Wayne

@XH2Oskier what onboard marine charger would you recommend for Optima batteries? From what I’ve read Optima batteries need a slightly different charger than your run of the mill stuff but I’m not too sure the Optima chargers are really meant to be permanently mounted in a boat.

For that year, PP would be the only option unless the boat has been repowered with a 2007 or newer engine/ECM/throttle. As @Clydesdale mentioned, with PP stargazer no magnets are required. Great boat by the way. One of my favorites from that timeframe.

The slalom times is just a graphic, I’ve seen it on other boats from that era. The key pad next to the times looks like it used to have some sort of cover that was once glued over it noting what the buttons did. Trace the wires and you will have an answer. I have no clue what that thing is in the first picture.

@Horton the passion you have for the sport shows by the way you have a unique memory for many, if not all, of those skis. I’m curious if there are any skis you got rid of. I think some others asked but are there any skis in your collection you pull back out for a nostalgic ride?

I’m having a really hard time finding a good picture, but the boat Marcus Brown took on the Mastercraft Face to Face tour has been one of my favorites. Outside of that, the dark blue and white classic Stars and Stripes boats.

That is a candidate for the Budweiser “Real men of genius” or the Darwin Awards.

I still use one of the original aluminum Sequence plates. I use the little neck washers in the slots at the front and back of the plate. There is a foam pad under the plate but the way it’s trimmed there is no material around the screw holes. So if you don’t use any spacers it actually bends the plate. The engineer in me says that’s just wrong. I’ve always used the spacers so the plate is nice and flat when the screws are properly tightened. The ski certainly does flex under the plate. My plate shows wear marks from the movement.

I run a fatsac to balance out for the driver.

Could you just reference the USA Water Ski Approved Tournament Towboats History list? Seems that would do the trick with some added caveats for passenger/cargo load, noise and direct drive only since there are a few v-drives on the approved tournament tow boat list.

@LibbyFL very cool ski. My father had one very similar but it was 70”. My mother sold it in a garage sale over 10 years ago and I’ve been looking for the same ski ever since. Unfortunately a 66” is to small for me. I do commend you on bringing it to this forum. Hopefully it finds a good home. Old skis are fun to break out on occasion, just to remind you of how much things have progressed.

Dang it!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIv1F0YjqLe/?igshid=nl93qzbsbvjj Someone on here has to know where this happened.

A few thoughts and questions that this tread provoked. @Horton how do ski manufacturers quantify ski performance? We look at bouy count but some time last year I started to think that bouy count is really an assessment of the skiers ability to use a particular ski. Recalling threads I’ve read on this forum I believe skis are more subjectively evaluated for performance that objectively. Bouy count is a byproduct of ski performance, skier ability and environmental conditions. Skier ability and environment conditions are really noise factors that will have an influence on the skis assessment. Here me out now, as I’ve been trying to develop something for a while and I’m kind of stuck so it just sits in the back of my head. In the automotive industry we’ve been able to objectively assess vehicle performance since the car was invented. 0-60 MPH, cornering acceleration, fuel economy and so on are objective measures. However it been only over the last 10-15 years we’ve had methods to assess driveability objectively. For years engineers provided an “expert opinion” on a 0-10 scale of how certain driving events felt. Across the industry most experienced engineers would have subjective ratings for the same event that were with in a half a point of each other if they evaluated things independently. I think the same holds true for skis but we’re stuck in assessing things subjectively and using a byproduct of the actual ski performance (bouy count) as the measure. So what objective things can we measure to assess the performance of a ski? I really feel this would give evidence on how small, or large, adjustment increments should be and it would tell us if a ski is overly sensitive to a particular adjustment. PS for all I know ski manufacturers are already doing this and just keeping it a secret. I’ve really been interested in being able to put measurement devices on a ski and capture real time data. I’m just not sure what all would be useful or practical for the budgets of a ski company let alone the average skier.

If you can’t get a factory shipping cover, just get it shrink wrapped. It’s not that expensive and you can have it covered darn near top to bottom.

@OTF thanks for sharing, it reminds me of when I moved from HO Animals to Radar Vectors about 7 years ago. I had a season of struggling with the change and kept switching back and forth like you described. The next season I took off since we moved to a new house. This break seemed to be the reset I needed. The Animals stayed on the shelf ever since. I didn’t get much water time last year so it’s a good reset point. The few times I got out I took some time to really think and feel what was going on while skiing. We will see if all that reflection pays off. More water time is defiantly another goal this year.

@lpskier I agree with your comment but I’m committed to making the change. I’m a RFF skier but my left knee is in really rough shape, I’m hoping a little freedom on the rear foot can help.

After 20 years of skiing with double boots it’s time to try a RTP.

Wakebike? I see that going about as good as the flying tubes did.

Had to get a lift in 2014. We bought this house in 2013 and the lift left behind by the previous owner didn’t have the capacity to handle a ski boat. I’m cringing at what its going to cost to do the dock. The existing all wood dock installed by the original owner was nice in its day but is nearing the end of its life.

@ScarletArrow you raise an interesting point with regards to the vest having a physical failure from a crash. Your post jogged my memory and I had to pull out some old life vests I keep around for odd reasons. One of them says it’s rated for up to 50 MPH impact with some additional wording hinting to the fact it will maintain its integrity in a crash up to that speed. It’s the only vest I have that states a speed rating. On edit: the one I mentioned above is an older O’Neill. After some more digging I found a Slippery When Wet brand life jacket that says it’s rated for 100 MPH crash integrity. Both of these vests are from about 2002-ish.

@steve97tj all of my carburetor experience is with Holley and I’ve used the 4160 on several vehicles. A few things I’ve learned over the years about Holley. Replace the metering block and float bowl gaskets with the reusable kind from Moroso or a similar aftermarket company. It’s makes working on them so much easier. Clean every little orifice with carb cleaner when you have it apart. The smallest piece of debris can cause crazy issues. Also make sure you have a good fuel filter in place. On cars I would pull out the little brass filters Holley puts on some float bowls but on marine applications I always left them in. If you don’t have externally adjustable float bowls, add them. I always started with the floats so if I flipped the bowl upside down the top of the float was parallel to the top of the bowl. This is just a starting point and need to adjust from there with the carb installed as it would be under normal operation (in this case try to note the attitude of the boat in the water when in neutral, you can always uncouple your trailer and use the tongue jack to set the level). If the carb was tuned correctly and then you started to have issues of it running rich there are 3 things that cause this on a Holley. 1) Debris in a metering circuit 2) Excessively high float level or a stuck open float needle and seat. 3) Blown/damaged power valve All of the above can cause the idle metering screws to be non-responsive but so can a vacuum leak. I’ve missed capping a vacuum port on the base plate a few times on a rebuild and it’s thrown me off a few times. However a vacuum leak usually causes a lean idle condition and high idle but you can compensate the idle its adjustment screw and then you will be chasing your tail unless you can hear the leak.

@steve97tj you can but I would recommend getting side hung adjustable float bowls over center hung for a marine application. Side hung float bowls are less susceptible to the effects from bow rise/fall. With center hung float bowls, the rear bowl has a tendency to over flow when taking off due to the way the fuel sloshes in conjunction with the bow rising.

There really isn’t a yes/no here due to safety implications. The situation and surroundings drives a lot of “what ifs”. In a controlled environment, like a dedicated slalom lake, they can be sufficient to float you for starts and provide some impact protection. If you get knocked out, there is minimal depth and current so chances are it will be easy to assist you in an emergency. When you get into more open waters, all of that control goes away. If the worst should happen, with a CGA vest you are at least floating and easy to find. With a comp vest that not guaranteed, I sink if I exhale while wearing mine.

Here in Michigan, the Detroit show is cancelled. The second one in March in Novi is still on the calendar but I bet it’s tentative. I attend and support the planning of some automotive industry conferences that use the same venues and they were looking to stay virtual through 2021. I expect most indoor boat shows this year will be cancelled. With the recent news of vaccines I’m hoping we are nearing the end. While I don’t expect a complete return to pre-COVID times, some relief from it will be a welcome site for everyone.

@Philippe_D before adding aftermarket ballast I would look at your wake and ski it outside the course at 49, 52, 55 and 58 KPH. You will notice the wake will progressively improve. What I have noticed with the v-drives that use a ski boat type hull is you cannot defeat the physics of the hull hydrodynamics and weight distribution. There will be a critical speed where the hull is not generating enough lift to reduce the wetted surface and the wakes. Adding weight to change hull balance will more than likely not have the result you are looking for. I would move passengers in the boat to see the effect before purchasing/installing ballast.