escmanaze

Calls Fort here in Utah does a "public night" a couple times per summer where they allow the shmoes to come up and pay $20 for a set of 4 passes behind their club boat. It's always a great time and there are always at least a few people there skiing the course for their first time. We talk a lot about how to grow the sport. It seems to me that these public nights go a lot farther toward growing the sport than hosting yet another, one more, tournament where we always see the same folks show up that we have been seeing for years. With the growth of the sport in mind, it makes me wonder why we don't see a bit fewer tournaments and a bit more of these public nights. Any thoughts?

So Call's Fort here in Utah does "public nights" a couple times a summer where they allow joe public to come get a tow behind their club boat on their private lake. It's a cool deal - they are awesome. So their old club boat was a 200 that I think was like a 2011 or 2012, something like that. I was never really impressed with the wake. I always felt like it was fairly substantially worse than my 97 SNOB. I always wondered if they actually had the hydrogate adjusted / tuned well. Last night, though, they had upgraded to a 2020 200. The new kind that don't have the saddlebags on the sides. That boat seemed to have a much kinder wake. Like, almost as kind as my 97 - much closer than before. Is this something other people are noticing as well? Or is it just me? For reference, all my passes were 15 off at a variety of 30, 32, and 34 mph.

Whoa!!!! Isn't this literally the opposite of what we have always been taught?

Please pull the deep V handle off for attempting this. All I could picture in my mind was his head getting plopped in there as he goes OTF.

@Jaypro I'm with you. I'm just really not a fan of the direct connect. It has made me turn away from what probably would have otherwise been lots of good HO skis over the last few years.

How in the world did Ford release this Bronco with only 3500 pounds towing capacity? My Mitsubishi Outlander has that much capacity. That's pretty pathetic.

@Ali @Horton Don't forget about Heyday starting at just 20'6". https://www.heydaywakeboats.com/models.html

Well, from a trend perspective, I can tell you that the lots here in Utah have recently appreciated at ridiculous levels. So at least the trend isn't completely a nationwide thing.

Here is another guy who has done a few videos on the topic. While his explanations are sometimes oversimplified, IMO, he still does an overall pretty decent job at what he does.

May God Bless Maverik. Here in Utah, every station they build new nowadays gets a tank for ethanol free 88. Yeah, it's only 88, but we are at elevation, and it's easier to add octane than to take out ethanol. Lots of other gas stations offer it as well. It has become very popular here. This latest announcement makes me even more grateful. I'm not sure what I would do in your shoes. Maybe just start buying big old cans or barrels of VP or Sunoco stuff? Maybe start buying tons of the ethanol treatment additives? Sorry man. I feel terrible for you. Let us know how it goes.

After pulling that hard 6 times across the wake, my sorry fat butt has to drop just to try to recover for a second before I try to do it again. With my conditioning, or lack thereof, I don't have a choice if I want to ski even half decent.

@Such_a_brett I'm actually impressed you are going all the way to 15-17 feet deep for the wake lake. That's pretty cool. Folks surf Utah lake all day every day and have a great time and there is never a single spot on that lake that gets deeper than 13 feet. Most of the time people are surfing in less than 10 feet. Everybody understands those would be better waves if the water was deeper, but what's life, if not full of tradeoffs.

@Taynton Wrong. #9 is clearly the best lot in the whole area, but apparently @Such_a_brett agrees with me as it has a very hefty price premium on it. What a perfect lot though. Somebody who can afford it will get a really good one there. For real man, how you gonna come on ball of spray and say the best lot is on the wake & tube lake?

@Such_a_brett Wait, so you are saying that I can buy one of the first 29 lots, build a house on it, rent out the house to a different person each week, and whoever has it rented for that week can have full access to both lakes? I have to say, I disagree with allowing VRBO on these lakes, but if you are going to allow it, I kind of then want to be the guy who buys it and then VRBOs it. Especially if you already have a property management company on-site to take care of the majority of the management. Hmmmm... Also, what does the leaf on the lot mean on the maps? Already reserved?

@LoopSki On the 4th of July? Sure. But on any average Wednesday, I bet sets will be easy to come by and not rushed at all. I guess only time will tell though eh?

Also, do you have a policy on the topic of VRBO?

@Such_a_brett Still no website!!??

I was young once and know that great music can be a tremendous amplifier (pun intended) of the fun that can be had out on the water. But I'm also old now I know how annoying it can be when people play really loud music in tight spaces. Private lakes? No way!!! Way too many people cramped into way too tight of a space. Stereos should have like a 600 watt limit with nothing above the freeboard of the boat (read: no tower speakers). And even at that, residents should be expected to be very courteous with it. 5,000 watt stereos with speakers everywhere should absolutely be enjoyed out in the middle of big lakes. Great loud music can really be wonderful, especially pointed right at the rider coming off the tower. But such a thing has absolutely no place on small private lakes with houses all around.

Another one that folks here might find interesting.

@Ski_Dad Here is some footage. I guess I will leave it up to the "real barefooters" on this site to determine whether or not it counts off the boom. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1947632485542109

Language is important. He didn't say he was "the top 1% of waterskiers" He said I am "in the top 1% on a waterski or barefooting". So let's look at the math Let's say 5% of the population of the world waterskis. So if you are the worst waterskier of everybody who waterskis, you are still a better waterskier than 95% of the world and you are in the top 5% of the world in relation to waterskiing. Barefooting is probably even worse. Probably less than 1% of the world has ever skipped across the water on bare feet. So you can literally be the worst barefooter out there, and still be in the top 1% where barefooting is concerned. When I listen to how the question is phrased particularly, my understanding of his answer is drastically different than the way you interpreted it. Shoot, maybe my interpretation is wrong...maybe he really does think he is that good...but I don't think so.

Open bow. Nice Tower. Shoot, if the slow speed long line wake is small and the price is right, this boat could really tempt me.

@RAWSki I heard the power issues only diminished if you used high octane gas. :p :p :D :D Now I'm just being a jerk trying to derail this thread. Sorry. I just couldn't help myself. Please ignore me. Carry on.

My favorite is to start them on a HO Freeride. In my case it was a 63". Nice flat bottom helps with stability of getting up and staying up. Once they get a little skill, then move them over to a TRA. And don't forget the deep V handle to also help them get up the first time(s). And don't forget the tall tow point of a tower or pylon if you have access to one - even better learn off a boom if you have access. All these things help them get up the first time. Once that hurdle is cleared - all other hurdles are easy.

"Definitive Answer" :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D