aupatking

I’ve been saying it would be more surprising for this to NOT happen. I hate it. That TXI is a great ski boat but when you can sell a $250,000 boat or a $100,000 boat and the margin is better, getting your stockholders to believe in the smaller boat smaller margin is not going to happen. If surf is growing with $200,000+ boats, price is not our killer. Desire is. Skiing is hard. Hard to learn, hard to get good at. When people see me ski on public water they stop and comment that it is badass! And I’m only a 32 off skier. Surf is easy, can be done by any idiot with a beer in his hand, and honestly, is fun. I applaud HO for developing the Hovercraft to help make learning easy. More of that may bring some market pull back, but it’s a drop in the bucket. I do believe the more surf and wake boat bans we start seeing, the more these manufacturers are going to have to move back to ski boats. And barring an oncoming recession, people are not going to stop buying boats

4 hours ago, Horton said:

We might just need to set up a test party.

Let me know when you want to run a test. I’ll jump on

I’m in. Moomba is tough, just keeping up with the time difference but I’m always trying to watch them live. 

@d36_ I don't think you could go wrong trying the Omni. Like I said, a lot of people love it. The biggest reason I asked about your current skiing is the "build level", such as Syndicate Omni or Carbon Omni, or any other level they may have. As I said, I'm much more familiar with the Radar lineup. The Radar Senate is offered in the Pro Build, Lithium, Graphite, and Alloy. The Connelly V is available in the V and the Carbon V. They each share the same ski model shape, but different materials. For what you are currently doing, I'd go with what you can get the best deal on. Like you said, ski it for a year and re-evaluate. No matter what, you'll enjoy the ride!

@S1Pitts is seeing exactly what I fear will happen all over the place. If surf/wake boats get banned, the companies will still sell ski boats. Likely a lot more ski boats. if they all get banned...

Edit: they may not be able to survive on ski boats alone

What speed do you ski and do you ski the slalom course or open water? Knowing nothing about your ability, there are 3 skis that consistently show up in this type of thread, and for good reason; the Radar Senate, HO Omni, and Connelly V. A lot of people love the Omni. I love the Radar Senate and see it consistently skied in the course through 12M (35 off) as well as being a great open water ski. The Connelly V is very highly regarded and many have said it can be skied into reasonably short line (35-38 off?). 
Any of those 3 would be my starting point. Funny thing is, 10 years ago I started skiing again at age 35 and after not skiing 15-20 years. 

The surf boat crowd are all day boozers. Electric, as current batteries allow, seems much more suited for 3-event boats on private lakes running a few sets a day. From what I read, that’s about a hundred boat a year market. Hardly worth the effort unless it’s just the guinea pig for the big boats. 

@Horton I was wondering if the Jason Peckham handle thing got this one resurrected

has anyone had a "hand-through-handle" accident with the "homer" type handle guard? I've never heard of it happening. It's obviously "possible" but appears to be an unlikely enough occurrence that it has not happened, at least not to my knowledge

@101driver that picture is the reason we need an option stronger than “like”. I’ve got an extra Excal for my 196

I’m gonna start reporting @skialex all the time 

My wife doesn’t get it, but generally lets it slide when I put it on the big screen. I try to save that move for the big events so I can say, “it’s worlds, I have to watch it”.

i pretty much exclusively watch them live. As many as possible 

2 hours ago, The_MS said:

You stop to look at every small lake and wonder if a slalom course will fit

I used to do a lot of work in Nebraska and would fly into Omaha or Lincoln and drive west. Every exit on the interstate where they dug for dirt is a long pond. I figured 75 mph= 110 ft per second. Anything over 15 seconds needs buoys.

you've got  $8,000 worth of skis in one corner of your office and none of those are the one you ride

My only question would be, why the change? If it’s for cold water and a neoprene boot, yeah, go for it. Otherwise I totally agree with @Horton. I wish I had never learned to ski in double boots. I’ve tried and tried to go back to a RTP but just can’t get comfortable. My kids will never learn about double boots 

Is the gallery section open to nudists? Better put some restrictions on that one

Again to agree with “this was inevitable”. They’ve created a very dangerous situation for everyone else on the water. I also believe there’s a distinct possibility that if surf and wake boats got banned that ski boat sales could go up. The manufacturers being so worried about losing their surf boat market is likely to kill them though. No legislator gives a shit about the difference between waterskiing and wake surfing. They are ALL going to get lumped together in any law and then the manufacturers lose 100% of their market.

It’s a tough conversation, for sure. Waterski boats are made to produce small wakes. Surf/wake boats are made to put out giant wakes. At least wakeboarding took skill, to the point that any beginner to low intermediate would not even want the giant wake and 5,000 pound ballast. Surfers, well anyone can do that s#!+.

Unfortunately, it comes down to people. Stupid people, who put what they want as highest priority.  They are the “F off, I’m doing what I want” people.

my 26 foot fishing boat puts out ginormous wakes, even at speed. I’m hyper conscious of that on my river. Once I get to the bay, then the gulf, I could care less as my wake is smaller than the waves surrounding. Wake Surfers and Wake boarders do not show the same respect. My 26 though, no one is telling me I can’t plow like hell, and that’s a problem. 

Existing “you are responsible for your wake” laws need to be enforced before we add more crap laws. Maybe that’s what really needs to be said.

On 12/21/2023 at 9:00 AM, Horton said:

 

If you have some document that you really think should be made easier for everybody to find, let me know. 

I was really thinking of older skis. When I see the college ski teams, more specifically the unfunded clubs, I see old hand-me-down skis. Some ski companies like Radar and D3 are great about making available all fin settings for just about every model they’ve ever made, but some are not. It may be something that doesn’t necessarily need to exist, but just a thought I had. 

Remember Correct Crafts ENTIRE marketing ad campaign in the early 90’s? No Wake Zone. Basically claiming their boat made “no wake”. This is a ad we need to familiarize them with and a distinction we need to drive home to lawmakers. 

Boot/Fin settings reference pages?

Deckadence type vinyl loop. Just drop it on top of the old carpet. Helps deaden sound too. Always looks clean, until you pull it up to clean. It’s amazing how much dirt filters through. Only two downsides, it gets pretty warm if you let it just sit in direct sun and the carpet takes a lot longer to dry

All of this optimism crap is annoying 

T-Factors are good boots. Most likely overthinking it. It’s what winter does to us. I love the Reflex style systems because I know them. Whatever your gear, know it inside and out. That’s about the safest you can be

I always suggest against the Goode powershells system. That’s what broke my leg in a fall that wouldn’t have had me sit out the rest of that set, had I been using a Reflex or MOB style release system. Some people ski them for years with no incident but I had two surgeries and 1 1/2 years off the water to come to that conclusion