn't really bother me that the rear foot was back further than usual. Guess I could always blame the boots that I'm not running my 34mph pass...