2018 National Waterski Racing Assoc. Season Opener

[FastLoudPhoto]

Hey ya'll. Here's a little teaser I made from last weekends NWSRA Season Opener in Parker. There were some high winds and big water which made for great photos, so check it out, and keep an eye out for @OCphotographics and @stryderphoto for all the still pics! Enjoy!

Erick
Fast Loud Photography

 

[fmo24]

Cool video. Thx for posting

 

[Wbinder]

I’d like to start doin some skiing like this. How does a guy go about starting into this sport. What’s the new guy setup?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[River Runnin]

Kick myself in the ass for Doing Havasu instead of the Parker race! :SMACKHEAD:

 

[138]

Nice video. Great turnaround time, looks like some fun water.

 

[RiverDave]

I’d like to start doin some skiing like this. How does a guy go about starting into this sport. What’s the new guy setup?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Honestly all you have to do is show up at a race and stick your thumb out. They'll grab you a ski, and everything you need and start you off in a class called "Grass Roots"

It's a ton of fun.

RD

 

[RiverDave]

Hey ya'll. Here's a little teaser I made from last weekends NWSRA Season Opener in Parker. There were some high winds and big water which made for great photos, so check it out, and keep an eye out for @OCphotographics and @stryderphoto for all the still pics! Enjoy!

Erick
Fast Loud Photography

Eric, that was GREAT!! I really liked that video / fast paced and not so long that you drop off or want to skip around in the vid!

RD

 

[shueman]

Good Chit !!

 

[rvrrun]

Honestly all you have to do is show up at a race and stick your thumb out. They'll grab you a ski, and everything you need and start you off in a class called "Grass Roots"

It's a ton of fun.

RD

After watching the Catalina race, my wife said she wanted to try it. This might be a good way for her to start.

 

[Wbinder]

Honestly all you have to do is show up at a race and stick your thumb out. They'll grab you a ski, and everything you need and start you off in a class called "Grass Roots"

It's a ton of fun.

RD

That’s awesome I’ll even bring beer!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ouderkirk]

Honestly all you have to do is show up at a race and stick your thumb out. They'll grab you a ski, and everything you need and start you off in a class called "Grass Roots"

It's a ton of fun.

RD

So what exactly is the objective in ski racing? There has to be more than just throw gobs of money on a fast boat and hold on for your life. There has to be style points or some technical manuver to make you better than the next guy. An all out arms race of fastest boat seems like a boat race with some crazy SOB on a line off the back.

This is not something that I have ever seen or heard about here in the east, so I have no point of reference. I did the AWSA Class C Men's circuit in the Northeast and a few in Ohio and Michigan from age 16 to 22 and did fairly well in slalom (5-1/2 @ 22 off) and jumping (131 feet). There were barefooting competitons too. But nobody raced and there were never any events that I heard about. But there was some quantifiable measure to determine the winner in these tournaments. Most number of bouys, longest jump, best trick run score, and show jumping helicopters, gainers, mobius, for style points.

 

[fmo24]

There are timed marathons. Skiers can ski in a boat class or age class. Then there is men’s and women’s open. So sort of a boat race in some classes but really up to skiers ability. There is also short course (2 mile) where skiers line up side by side and start from in the water. First straight away can be a drag race in some classes. Short course have a pre determined number of laps

 

[RiverDave]

So what exactly is the objective in ski racing? There has to be more than just throw gobs of money on a fast boat and hold on for your life. There has to be style points or some technical manuver to make you better than the next guy. An all out arms race of fastest boat seems like a boat race with some crazy SOB on a line off the back.

This is not something that I have ever seen or heard about here in the east, so I have no point of reference. I did the AWSA Class C Men's circuit in the Northeast and a few in Ohio and Michigan from age 16 to 22 and did fairly well in slalom (5-1/2 @ 22 off) and jumping (131 feet). There were barefooting competitons too. But nobody raced and there were never any events that I heard about. But there was some quantifiable measure to determine the winner in these tournaments. Most number of bouys, longest jump, best trick run score, and show jumping helicopters, gainers, mobius, for style points.

It isn't how fast the boat will go.. It's how fast the skier can go. The observer in the boat is actually controlling the speed, and he's doing that by watching the skier. The skiers can throw thumbs ups to go faster, or down signals for slower.. Ultimately though it's the observers job to know the skill of the skier, and make sure that the skier himself, nor the driver of the boat put the skier in a position above his head. If the waters rough the skier may not be able to throw signals so the observer has to just know their abilities, and watch them etc.

That all said, I honestly am no expert in Ski Racing.. I'd defer you to Obnoxious001 or some others on this board if you had detailed questions.

Ski Racing is pretty huge in other parts of the world, particularly in Europe and the United Kingdom

These are from a race in Australia called the "southern 80." It's one of the races I have always wanted to go too.

This is a pretty cool video and you will see the observer doing a lot of hand signals in it.

 

[Ouderkirk]

There are timed marathons. Skiers can ski in a boat class or age class. Then there is men’s and women’s open. So sort of a boat race in some classes but really up to skiers ability. There is also short course (2 mile) where skiers line up side by side and start from in the water. First straight away can be a drag race in some classes. Short course have a pre determined number of laps

Thank you!! That clarifies things quite a bit.

 

[stokerwhore]

the difference between going 4o mph ish on a ski and going 60+ for the first time will leave you literally thanking god that there are seemingly no obsticals or technical sections. but once you go fast there are plenty of those. Try it. it will be the most adrenaline filled heart rate inducing stunt you ever pulled in your life.

 

[FastLoudPhoto]

Eric, that was GREAT!! I really liked that video / fast paced and not so long that you drop off or want to skip around in the vid!

RD

Thanks Dave! Yeah, I thought it would be nice to just stick to the highlights for this one. Thanks!

 

[wzuber]

great vid, thanks for posting. Parker was pretty ripped up there a bit.

 

[River Lynchmob]

That’s awesome I’ll even bring beer!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Bring beer, a couple bucks for gas and be there to help wipe down the boat after the races are over and you'll be set.