Anderson

@dwfrech Thanks for the offer to post a pic. That would be great! LOL - I think that being tall helps in the course, weighing close to 220 not so much :smile: Note to self -- stop eating, this COVID weight gain is "no bueno" for slaying balls. Thanks again! I really appreciate the help.

@skialex Thx! Appreciate the advice

Here is a picture of the G10 plate, you can see the 4 holes closest to the heal stabilizing cup.

I just received my Supershell 5.0 size 12 boots with the large G10 plate. My system came un-assembled, and I can't find any graphics or instructions on the Reflex website or the retailer's website with instructions that match the hole pattern on the large plate I received. I have four holes on the plate to use to mount the release arms, and thus have two choices on where to mount the 840 release (forward or back on the plate). Does anybody have the Supershell 5.0 in Large/12 and could tell me where your 840 release was mounted on the plate? Don't want to screw up and risk safety. Also reaching out to the retailer, but thought I might get help from the BOS family. Thanks!

I'd happily pay $300 for the day if I was bringing my boat. $500 if the lake is in a pretty setting with a nice dock setup or beach/swim area for family to hangout.

I should also note that my Vapor Pro was a 68 inch ski; my Senate Po is a 67. My 2019 Vapor Pro fin settings are: 30.5 2.451 6.976 0.770 9 My 2019 Senate Pro fin settings are: 30 3/8 2.511 6.836 0.765 9

I'm just starting my 3rd season skiing the course this year (but was an open water skier for 12 years before that). I ski at 32 and 34 mph. My PB is 6 balls at 28-off, 34 mph. I'm not very consistent. On a good pass, 28 is easy, and the next pass is a complete goat rodeo. I'm working on stacked position and handle control. Last season I was skiing on a 2019 Vapor Pro but many posts here made me wonder if I shouldn't be skiing on a Senate Pro given my skill level (or lack thereof as I work on fundamentals). I picked up a new (old stock) 2019 Senate Pro Build last week, and using Trent F's short/deep fin settings gave it a try yesterday morning. I know many other beginner/intermediate course skiers have raised the question about Vapor Pro vs. Senate Pro so I thought I would share my experience after just a couple of sets. Also, please note this is a 2019 comparison (not the 2020 models). Here is was I experienced with my two first sets (and I only started my season 4 sets ago): 1) The Senate feels fast, but not as fast as the Vapor to me. When I mess up on the Vapor, I can stomp on it and make up ground. Couldn't do that with the Senate as easily; but... 2) The biggest different was my turns/link up -- which are much more consistent on the Senate. To be honest, I'm usually about 50/50 on link-up and getting good angle on my Vapor Pro (vs. a bobbled turn), but more like 75-80% good turn and angle with the Senate Pro 3) Consistent turns allowed me to get good angle more often, which means smoother passes 4) Smoother passes allowed me to cruise through 22-off and I made 3 of the 5 28-off passes I tried. That is better than usual for me, especially at the start of the season. 5) For me, I'm going to stick with the Senate for now -- with more consistent turns/angle I'm not skiing "with my hair on fire" and it is easier for me to work on the basics of getting stacked and managing handle control. I hope this is helpful to other "hackers" out there. Be safe and have a great ski season

I'm about to try that experiment in reverse. Just finished my second year skiing the course. PB is 28 off at 34 mph, but I do most of my practice skiing at 32 mph working on 28-off. I ski on a 2019 Vapor Pro -- I like how it performs at 34 mph, but not so much at 32 mph. So I just bought a 2019 Senate Pro hoping for better performance at 32 mph while working on getting stacked and improving handle control. @Horton Bad idea? I don't know. I'll let y'all know how that works out :-)

@Horton Thanks for the survey data! Some very interesting insights :+1:

@Horton , any sense for the median age of BOS membership? I turn 50 this year and would guess that I am at, or just below, the median age based on membership at the lake where I ski. Not sure if my experience is representative of the larger community and was curious given the BOS large (very large for our sport) sample size.

@thager LOL, I thought maybe this was just one more way the world was making life difficult for left-handed/goofy-footed folks :-)

Makes sense that they should be symmetrical, but definitely not symmetrical right vs. left on either my 2019 Vapor Pro Build or 2016 Vapor. I'll take pics tonight and post them.

This may be a dumb question, but I was just adjusting my fin on a "new to me" 2019 Vapor Pro Build and moving my bindings from my 2016 Vapor and I noticed that on both fins, the right edge of the fin has a beveled edge and the left edge of the fin has a straight edge....anybody know why Vapor fins are built that way? FWIW, I dug my HO A3 and A1 from a few years ago out of my ski closet and they have even bevels on each side of the fin.

Flown with my ski many times on AA using a single-wide Sportube (pulled my bindings and put them in my suitcase). Cost-wise, the airline has always treated it like any other bag, but you do often have to drop it off and pick it up at the over-sized luggage station after checking in at the check-in desk/kiosk. It is really easy, although on occasion I have had to wait an extra 15 minutes for my ski to show up vs. other luggage I checked. Wrap your tail and fin in a small towel for padding. Don't lock the tube -- it is often inspected. Go for it!

You guys are hitting all the key points. Simplest I can say it is: 1) Volumes are low so we will never see economies of scale driving low boat costs (high volume model automobiles like the Ford F-150 sell almost 1,000,000 a year vs. maybe 1,000 Nautiques this year) 2) The boat companies realize that there is a small market of buyers who are price insensitive -- you can double the price (like they have) and sell almost as many boats 3) So to maximize profit, you don't behave like Ford or Toyota, you look to Ferrari and Lamborghini as models of success :-( From a economics/business perspective, I think we will see boat prices continue to rise. The only relief I can see is that a downturn in the economy will slow demand and result in lower prices on used models. Frustrating for sure, but totally logical from an economics point of view. Happy swerving!

@Horton I'm 6-2 with 6-7 wingspan--you need another category for us knuckle-draggers :-)

@BCM Thanks! It sounds like the new setup may take a couple weeks to get used to. I'll try moving the boot back and see how that feels in the mean time.

@gregy Thanks for the input. Glad to hear you got used to it -- I hope it smooths itself out. Right now I'm trying to decide if I should just keep working with the current settings, or starting moving the boot forward or back. I'll give it a few more sets and then start playing around with settings

Made the switch from PowerShells to a Reflex classic/R-style setup. After 20+ years with double boots it is an adjustment for sure. My on-side felt good after a few passes. Off-side is feeling very strange and it is freaking me out. On my off-side, when the ski starts to make the turn the front of the ski seems to dip and bites hard early in the turn, and the front of the ski "bounces" up and out of the arc, then catches its edge and bites again. It isn't a feeling I have ever experienced on previous ski/binding combinations and it causes me to lose balance (it feels like hitting a ball) and I nearly go OTF on the turn. It scares the heck out of me. When I make a long, slow off-side turn it doesn't bite so hard, but I'm pretty sure I have something wrong with my setup. I'll start experimenting with boot placement but I would love to get some advice before I start moving my setup forward or backward on the ski. Thanks in advance for any advice you can share. Hopeful but anxious -- thanks! (PS: Running on a 2016 68" Radar Vapor with my front boot at 30.25")

@Kelvin I was the lucky skier who bought the 2015 Carbon Pro. It has been a great boat. Fit and finish don't match the big three, tracking doesn't match a 200, but the wake is absolutely butter and it has been a great boat for us. @Live2ski, I know boats are silly expensive, but if you are creative you will find a way. Most of us either can't afford a new boat now, or we didn't start off that way, but if you want to ski you will find a way. Don't assume you need to own your own boat outright, or that it needs to be a fairly new model of the big three. I missed out on lots of skiing during grad school and early in my career when I didn't have any money because I wasn't willing to rethink the model. My last point of advice is that there is a 10 year period when many people get out of skiing (mid-twenties to mid-thirties) -- don't let that happen you will regret it. Good luck and have fun!

Awesome feedback, guys! I really appreciate the help. It was surprising for sure not to have any lights -- after looking around for where they might be I did a quick forum search and realized I wasn't the first guy to be surprised by this design/build choice. I hope everyone is have a great season on the water.

A couple months back I picked up a 2015 Carbon Pro for a screaming deal. It had 1 hour on the engine and the discount off of retail made me glad I was the first guy to call the Tracker dealership in Houston (thanks @AndersonSkiTeam for the heads up). It certainly doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the big three boats, but as many others have mentioned on this site, it gives a nice pull. One of the features my boat is missing is nav lights. I have to admit I didn't notice until driving back to the dock at night on my local public lake. I thought I'd just live with it but to certify my boat for our club site I have to have nav lights. Any suggestions on after market solutions? I found navisafe navilights -- not sure if anyone has used these. Any advice very much appreciated.

I'm hoping that I can learn from the ballofspray community's experience. I ski on a 68 inch A3 with Goode Powershell 2s. I run the ski at stock settings. I have limited access to a course -- I get to the course only a couple times a year and I completed about half my sets at 28 off, 34 mph the last time I was there. I like my A3's onside but feel like I really have to move my weight forward on my offside and work the front of the ski to make a strong offside turn and can barely keep the tail of my ski from blowing out. Two weeks ago I was home visiting family in Canada, and I rode my brother's old Strada he had laying around. It was my first time on that ski/binding setup so things felt a bit awkward, but the offside was the easiest I have ever experienced. The ski turned by itself with the slightest counter-rotation on my part and was headed back across the course before I even realized it. I really like my A3, but is there a chance the difference in my experience is due to ski design? Or should I be working on different fin settings to get my A3 to perform better? All i can say is that the experience on the offside was like night and day. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!