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@jpwhit, Now there is a project I'd love to hear more about!

@cvaught & @Waternut, Accelerometer data is not available. A bit of background: I started writing my app general enough to receive, parse and plot data from all kinds of sensors. I envisioned the obvious position, speed and acceleration, but also wanted to support plotting strain gauge data, ski angle and rotation, etc. The skier can input data about the set (speed, rope length, zero off setting, notes, scores, etc) and the app will save that data with the set. You can then view and compare plots between passes in a single set, or between passes from different sets. You can also import and export the data to share (email your latest set to a coach to analyze, or import data from a friend or pro to compare and overlay with your data). Because it logs your ski and fin settings with each set you can also use the app as a training log book of sorts. In the future I had envisioned incorporating video as well but have not had time to play with that. @horton and I had some discussions a while back about what we could do with the data from the trace. I offered to support the sensor in my app (through connecting with the trace server through their API) and import the trace high resolution position and speed plots into my app. It quickly became clear that the data plots looked great on my full size tablet, but not so great on hortons phone!!! He was more interested in a desktop app, but I didn't have the time to write one for him. For the time being, we settled on adding the ability to export excel files from my app that john could play with and investigate. As john mentioned, using my app is a bit cumbersome currently. For example, In order to plot the passes on an x/y grid from the gps longitude and latitude coordinates I have to know where the slalom course is. I had imagined mapping a course similar to zero off. However the gps data from the tablet wasn't accurate enough to make that function well. So for now you need to find your course on google maps and grab the lat/long coordinates from the right hand entrance and exit gate balls and input them into the app. Give me a few weeks and I'll see what I can do about getting the code up on github. In the meantime I'm happy to answer more questions you have about it. Thx, B

@cvaught, I'm certainly open to collaboration on it and will answer any and all questions about the app. I have given a fair bit of thought to open sourcing it and that is somthing I will consider. B

@Waternut, X is distance traveled down course (in centimeters) with -5500 being the 55's and 0 being the enterance gates. Y is cross course distance (again in cm). Yes there was a bunch of data processing done to convert this data from the gps coordinates you get from trace into xy data. I've written an android app that will import the trace data from their data server and (among other things) export the data to excel for @horton. I'll do a write up on the app in the next few days, but am happy to answer any questions you have. Cheers, Brad

@prk, We ski on Sproat lake on the island. I've been on deas but lost track of the crew that pulled me over there. Sorry I can't be more help for you but drop me a message if you get over to the island and need a pull.

I know there are a few cyclists on here (@dumbass, @skidawg). This is their version of this conversation.

Skimming the forum thread titles I keep misreading this one as "new ski OR girlfriend. Is graphite senate a good choice"!

My guess would be that it has as much to do with improved ropes as it does with the speed control?

My boat! '94 Nautique with perfect pass zbox. Is it the best wake? Not by a long shot... have I logged more ski hours on it than any other? Yep. At 35 off and beyond the dip can be distracting if you aren't used to it though. Close second would be either of my ski partners mid 2000s 196s. One PP and one zero off... I'm not fussy!

I thought this was going to be a thread about how sometimes on the water we all take ourselves a little too seriously and sometimes need to just get out and muck around! Take a few wake jumps or tick ticks on the slalom! Give it a go, it'll be the most fun you've had on the water in a long time!

C# or c++. Or tell me what you want to see and I'll work it into my android app. Drop me a line if you want to play around with it.

@horton, @dlokshin informed me a while back that changes were on the way, but last time I checked out their website I couldn't find any new info. I unfortunately don't have a trace to test with, but I do have a xensr to play around with. Now I'm waiting on some API info from them and some warmer water! Though I do fully intend to support Trace data as well. I'll definitely plot any new data you send me though and use it for testing and development.

@AdamCord, Do you have access to an android device? I'll share the interface I've been working on to display this type of info. I'm trying to design it general enough to import data from the Trace, as well as the Xensr, and other relevant info (strain gauge, etc). I would eventually like to incorporate video as well. I have it set up as a 'ski log book' that will import your set data and store things like fin settings, notes, etc with it. You can then compare the data with previous sets. Drop me a line if it sounds like somthing you would like to play around with.

@Kelvin, @horton, My Xensr shipped yesterday. Won't be on the water until spring but I plan to have some fun on the snowboard or mt bike in the mean time. Still waiting for the developers API though to have some real fun with it! I emailed @dlokshin a few weeks ago about the new trace API but still waiting to hear back. Looking forward to spring!!

Wow! @LLUSSA, some of you guys change boats more than others I know change underwear! I bought my '94 Nautique in 2000 and 15 years later it is still going strong. I'd love a new one but at only 32-35off, it's unfortunately not the boat that is holding me back!

As a kid (~25 years ago) I had a shirt that had a simelar picture and the saying 'I get high with a little help from my friends' on the back. The front was a logo that said 'adrenaline junkies' I think it has since passed through all the stages that a good waterski shirt goes through.... 1) good t-shirt. 2) old ratty shirt that I wore anyway. 3) hockey undershirt. 4) boat rag...

@eleeski, Can you tell us any more about your American skier mod?

@eleeski, I'd disagree about your comment that minute differences in wakeboard flips make it a bit weird. The names are a bit funny but in my opinion the tricks are quite easy to distinguish. Perhaps you chose a bad example but a scarecrow is just a toe side front roll to revert, whereas a whirlybird is a tantrum (laid out back flip - think back flip off a diving board) with an overhead frontside 360. Most wake tricks fall into a base invert (back roll, front roll, back flip, front flip) and then add frontside or backside spins to them. Of course in wake you can approach the wake toe side/heel side, and riding regular or switch(backwards). (Same as tricks) Then, give them a goofy name to confuse the old people!

Didn't Mike Kjellander have a book 'power slalom'?

Growing up in northern BC we had 5 public lakes within 45 minutes of town with slalom courses. That was in the 90s but I'd imagine the courses are still there for the most part... Now I'm in southern BC (Vancouver island) and still no private sites anywhere close, but 2 courses on Sproat lake that we frequent and help maintain. Mornings and weekdays can still be great water.

@lcgordon, Just joining a private site isn't an option for everyone... Closest one to me is a 5 hr trip including an 80$ ferry ride. However, I have miles of glass calm water to shred. I'd buy one in a second and put it in 'continuous' mode and see how many turns I could rip in a row!!

I agree with @RazorRoss3. I don't think 'light on the line' was ever meant to be 'don't get max leverage against the boat'. Instead it means 'do it efficiently'. Think of two cars driving the exact same road. The first car gasses it at every straight stretch and hits the brakes every turn. The second car goes slower through the straights but carries more speed through the turns. They both take the exact same time to drive the exact same path, but car 2 has used a fraction of the gas to do it. It has been much more efficient. A skier can be on his back leg through the wakes and 'plowing'. He is leaning like crazy but in an inefficient position and putting much more tension on the line than someone who is more balanced and centered on their ski moving at the exact same speed and path behind the boat. To me, ( light on the line == ski efficiently)

@DefectiveDave, I've been building my android app, Swerve, to plot any different type of data I can get my hands on (position/angle/velocity/rope tension/etc) as well as hopefully in the future sync up with video to really give a clear picture of what is going on. Unfortunately I haven't had much time to work on it this summer, but I'm still actively developing it (and seeking help if anyone wants to dig into it!!) After playing with the data from trace I was excited and figured it was worth further exploration but didn't want to buy a sensor myself. I had already ordered another device (xensr) that was supposed to be to market around the same time and I didn't want to spend too much money on this project. I am still waiting for my xensr over a year later but it looks like they will ship soon. Xensr had promised a few cool things: 1) ability to get the data in real time or after each pass for analysis while you are dropped at the end of course. Trace requires an internet connection and communication with their servers to get the data 2) were promising higher resolution interpolated data at higher frequency. 3) were offering things like 'ski roll angle' and other parameters that were not available on trace. I have also enjoyed working with the IPA gang and think I can get some more useful data out of that system with further data processing. Cheers, Brad

My Reefs have been my most durable of the 4way stretch shorts I've tried (oneil, billabong, quicksilver being the others)

@horton, I've had a xensr on order since last November and received various "it'll be shipping within the next few weeks" emails from David. I'm happy to hear they are still in business since he stopped replying to email months ago, but I'm not holding out too much hope.... The shipping status of my order is still 'pending' and I'll be very surprised to see that change soon. I have also been looking for a developer API for over a year now from him. They pulled down their developer site about a year ago and haven't been able to get any info since. They obviously aren't at all concerned about having any apps to support it upon launch... My (slightly annoyed) 2 (canadian) cents.