Joeprunc

Interested in this discussion. I just picked up a 2018 Vapor Probuild (coming off a Strada), and set it up with a long and shallow. I only have two sets on it so my thoughts are very preliminary.....but ski seems to be very predictable and stable (not as fast as the strada), but from the post above "the longer preturn and patience hooking up" makes sense with what I'm feeling. Maybe I'll play with the fin this weekend.

Reading through this thread, it seems like most folks commenting are into -32, -35 (so in my eyes, damn good skiers). Is the 2018 Vapor that much better than a 2017/2016 for a -22' skier? I'm on an old Strada and debating if the extra $$ should be spent on a fancy 2018 ski over a 2016/17 is worth it?

I can attest for the great customer support over the last few years from Radar. I've become a loyal customer over the last few years....I ski, wakeboar, and wakesurf and the only thing I own not Radar/Ronix related are my US Gear handle, and Eagle vest.

Your ribs are still bruised...ice your ribs for 30 minutes then try on again >:) ...yes neoprene does shrink over not being used (wetsuits, vests, booties). Also over time (UV and heat dependent) the neoprene breaks down, and doesn't stretch as much as new.

I pieced together a used system on my old boat partially from someone who upgraded there system to Zbox, and partially from PP. It ended up being about the same price as buying a new system. I'd recommend getting a new system from PP.

I have the 100, no you will not see the skier at -35'

@sunvalleylaw - I broke out of -22 earlier year. Now running 95% of my -22 passes, and consistently getting 3-4 at -28. (Beginning of the year my opener was -15 @32, working to -22 @34.) I was banging my head against the inconsistency of -15. By the time I was getting to -22 I was too tired or my head wasn't in it. One day a ski buddy told me to start with a soft -22 at like 33.5 mph. I found this was easier to run than the -15, haven't put the red line on since. My opener is -22 at 33.8 now and then second pass at 34.2. I will never get paid to ski, but having a softer speed has made skiing much more fun for me, and helped me get to the next level! I'm right around the corner of getting -28 also ;) I can attribute this jump to very similar things as @gregy 1) I have not open water skied, only stuck to the course this year. In the past I had a few friends that always and only open water skied, they are injured this year so I haven't been on the boat with them. Last year I was dabbling at -22 and noticed that open water skiing was messing with my course skiing. My season started late (July) 2) Skiing with better skiers and with GOOD drivers. Make sure the driver knows you want him to give you a good pull, not coach you. 3) Focus on one piece of advice at a time. Everyone has numerous flaws in their technique, work only on one at a time. 4) Bought my GF a new ski and she is now hooked and wants to ski more.

Update: I went out twice this weekend and again last night and played some more with it all. The changes really helped dial in the system, it is working fabulously now. What I did: 1) invert RPMs 2) re calibrate speeds (and map course) 3) Control Test passed (no change here) 4) Adjusted Ball 1 times by 2 less than PP settings. 5) adjusted CRS from 1900 rpm to 1850 rpm. Ball times, entrance speed, and course speeds appear to be very very desirable. I am very happy with now with this design and Zbox system.

I ski Normal, wife skis Light (I also tried her at Feather) all speeds were easily 1 to 1.5 mph faster at gates. Going to perform control test. Then moved to PPass's suggestions: If the baselines are not accurate, inverting the RPM and recalibrating should solve this. Your boat should really have no problems settling down and getting great times. The inverting setting reads the other side of the RPM pulse. A lot of Malibu boats run much better with inverted RPM. If a boat is working properly, the baselines should be fine. Lowering the baselines by 50 RPM might help the system lock on faster but I would think this boat should be fine with the standard calibrations. Adjusting the background settings can help if you are already very close to actual times. You press the ON/OFF and UP key at the same time to access the background settings. The control test should hold around 1750 RPM at 1.0v. The RPM should be very stable. If the RPM surges when you turn on electrical devices, like a stereo, we need to move the ground wire to the engine block. Some Malibu boats are grounded to the engine block so this might not be a problem. It is worth checking into. If the CRS is too high, the system will over shoot and have a hard time slowing down. If the CRS is too low the system will surge down and disengage several times. The CRS is only used for the first few seconds of engagement. You can try lowing the CRS and see if it locks on faster, you will know when you get the CRS too low.

New install went easy as pie, setting up will require much more dialing. I've done lots of online research, and discussed extensively with PPass about things to try. Getting perfect times and ball times without a skier. Getting hot gate, 1, and 2 ball with a skier (at 28, 30, and 34).

yes, the suction cup device is a must for surfing with a DD. I made one too. Put about 1000# of ballast and wedge down. Surf with a Ronix Powertail. The more surface area the board has, the easier it will be to go ropeless.

Karma will get him, I promise.

2003-2006 Malibu Response LXI

Thanks for the replies, I've been out of town for a bit. An update after talking with PP. The backlight on the gauge means that the gauge is fine. Gauge and Module are from 2008 V7 I thnk. The no beeping or text on the gauge means the module is bad. I ordered a new module and ZBox, will install and try it out this weekend.

Dom #s I thought were quite expensive. I did something inbetween the DOMs and just generic #s. I ordered from boatdecal.biz was about $40 (for both sides) for custom font and outline. And did it just below the rub rail. It was very easy to apply since all the lettering was on one sticker, and kept everything aligned. http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f169/joeprunc/A8AC4A3D-6D88-41BC-B25A-89DA3922135F_zpsbwaz22ol.jpg

Update from last night, Ran a dummy wire to module, and a dummy ground. The Display now has a back light, but no beeping, buttons don't work. Checked the plug and play wiring from the Malibu wiring harness, and that now has correct voltage. Plugged the plug and play into the module...same results as the dummy wire, back light and no beeping, or button functions. Talked with PP, it sounds like the module took a dive. By the way Perfect Pass customer support is second to none! To throw a question in...I do not ski tournaments, nor ever will, but want to weigh the option for Zbox now that I'm paying shipping from Canada. For someone just skiing for fun is Zbox worth the extra $$, or is V9.12 w/ Stargazer sufficinet? We only have one club member that has Zbox, and I do really enjoy skiing behind his boat (ski at A1). I am just dabbling at getting into -28' @ 34mph

I have a 06 Malibu Response LXI with 3 event Stargazer Perfect Pass. This weekend I upgraded my software to V9.12 (as this was suppose to help with the entrance speed/overshooting going into our course). I was able to ski the first day with the upgrades and the new software did seem to make a significant difference. However, yesterday I took the boat out for a second time and after a 5-10 minute idle in a no wake zone, the PP screen just went blank, no power, nothing. After trouble shooting a bit, it appears that I'm not getting power to the master module. The 2006 DBW PP has a plug and play application which uses existing wiring harness connectors from the boat to connect easily. So there isn't a fuse that I can see between the 12v source and the module. Instead there are four wires coming directly from the boat wiring harness that combine to a smaller pigtail, Green (paddle wheel), Grey (RPM), Black (-), and Purple (12V) (which provides signal/voltage in the 14 pin connector to the PP Module). Using a volt meter, the purple wire is measuring 0 volts. I'm assuming this is the culprit for my issue. I'm working with PP right now and they are providing a lot of help. But I'm asking any other gurus or anyone else that has experienced something like this. And more importantly if there is a hidden fuse between purple wire and boat. I've checked all the breakers, and non of which are tripped. Tonight I'm going to try to run a dummy wire from my battery (with a fuse) to the purple wire, to see if I can get power to the system.

I've got V9 coming my way, I hope this makes driving our course easier for the "newer" boat drivers.

Thank you for all the comments and replies. I think the biggest thing I will take away from this is spend $$ towards coaching. I've got some guys in my club that are amazing and offering tons of insite, and I know most if not all of my progression is due to their coaching. My three major down falls skiing are: short pulling, skiing wide, and holding onto the handle (all inter related)...is the pro coach going to regurgitate the same info? Or will he/she be able to shed new light on these issues? I weight 155 lbs and treat my gear quite well, always bagged and hand carried. Either in the boat ski locker, or hanging on the wall rack in the garage. I have not a clue how many sets I have on the ski. I do love shiny toys, and have been on somewhat of a spending rampage for the last two years and trying to think about slowing down, so that's more of where this question is coming from. More fun always makes skiing better, but honestly I have fun on the water no matter what I'm doing. If I do upgrade my plan would be to give the old ski to my GF who is just starting to get enough confidence to ski in the course....new ski might = win win ;). @skijay Thank you for the insite on the Radar's and yes Radar has helped and provided me great customer service for a few issues in the past, and I have become somewhat brand loyal to them. Thank you for the insite on the 2016-17s, this backs what I've heard as well. The 2018s are out of my price point. @mikey the 2016 YZ250F in the garage could always raise the same question in the motocross community :blush:

This has been asked time and time again, but I feel like it is usually with antiquated gear. But I'm curious where the line for antiquated gear starts? I've ski the last year of the Strada and it has gotten me from -15 at 30 mph and now I'm dabbling into -28 at 34 mph. I love the ski and know there is still a lot more potential in the ski for me to tap into. I don't plan on skiing competitively. With the recent Vapor Review I realized that my ski is now 4 generations old. I always want something new and shiny in my bag, however, my question to the ski gurus...is the Strada considered antiquated gear? Will an upgrade to a 2017 or 2018 Vapor get me 6 extra buoys? Or should I put my $$ toward more boat gas, a new car, new truck tires, a new dirt bike, new pair of snow skis, or trip somewhere exotic?

If you don't want to look like a fool and want to be invited back follow these rules: 1) Be humble, appreciative, and happy. You aren't going to ski like you did 20/30 years ago, but I bet you can have just as much fun. 2) Help boat owner out. Prep, wipe down, and while one the water (driver shouldn't have to get off his/her seat unless he is getting in the water). 3) Bring gas or $ for gas. Like others have said, -15' depending on the ski size and boat 30mph - 32mph and recommend open water skiing first. If you can't open water ski, just shadow buoys and make 6 turns. Once you feel like rounding balls, go for 1,2 and 5,6

Nacimiento and San Antonio are lakes I'd prefer to go to above the other Southern Cal ones if spending a weekend. However, I would agree with @LoopSki , any lake is going to be a zoo on Labor Day. There are some nice lakes in N and C California. I went house boating this year at Shasta, and will definitely be going back up there to camp off the McCloud arm for a fraction of the cost.

Let the wife ski both and let her decide. I'm a Malibu guy, but the Mastercraft 197s are one of the best looking boats on the water, period. With that said and seeing that you have two growing boys I think the TXI will be more family versatile (better slow speed ski wake, wedge for wakeboarding, higher transom for cruising)

I can't answer for you or your club, but if it was my boat, I would want a tower. I've had my boat with and without a tower, and greatly prefer a tower. Keeps gear out of the way, place to hang towels, teach people to ski/wakeboard, object to safely grab if someone is coming in hot to the dock, bimini out of the way and nicely secured. The wedge is really really nice as well to allow for alternative sports. With that said I am an average Joe who will not be buying a boat newer than 10 years old, but when I upgrade next, my boat WILL be a DD with a tower and wedge. It cost me $5k (and 4 weeks of no boat) to add a tower, new bimini, and cover. However I'm sure I use my boat significantly different than your club does. One thing that you might want to weigh in also is, does the club have kids/wives/members that want to learn, trick ski, wakeboard, or wakesurf....or is you club one that doesn't allow anything other than experienced buoy skiers? Having a tower helps gets more people on the water and exposed to the sport.

@lpskier I couldn't agree more, I also mix in motocross.