aupatking

Gotta say a correctly sized, and boot positioned Vapor, and I'd be really surprised to hear the word "erratic". I just picked up a 2014 67 to spend my rehab time on. Rossi fin numbers and boot 1/8 back of standard (reflex plate wanted to be there) and it feels great, like a trusted, well tuned stick. I've only played with it at -22 and -28, and slow until I get my strength and and form back. No, none, zero erratic anything. I loved my buddies 66.75 Goode N1 before the ankle break, but at my current speed, I'm too big for my 65.25. Wrong size = wrong ski. @Horton it smells like a green fig

Thanks @AdamCord I'll update you guys on what I find.

Anyone find a way to ship a ski over there for under $465? No joke, FedEx was $465 and UPS $580. USPS won't do it at all. My guy needs to talk to Elly, I guess. He's wanting shipping to Seoul directly.

Anyone find a way to ship a ski over there for under $465? No joke, FedEx was $465 and UPS $580. USPS won't do it at all.

Driving my rental Chevy Malibu this morning I came up on a F250 this morning with a USA Waterski sticker in the back window. I passed the guy and waved. I'm sure he was wondering what the hell I was waving for. My truck at home has my sticker on back and I never see any others. I was pumped this morning to see it. They need to be everywhere! Just thought I'd share.

I live on a river close to a brackish bay so I bought an old, perfect condition galvanized SN 2001 trailer. I had the same issue with my 98 SN 196. I had a new, wider axle put on and the fenders moved out. It now fits perfect. Is not a cheap alternative, but it was the best way to protect the boat. Painted trailers just don't last down here. I don't know if your trailer will really allow the same modification,but I would look into it.

Like the thread @scotchipman says, I sold my Mapple to a Korean guy, no problem. Looks like it must be a good, under served market.

I will not likely ever be able to out ski my 98 SN with 163 hours on it. If I ever do get a new to me boat, it will be one with ZO, so it will very likely be a SN 200. Plenty of those to be found in the 5 year range.

I love to trick ski. So, that said, I'm pissing off a lot of people by saying: wakeboard should take the place of trick in 3 event tournaments. It should have happened 15 years ago, maybe even 20. What's the spectator difference from slalom, trick, and jump, even at tournaments like the Masters? People just don't watch trick. Does anyone in the general public have a clue how it is scored? Hell, I don't really know and I've done it for 25 years. To be clear though, I have never competed in trick. In fairness, i can't really say i know much about the wakeboard score format, but what I do know is, wake is more fun to watch. Jump is actually the most spectator friendly part of all Watersports. It is, however, the most difficult to get into and learn, for a lot of reasons. Money, equipment, coaching, insurance, maintenance, and money again. Even the ramp at the Berkeley ski club lake Berkeley CA is falling apart. Our old ski ramp in Mobile AL is up in the trees in a swamp after letting it get run down and finally washed away by a hurricane. Slalom, Wake, and Jump. Yes, this would kill trick, but when the ski companies can't afford to make trick skis because they don't sell, and wakeboards are grossing a billion dollars (not an accurate number) a year, we've got to stop trying to make wake a sideshow. Be honest with ourselves, wake is the show. I am a slalom skier, I don't wakeboard. Thought a disclaimer may be need. This post probably doesn't belong in this thread.

What's all this crap about winter? I'm flying home tomorrow and putting the plugs back in the Nautique! Now, it would be nice if I could get the physical therapist to clear me to ski, but I'll just go easy. Easy-ish That is an awesome video though. Gutsy stuff

@Jody_Seal‌ you talking about Chuck's boat? You did an awesome job there! That thing is something special. What's that package called? :)

That's a pretty critical place for me too. I think it's a very common place for us long liners. I have found I have to start practicing at 28 to make myself work on carrying direction outward. For some reason, at 22 and especially 15, I let off as I leave the second wake. I would guess it's because it's easier to make up room and, for me at least, there is such a thing as being too early. Every buoy is like waiting for my gate drop in, when I'm doing it right. Whatever it is, it's killing me moving past 32.

How about those lowest level tournaments allowing PP boats too? It's exactly the nature of what we're discussing here that these tournaments are "real" but are truly "every man" tournaments. Isn't it @Horton? Nothing would qualify for records, obviously, because that is for higher level tournaments anyway. Just something that gets people skiing in tournaments, in boats they recreate in too. The grass roots group we want is not in a '14 Mastercraft or Nautique, they're in a 96 or 2003. So, we expect people who have never competed, to pretend they're comfortable in their first tournament, behind a boat they've never been pulled by, and having NO EFFING CLUE what their ZO setting is, let alone what they even mean. So, this guy has dropped $70 on joining USA Waterski just so he can drop $70 on the tournament entry fee, and goes out and runs 2 buoys at 15 off. So that's it. That's what you get. $140 bucks for 2 buoys on a lake you've never skied, behind a boat you aren't comfortable with, using a Zero Off system that just yanked you out the front on your 1 and only pass. You're never seeing this guy again. That's why it's just not working. So, yes, I totally agree with your 91 Mastercraft thought. Buy him a beer. Just my opinion, I could be wrong

I get that inflation has hit us all, but I've got to say that 50 G's is no entry level boat. Hell, that's 20 grand more than an entry level BMW. Allot more fun, but that's not the same ballpark, it's a whole different sport. Anything in the $50,000 range should be the Mapple version, or some equal level trim. The fact that you can't get in a boat that even qualifies for tournament skiing for 60k is 85% of the reason or sport has no viable grass roots. I like the idea for tournaments, but when I'm skiing behind a $20,000 boat that would get laughed off a tournament lake, it says all that needs to be said. And I'm over-inflating the value of my 98 Nautique, but she's fricken gorgeous and pulls me beyond my capabilities anyway.

What @ozski‌, you weren't a Rocket scientist? I still remember walking around the Masters pavilion as a kid seeing the Connelly guys wearing those tee-shirts. I wanted one, think I wanted a Jobe SCO1, and had an HO PSX. This however, doesn't strike me as a gimmick. HO had been playing with that rail for a few years. Should be fun to see what it does. Gotta say, I almost went to the "order now" page when he said it's not fin sensitive.

98 SN 196 165-ish. Got it cheap with super low hours. Only issues it had were from lack of use.

No ski shops anywhere close to me anymore. Ski-it-again and reviews here is where I go these days. I have to buy and try, basically, because I don't want to drop $1,400 on a ski I don't know. I get minimal loss, with maximum trial. Definitely not optimum, but it has been pretty good to me. I started skiing again 4 years ago after a 20 year hiatus and went with an A2 because HO skis had been my preference and it was a great ski. Bindings have been my biggest obstacle.

@Brady I liked your post earlier about our sports elite being "in-touch". Even the people at local tournaments invite you into their homes. It's a special community. It's bringing new people in to the first stages of tournament skiing that needs work. It's getting people out of the "skiing as recreation" and into seeing it as a sport that we have to build on.

I've been struggling with this question for some time. I actually started a club in south Alabama 5riversskiclub.com for anyone we can get skiing. I bought an abandoned 93 Nautique and practically gave it to my cousins to get them skiing again. I maintain 2 courses on public water and still struggle to find skiers. Everyone down here skis as a recreational activity but almost no one even knows about the competitive aspect, or even sees it as a sport. There are some serious road blocks to our sport: 1. Money; $70 grand for a tournament boat and $1,300+ for a ski & that's just slalom. 2. Access; tournaments are hard to find, expensive for even grass roots, and little to no general public. The big ski companies aren't helping with the promotion and pricing. Traditional trick skiing is totally unknown to those outside the competitive arena and jump, the most exciting of the traditional 3 events is totally cut off from the recreational skiers. Private lakes and clubs don't help with anyone from the outside seeing a level of elitism that turns away those looking to join. Just notice the aging serious skiers professions. These guys are 6 figure earners, in most cases, so just breaking into the competitive ranks is difficult as there is little to no access for lower class earners. I grew up around a good tournament club (now defunct) and these days you just can't find them. I grew up without money and now am lucky enough to no longer have that issue, but I still remember how hard it was for me. A real effort to get to the general publics mind, to make them think of skiing as a sport, not a 2 ski & tube activity has to be launched. Golf has struggled with the same issues and the entire industry has teamed up to work toward getting the general public involved. We need the pros doing public events with involvement from the ski and boat companies.

@jayski‌ pm sent

That's perfect, I'm high 180's to low 190's and ski at 34mph between 22 and 32 off. Thanks for that info. I want to play with one of these over the winter.

I still can't find a size chart for this thing.

I've been working in Kearney NE, flying into Omaha, so I drive past a ton of those little "borrow lakes" they dug to make the overpasses. I always do a quick computation: 75 miles per hour gives me 100 feet per second. Anything that I get to 18-22 Mississippi counting should have a slalom course on it(at least that's how it should be in my head). So far, I haven't found one. Depth may be a factor, otherwise they are wasting a state/federally paid for free ski lake. Makes me sad

I'm with Chuck, I've noticed he compensates with an odd angle head turn. I question if his skiing would be helped with less tail drag up there?

Be happy with pre release and move on. I have 2 titanium screws, 16 stainless staples, 6 months lost, and thousands of dollars in medical bills from failure to release, using Goode's suggested setup. You're lucky to have not injured yourself. The falls look bad