Ghibli

Well, as a consumer of water ski products, the extra variables caused by the sun setting and the night skiing is what got me to watch the webcast and their commercials. Anything can happen. If it was a "normal" tournament during the day, one, I wouldn't have been home to watch, two, I wouldn't have bothered if I was. Amazing that the "best" still made it as far as they did even with all the variables. Three of the top four seeds made the semi-finals. Impressive for sure. I've paid attention to the Big Dawg for three years. I don't recall a subjective re-ride. Was this the first time somebody asked for one for something that would be judge's "discretion" as opposed to something concrete such as a speed control issue? I say make it the Nautique Show. No re-ride requests or protests allowed. All determinations will be initiated and made by the judge. So a guy's binding pops off, tough luck, the sun blinds your gate shot, tough luck, rollers knock your ski out around two ball, tough luck, camera flashes cause you to lose focus, though luck, lights flash at the end of the course, try again......

What mental toughness from both skiers though...wow.

Would have really been a mess if Rogers won. Miller deserves to be a little miffed i would think...

Go Andy,,,

Somebody didn't know the code. Sounds like order may be restored.....scratch that.

More like Bush vs Gore.

Wow, I've heard of pros declining re-rides for this exact reason at Moomba, complete hearsay just for full disclosure. Sad.

Pretty sure that one can't be had for the upper thirties....

The code has been broken. Last year, as the runner-up was pulling out for his last pass, the ball field lights near the lake went out completely, drastically changing the lighting on the course. No chance it didn't affect him. No re-ride. No drama. Congratulated the winner and went home.

Yeah, I've seen that one. Thanks for the link. That guy sells a lot of boats. Must of an "in." Hard to convince the non-course skier that over 500 hours is really nothing. I've found most with less than five hundred aren't willing to break into the thirties. I'll keep my eye out.

Point me to the 200 OBs with less than say 500 hours that can be had for the "upper" thirties, i.e. $38,000. The OP said he has found "some." I can't find any.

@alloutsledders Could you post the links to the 200 OBs in the high 30s? If not, what years and hours are you seeing in that price range? I've not been able to find those listings except for very high hour boats. I'm seeing more mid to lower 40s. Thanks.

It appears to have been stored for long periods of time in a "garden setting". That has to add a few dollars.....

If you crave a softer, easier pull and setup is not an issue, just put a 422 on your 5.7 and keep your money. If you want your 6.0 to feel similar to a 5.7, run a 654 .

@mzito I agree. I was responding to your "trend" comment. Just trying to make the point that it is hard to determine what are "normal" reliability issues and what are chronic issues with a particular model by a few posts on the internet. Even harder to do with automobiles given the much larger production runs. These things sometimes take on a life of their own. I'm guessing I'm going to hear, "So, did you hear 200s have problems with their depth finders?" Hope somebody has a solution for you. I've certainly sought feedback myself when I have had an issue. And when a problem is a trend, I don't know what percentage that would be, I would agree that the model deserves to be called-out.

Every car model in America has a thread about bad parts, even for parts with the highest reliability rates the industry has ever known. If all Nautique owners that have a working depth finder posted, I'm guessing the non-working posts would be hard to find. A few posts on a message board does not make a recall. I've driven four different Nautiques, three 200s, this month and none had a malfunctioning depth finder, just to throw in a few more data points that mean nothing. I rode in one new Mastercraft as well and the owner/driver seemed as happy as a clam. I must assume everything was working, including the fuel gauge, or he would have certainly been venting. Oh, the speedometer wasn't working on the '14 200 5.7. That owner said it came that way and it will stay that way unless something else pops up. Over the moon about his boat as well. That pesky speedo hasn't muted his enthusiasm.

I say constant speed and ban the wing. Wonder how many buoys that would clip....

@webbdawg99‌ what make, model, year, and hours are you considering? where does one go from a nice 196?

@Than_Bogan Maybe fewer injuries because taking hits and scrapping would become futile? Most have given up trying to muscle the boat around, or at least trying to give up the urge, already. That handle gets ripped away pretty well as it is now. And in most cases, consider yourself lucky you couldn't hold on longer.

That is what you call providing liquidity. If your boat was a stock, you would receive a rebate(credit), as long as you were using a decent broker. If anyone "can't" sell their boat, you surely know why...

http://www.bcpa.net/RecInfo.asp?URL_Folio=504113180010

In 2012, N. Smith faltered at the two highest rated tournaments and it cost him the number one ranking because the same person happened to win both of them. I say well played W. Asher. Looks like if the top six point totals were considered, N. Smith would have ended up ranked number one. My novice guess why that is not done is that it would really penalize the participants that are not able to make it to six rated tournaments for whatever reason. Just the reality of a low level sport. Maybe more performances could be considered in order to achieve, say, a top five ranking. As it is now, if you want the number one ranking, better deliver at the top two tournaments. Weighted point systems are used in golf, tennis, track and field, and most other individual sports that come to mind. A win at the Masters golf tournament gets you more than twice the number of points of a run of the mill PGA event. T. Degaspari looks to be an early favorite for the 2014 number one. Stay tuned.

All this discussion about wake... a flat boat beats them all. Now which one do you think is the easiest to drive? No debate there. Unless you always have a skilled driver, the decision is very easy. Simply, one is a freight train. The others are Winnebagos in a crosswind.

Eagle One Wax As-U-Dry is usually cheaper at Wal-Mart for the 23oz bottle, under $5. Used to get it closer to $4. Amazon is getting sneaky with their pricing. They seem to be pricing products based on the username. I've seen different prices before and after log-in and significant price increases on products that I've bought in the past. When I search prices from other providers, the cost increase is not evident market wide. Ground flax seed is a good recent example. If I would have bought using the amazon past purchase link, I would have paid 40% more than I did a few months ago and 50% higher than a competitor I found after noticing the price increase. Can you imagine the uproar if Wal-Mart decided to charge each costumer different prices in their stores. I guess Amazon is finally feeling the pressure to monetize. Beware. Obviously, the dollar savings is not the issue and I imagine not having to trek through Wal-mart is well worth the extra money to some. The larger pattern is the concern.

@Bruce_Butterfield This is just the understanding I have gathered and, again, could be completely off base. There are many articles about ZO with disclaimers that the author is just sharing their theory. ZO's website does not delve into the functionality, so a lot of misunderstanding is out there. If someone has a definitive source and, not hearsay, please feel free to refute. I've come to the realization that too many "sources" for ZO information were not even aware that the system has accelerometers and still look at the system through their PerfectPass lens. ZO's use of accelerometers is confirmed on the ZO website. I would agree with some of your post if you substitute PerfectPass for all your ZO references. While ZO has a rpm mode, ZO in tournament mode does not care about RPM. Accelerometers, combined with gps determined speed, control engine response. This is why ZO is able to give "perfect" pulls without knowing anything about boat load, skier weight, wind or current. The system "senses"(through the use of accelerometers) what the boat is actually doing as opposed to an inference from rpm change. What appears to be clear from comparing different sources of information is that the ZO number setting controls maximum allowable acceleration to return the boat to speed after a load has caused a deceleration and the letter determines the path to that maximum acceleration and the path back down to zero accelleration. In this spirit, the system does not really care what engine it is controlling, as long there is enough excess torque available to accomplish the software's objectives. However, we are not using ideal power sources, so there will be differences between similar and dissimilar power plants, which I touched on in my previous post. Boat weight and stability will also have more than a secondary impact on how the pull feels. And might as well throw driver technique in there to be thorough.