XR6Hurricane

One handed jock strap adjustment to get things back in place after takeoff. Whether ladies are in the boat or not.

The Rock Aqua Jays are running triple 300 XS Mercs now. Egad.

My acid reflux acted up as soon as I fogged the motor and covered the boat.

tfriess - A twin-rigged Hydrodyne is on my bucket list. Would like to find a solid used hull and put together a couple of old 150 or 200 Mercs from pieces to keep the cost down. But with gas hovering around $4 and not enough time or space for the toys I already have, it probably ain't gonna happen.

NOW I LIKE THAT!!! I see you are pulling them from the pylon. If I'm pulling more than a couple people, I use a bridle to give the boat more advantage. Plus my pylon base is just held into the floor with four big lag screws. I'm assuming they started on skis and jumped out? Or did they all do deepwater barefoot starts?

Would like to see that. Yes, back to the topic, a FREE new boat is the best deal of all! A neighbor was selling his dad's house and the old man had a late 1980s Four Winns in the garage. Had the Iron Duke four banger, hadn't been run in years, and he wasn't even sure if the block had been properly drained. The gas had to have been 5 years old at least. Overall the boat was in pretty nice condition though for being 25+ years old. He refused to even try to test run it for anyone because he didn't want to get into it and getting rid of the boat was the least of his worries. Said "$400 and it is what it is. Buyer beware." So a fireman with two kids on a budget from a couple blocks away gave him the $400, dragged it over to his house, and fired it right up. I don't think he had to do anything major to it. They've been using it as their regular boat for several years now.

My dad always had high perf outboards so I was born into it. He had two early wooden Switzers, a 1966 Switzer 13' Shooting Star, a 1969 Checkmate 13', a 1973 Vampire 13', and still has his 1978 Pacecraft 15'. My other favorite pic is below. Best part was I pulled it off with a 23" Trophy. Should have gone on Mercury's calendar. Sorry, kind of off topic.

Thanks davemac...I had only seen 67"s.

Skiing the course would be fun to try, but skiing for 30 seconds at a time isn't really where my heart is. I'd like to try it for kicks but public ones are scarce around here. My idea of a slalom run is 4-5 minutes long and 20-30 cuts. The river 10 minutes from my door is 15 miles of paradise if you get out there any time before 10:00. Your comment about the Theory being too wide for the higher speeds and launching you off the wake was something else I had wondered about, particularly with the Triumph. Will have to demo these skis and see before buying. Would the Senate struggle at 30 mph? The Concept skis fairly well at that speed but it struggles a bit, particularly on glass. 31 is where it really starts to feel like it's running on all cylinders, especially if there is a very light wind ripple to help.

Bought my Rapid Craft with a 90 hp Evinrude on it in 1998. It was a 1995 rig that had been sitting for over a year on the dealer's used boat lot and they were dying to get rid of it. Started at $11,400 and by the time Thanksgiving came around they were down to $8500. The trailer and the motor were like new (maybe 10 hours on the motor) and would have cost that much together, so the hull was basically free. The hull was a little faded from neglect and the interior had a little mildew but cleaned up pretty good. Since then...way too much money put into it (new motor, new trailer, new transom), but far less than a new boat would be, and I don't care because I love the boat.

In the Radar world (which is what I'm leaning toward), would the Senate or the Theory make more sense for me? I don't want to buy a ski that's either beyond or below my ability. It also looks like neither one is available in a 65". I'm kind of on the border of 65"/67" by the book though, so I guess that would be OK. Also, I see they have foam cores. Will that still last, or does the foam break down? Is it like a Klegecell material or what? thager - when you say "lower highs", will they still accelerate as hard?

Thanks for the feedback guys. Now let me ask the question in a different way. You can still buy a new Concept so obviously it has stood the test of time. Everyone keeps saying how awesome the new stuff is, but what is it about the newer skis that would set them apart for the type of skiing I'm doing?

Thinking of getting a new ski for next season. I free ski 30-32 mph at -15. Sometimes will do -22. I'm 5'9, 125 lbs. Never been on a course, don't really have the opportunity to get on a course, don't have a lot of interest in the course but might try one for kicks sometime. Looking to stay under $500 and want something that will last for a good 10 years anyway. The ones I'm thinking of are the H.O. Triumph, Radar Theory (or maybe a Senate??). I've been on a 65" Connelly Concept for 14 seasons and have always liked the big sweet spot and the forgiveness. I always know what the ski is and isn't going to do. The spray is kind of crappy but I like everything else about it. I know the spray doesn't matter but it does on the river on Sunday morning. There's nothing wrong with it for my purposes but I'm curious about the newer stuff. With my light weight I'm not sure if any of the shaped skis would be too wide for me to really dig in and throw a good wall, but I've never tried one. Also, want opinions on bindings as it looks like things have changed a great deal in that department too. Would probably get double boots this time but might just tick with a RTP. I want something that is easy to put on in the water and DON'T want anything that is dangerous in a fall because the extra performance isn't worth the risk to me. Thanks for any suggestions.

Interesting advice from Shane - thanks! Will keep that in mind for next season. I'm also a -15 open water skier and struggle with the wakes too at times. One question though just to clarify: are you saying that 15 offers should "not" try to roll the ski over and drive it through the wake? Or are you saying that they "should", but that there is a fine line between driving through the wake on edge and trying to fight the towboat too much? I've always thought that having it on edge through the wakes was the way to go regardless of speed or line length. Edit: 6balls was typing his reply at the same time I was. Good to see someone out there actually admit that inboards are not always the best bet for longer lines and slower speeds :). It's not necessarily the height of the wake. The firmness and more gradual slope compared to an outboard or I/O is what makes it tough.

I go at it pretty hard all summer with the boating, skiing, and motorcycling, so by this time of year I'm kind of ready to rest and catch up on things around the house. I'm into hiking so that kind of takes over once the weather cools off enough to enjoy that. Waded into the lake to take the buoy off of my mooring today and all I can say is these nights in the 30s are cooling the water down quick. 29 here tonight. I had thoughts of skiing one more time behind my dad's boat but it ain't gonna happen.

If you really want to experience frustration with the wake, spend most of your time behind a high perf outboard or tri-hull and then get behind something like a Malibu Sunsetter at 30 mph with the full 75'.

Don't sell the Type B personality 8:00 - 5:00 cubicle crowd short. They might not have a $70,000 towboat and a $2000 ski, but they get more time on the water because they're more likely to call in sick and go skiing. Plus they're not spending their evenings and weekends on the laptop working, LOL!! For the record, I'm a Type A German mixed with just enough Type B Englishman to keep me from having a stroke. I've never played hooky from work either. I work in purchasing, pretty much a 38-40 hour a week job. But I did persevere through a master's degree.

All I can say is the story was not from the Internet or e-mail. It was relayed by a friend of mine who lived near that river...we used to boat there all the time and I had a couple people tell me about how every now and then the snakes congregate. Maybe it's when they are mating. I'm not from that area so I don't know but didn't care to find out. Never encountered it myself, thank God.

Didn't happen to me, but the worst day-ender that I ever heard of for skiing was on the Tickfaw River in Louisiana. Heard about it when I moved down there in 2002. I guess a couple years before that, a lady was slalom skiing and apparently went OTF and tumbled into the lily pads near shore. The people in the boat heard her screaming her lungs out and by the time they got back to her she was already dead. 1100 cottonmouth bites in less than a minute. In alligator country, the snakes are a much bigger concern than the 'gators would ever be. I skied on the Tangipahoa River (small tributary to Lake Pontchartrain) numerous times and it's full of gators. They generally stay well away from a boat with a motor that is running. The snakes also like to hang out where people don't, but they tend to congregate in these big piles under the surface near the cypress stumps and lily pads.

Never been there but have heard about how rough it gets. I looked into it a few years ago for a trip and I was told that my 19 footer was no place for it. The resorts are also expensive from what I could tell. If you are looking to do a skiing vacation in the northwoods, find yourself one of the many thousands of lakes in Minnesota. Not one of the big ones, but say 500 acres or less. There are so many to choose from that they don't really get crowded if you distance yourself from the Twin Cities. There is also a lack of big boats on the smaller lakes there. It's almost all 17' walleye boats with 75 - 115 hp motors and then the occasional ski boat. There is enough water for everyone so there's really no entanglements with the fishermen from what I could tell. In fact the people use their walleye boats for skiing and pulling the kids on tubes too. My ex-girlfriend's parents lived only an hour from the Twin Cities and we were the only boat on the lake making a wake at 8:30 AM on the 4th of July. Even the middle of the day was livable and the evenings got perfect from about 8:00 - 9:00. I think we finally quit about 9:15. The days are of course long. Just bring your wet suit if your blood is at all thin.

Cripes...that's nuts. I'd actually like to thin a few of my wood ones out to make room for a couple of new ones.

I've learned a lot here too and enjoy the site. Thanks Horton. Did more skiing this year than the last several years put together. Hoping to pick it back up next year again. Cooling off big time here in northern IL, had a couple nights around 40 already. Might get one more run in but probably not. When it's below about 60 my drivers and spotters aren't too keen on it and I don't blame them. River was like glass when I drove over it on the way to work this morning. Oh well, time to enjoy some fall boat rides and do some motorcycling before the snow flies.

I wonder if that's the identical design to the older orange and blue ones?

That one's relatively new. I wish you could buy a brand new honeycomb EP Comp 1. I'd buy one today. Tiring to ski on but really good for throwing a solid wall.

One thing for sure, I wouldn't even let freeboard for kid safety enter into the picture. I grew up in a copy of a 15' Allison (could reach over the side and put your hand in the water when you were 5) on a very busy lake. And I'm still here. And your boat is very roomy by comparison.