BCM

My wife has a spin bike and I go back and forth between a mag trainer (dumb version with set resistance) and rollers. Time required to get comfortable on rollers will depend on you. I know some people that never got comfortable and others who took a few minutes. If you have good bike handling skills it shouldn't be bad. My wife loves the spin bike. I can't stand the spin bike. If I was the sole user and had it dialed I might like it, but being that I have to adjust it every time I get on it I struggle with it. I like rollers for base miles, just spin for however long you can. The mag trainer is a little safer to hammer on. I picked up a spare rear wheel that I put a cheap tire on for the trainer. They will eat tires. The one I am using has shot bearings, but it spins and was free. It makes it a little easier in the fall/spring when you might get out on the road one day and be stuck inside the next.

My wife has a spin bike and I go back and forth between a mag trainer (dumb version with set resistance) and rollers. Time required to get comfortable on rollers will depend on you. I know some people that never got comfortable and others who took a few minutes. If you have good bike handling skills it shouldn't be bad. My wife loves the spin bike. I can't stand the spin bike. If I was the sole user and had it dialed I might like it, but being that I have to adjust it every time I get on it I struggle with it. I like rollers for base miles, just spin for however long you can. The mag trainer is a little safer to hammer on. I picked up a spare rear wheel that I put a cheap tire on for the trainer. They will eat tires. The one I am using has shot bearings, but it spins and was free. It makes it a little easier in the fall/spring when you might get out on the road one day and be stuck inside the next.

Last Monday I picked up a 98 CC 196 w/ SG. My first boat, its been years in the making but finally made it work out. Currently trying to figure out where I will store it...

@jimbrake - It is a great site. After bouncing around the country (CA, ID, VA and now WA) I landed a job in WA and live a few miles from the lake. Couldn't ask for much more.

I skied for Cal Poly 04-08. Joining the team was the best decision I made. The eligibility requirements kept me from dropping out of school (I was really close, even took some time off). By the end I had good enough grades to get a fully funded stipend for a MS (salary and tuition) which led to a PhD (fully funded). Collegiate skiing took my career path from laborer to doctor. I am now a member at a 3-event site and will be buying my first practice boat shortly (in a few weeks). I also went from a recreational -15 skier to -35 and from never jumped to 108ft in the 4 years. Getting funding from the school is nice, but not necessary. In the 4 years I skied we went from a team of a handful of people (some could run a pass) to a team that qualified for D1 Nationals. All with no funding from the school (we may have received a little funding at the very end). We organized fundraisers and created budgets that allowed us to grow. It was an incredible experience. It was a lot of work. My life was class and waterski team. I am a little biased, but I believe the collegiate skiers are the future of our sport. AWSA gained a life member when I joined NCWSA.

I have recently looked at three 91's and all three had the "original" trailer. All three trailers were different. All three I looked at had single 5-lug axles. In my experience every 5 lug axle (and trailer wheel) has had a 3500lb max load rating.

@GOODESkier - I am working on a future deal. Currently the only way I get funding from the wife is if we get a boat we can take to the local reservoirs as well. Not something I really feel comfortable doing with a boat I buy into. I was doing a boat share thing last year and logistics were a pain. My 5 year goal is a fun little ski boat (e.g. 85 MC) to take camping and to the local lakes and a partnership deal at the private site. I grew up on open water and with kids likely in the somewhat near future, I want to be sure I can provide that experience. @gregy - Thanks, I am looking across the west, mostly down the I-5 Corridor, but a little into ID, MT and NV.

@GOODESkier - There has been some discussion on that front but I think it is still a few years out. I would love to go that route eventually and keep an older "Hot Rod" ski boat for cruising the local reservoirs. I'm working on it, but with Nationals within driving distance this year I want to get something lined up by mid January. I haven't seen many American Skiers for sale, but I skied behind some late '80s American Skiers as a kid. They were nice boats. @Mastercraft81SnS - I'll be in touch as I learn more. The boat is owned by a friend of my parents, they are going to get in touch in a week or so.

@ALPJr - how did that MC drive? I'm a little worried that it may be a trick to keep straight due to how small they are, especially with jump? Thanks for all of the info. As I move forward I will keep people posted.

@GOODESkier - I'm very scared of wood stringers, I plan to avoid them like the plague. I see SG as a must and Z-box as a bonus. I've skiing behind SG for the past year and really don't notice a huge difference when I ski behind ZO... but I'm not normal, or at least thats what my wife says.

@ALPjr - That is some useful information, thank you. @rodltg2 - The MC is a little easier to find in that price range, the Nautique a little harder. I will keep an eye out for the Brendella. I plan on spending some time working on whatever I get... frankly, I have more time than money... I may have a lead on a pristine 85 MC. Single owner, garage kept, less than 200 hours. Any thoughts on the old Stars and Stripes MC. I know they are all glass, have spray issues, and are small... I think the red and white stars and stripes is one of the best looking boats ever made.

I'm looking at getting my first boat. I have access to a great 3-event site and am looking for a 3-event practice boat. I'm a M2 skier (-35, 110ft, 2000pt) on a budget. A pretty tight budget. I am looking at less than $9k for a skiable boat. I know a ZO boat would be ideal, but isn't going to happen at my price range. With slalom I rarely notice much of a wake difference between boats. I notice a difference with trick and jump but not enough to be too worried about. My biggest concern is the way the boat drives. With our club setup, my ski partners will drive the boat way more than I will and I want them to be happy driving my boat. I am factoring in a PPSG install (mabye Z-Box?) in my budget. I have spent some time with a wrench in my hand and am not worried about carb issues/rebuilds or even motor rebuilds when necessary. I know a carb is not as friendly when cold, but I am fully able to deal with those types of issues. I have found a few boats in my price range. Basically 88-94 MC and 90+ Nautique. I would love to find a 94 MC with the GM motor, but those are pretty hard to come by. Within those ranges, what issues should I look out for? I plan to go over the boats with a fine tooth comb, including rudder play and evidence of damage, prop and shaft, tracking fins and motor. I know the 91-94 MC pretty well (I was the team mechanic in college and we had a '92, I know the boat well), my only question there would be if a 190 with T-top can have the T-top removed without leaving holes and/or mounting brackets. Any thoughts on the pre '91 MCs? My other option is the post '91 Nautique (likely pre TSC). I have a few that I have found in the '91 range with the GT40 motor and "No Wake Zone" hull. I have skied this boat and been relatively happy. I did find a '91 CC that is pretty clean. The pictures actually make it look REALLY clean. It has a closed cooling system. Any thoughts? I often ski in the winter with freezing temps at night or after a few days (lows can range from 45 to 20 during any given winter week). Would the closed cooling system be good or bad? The boat will not be stored in a climate controlled building. Any thoughts or suggestions on what to look for and what to avoid in the 88-94 MC or post '91 CC would be great. Thank you.

Nationals a 7hr drive from home. I can't complain...

I bet if you shop around you could find a ZO boat for $25k. Assume you could get $4-5k for your old boat. Your into a newer boat $20k. I always assume the high end of the budget when building projects like this. Lets take your $15k estimate. The way I look at it it is a $5k ($20k for new boat vs. $15 for repower) difference. If i was in your shoes and had the cash on hand, the re-power would be a hard sale and frankly a harder sale with my wife. If you could realistically do the repower for closer to $10k it may be a different story.

I am looking into doing something similar within the next year or so. I have 3 thoughts. 1) Separate parts and labor costs. I would likely do 99.9% of labor myself(including motor rebuilds) while others may do very little. 2) I would shoot for a lower end cost. $20k will get you an early 2000s CC. I am looking at under $10k (boat+parts+$0labor). Maybe $10k for a good ski ride, then extra for things like nice seats and shower? 3) I would shoot for a solid motor with z-box. ZO would be great, but most people looking for a basic boat on a limited budget would probably go the z-box route, at least that is the route I would likely go.

I passed by there a few weeks ago. I have been doing a little research and I believe it is an old mill pond. I think it was a Fruit Growers Supply Co. mill (they still own lots of land and have a field office in Hilt). The link below shows some old images of the mill/mill pond. The concrete layout and proximity to a rail line and the timber industry history of that region points me to believe its an old mill pond. Maybe started as a rock/borrow pit, then was used for log storage??? It looks like the log storage deck was near the north end of the lake and the tepee burner was the circle on the east side of the lake near the south end. http://www.hiltcalifornia.com/Hilt/Photos.html#14

I use neoprene hat, I think its made by O'neil for surfing, others I ski with wear a mad bomber style hat. I am fine with that with air in the high 30s and water in the mid 30s... The only thing I don't like about the neoprene hat is that the pressure feels funny on my ears when I get up, if I pull the sides out real fast, it goes away.

@TallSkinnyGuy‌ there are a handful of courses in some of the reservoirs in the foothills. I skied on one of them for 10+ years. My experience, it is lots of fun to ski on the lake. I skied with good people and always had a great time. The bad, its never going to ski like a tournament lake, never. You will get rollers, the water is deep and clean and isn't the easiest to ski in. Then add in boat traffic. The lake I skied in has a continuously changing lake level (currently the course area is dry...) and even a couple feet of change in the water level could change things drastically. Every day was a different animal. Some days you had to wait for several minutes, others you would knock out 2-3 passes quickly and then wait for 5 minutes for things to settle. I now ski on a private site a days drive away, but love to go home and ski with family and friends on the public lake. Some of my best skiing memories are on the public site. Send me a PM with some more info on your location and I may be able to put you in touch with some people who run some of the public lake clubs. If the water comes up next season, I would go ski some of those sites before buying a portable. Also, we free skied on the local reservoir for almost 10 years before finding the slalom course and associated club. It was tucked way back in a cover far from the ramp.

Comparing waterskiing to "ball" sports incorporates too many outside variables (i.e. teammates, opponent, etc.). Comparison to something like a mile makes sense. There are variables such as weather, track, etc. but very few involve another person directly impacting your "score". As a runner (and a 36mph skier) I think it should be the following: 22 - 7:00 28 - 5:40 32 - 4:50 35 - 4:20 38 - 4:00 (I like the description by @Edbrazil) 39 - 3:55 41 - 3:50 My reasoning: Someone who is decent shape bud doesn't run could take running seriously for say 6 months and run a sub 7, while someone who knows how to get up on a single ski could probably run 15-22 after 6 months of hard work. A good athlete can get to 28 or 5:40 pretty easily. Running sub 5 minutes takes lots of work and some talent, as does 32. Sub 4:20 is really fast for a highschool runner and not terrible for a collegiate runner, it may get them a podium at state/regionals, just like running 35 might (think B3, M1). I revert to the above logic on 38 and 4:00. Someone who has time and isn't skiing later today (i.e. not me...) could pull numbers from AWSA and USATF and come up with a comparison based upon proportion of athletes to complete a given time/pass...

If we are trying to grow the sport we should promote people buying what they can afford, new or used. Until I can afford new, I will gamble on buying used skis from those who can buy new. I want to grow the sport, I want people who can only afford used skis to buy used skis and for those who can afford new skis or promo boats to buy promo boats and new skis. I want M2 skiers to ski against and if that means we are all taking risks by buying used, then lets take some risks.

@Than_Bogan - "In the long term, we need them more than they need us..." That must be one of the wisest things I have ever read on the internet.

@chris_logan the team I skied on received approximately $0 from the school. We paid about $300 per semester and did lots of fundraisers. The team covered entry, gas, etc. IF we stayed in a hotel, we paid hotel costs, but with 16 skiers in a 4 skier room... We generally camped unless the host site said no camping (which I didn't understand then, but I do now). I worked part time (for the school, landscaping, ranching, etc.) during school and full time in the summer, not hard to pay for the team, ski a lot and get good enough grades.

I voted $30, it was $25 back in 2005. It should increase as costs increase. But not at the rate of tuition... I don't remember paying for judge hotels, though we only had one tournament per weekend per region and they were generally in areas with lots of judges (they could stay at their own house, trailer, etc.). Lots of the details of that era of my life are fuzzy...

My wife's shoulder is held together with screws, she was wearing regular gloves... The only mishap I have seen with dowel/strap gloves was when we gave a large pair to a small female. When she missed getting up the gloves stayed on the handle, but she didn't. They slid right off her hands. Once we found she was OK (its scary seeing a set of hands on the handle with no person attached) I shut the boat off because I was laughing too hard to safely drive...

I like more organization and promotion in our sport. I have mixed thoughts on the PED testing. The USADA/WADA/Lance debacle in cycling may have "cleaned up" the sport, but it also had major implications for the growth of the sport in the US. Here are a few resources related to WADA and USADA - they may clear up a little about Therapeutic Use Exemptions, banned substances, testing procedures, etc. I would suggest reading them. - https://wada-ama.org/ - https://wada-ama.org/en/what-we-do/prohibited-list - http://usada.org/ - http://usada.org/substances/tue/