I am getting ready to take the test for my senior judge and there are a few things that I want to clear up not only for me but for anyone that reads this thread.
First, @Bruce_Butterfield "Once you do your first deep water start, that rule no longer applies."
The rule states: If a skier notices that his equipment is damaged AFTER a handle throw, a run that leads to a reride, or a completed pass, BUT PRIOR to the boat starting for the NEXT PASS, the event judges may grant him, upon immediate request, three minutes to repair or change the damaged equipment. (Emphasis added by me)
So if I'm reading this right the first deep water start is not the end of this rule's application. It can be used after a handle throw (that is acceptable to the majority of judges) a granted reride or a completed pass. The confusion I have is that the rule 10.11 handle throws says: He shall not be penalized for so doing, provided the refusal was for a reason acceptable to a majority of the event judges and nowhere in the rules is there any list or definition as to what constitutes an "acceptable reason" so I can only assume this is one of those unwritten rules again that we've been talking about all weekend.
I don't know if broken equipment would be considered "reasonable" and I would highly doubt I would give @Milford a reride because he couldn't get his boot to snap into place but if his boot connection was broken and it wasn't just operator error I would be more than willing to allow him his 3 minutes to attempt to fix it. I would love to hear from some seasoned judges about any unwritten rules regarding this scenario or something similar.