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USA, USA! What is to become of USA Ski Racing??

boat527

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Well?

Thtow some ideas out there...

My brother and I tried a grass roots approach up here but it never took.

Can Ski racing in the U S survive?
 

Hoss98

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We quit in the late/mid 2000s when the circle races dried up. Those were just so much fun to watch and participate in and with out the spectators I don't know how you would grow the sport. I always thought short course racing in Marine stadium (great place to watch and race) or a place like Tempe town lakes would draw a crowd.
 

skiracer321

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We quit in the late/mid 2000s when the circle races dried up. Those were just so much fun to watch and participate in and with out the spectators I don't know how you would grow the sport. I always thought short course racing in Marine stadium (great place to watch and race) or a place like Tempe town lakes would draw a crowd.

I AGREE! Like I have always said if people do not know what is going on you do not have spectators or people that may want to get into the sport. Like the e-mail I sent to the NWSRA said, the last 2 opens in SD I had at least 4 to 5 people walk up and ask "what's going on here" AND THEY ALL LIVED RIGHT IN THE MISSION BAY AREA! I rest my case! Let's keep ski racing on the "DL" see how that work's out for us!
 

boat527

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With the Worlds being in Seattle next year it would be nice if there was some sort of exhibition there THIS SUMMER... Like at one of the unlimited races or something.. Hopefully , something is in the works rather
than some Media blitz next summer. Should be a great venue exposure wise...
 

Hammer

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The Sport severely lacks social media marketing, same with slalom skiing on the west coast. Both boat racing and ski racing need a lot more coverage, a public HEY LAM so to speak.
 

Boat211

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With the Worlds being in Seattle next year it would be nice if there was some sort of exhibition there THIS SUMMER... Like at one of the unlimited races or something.. Hopefully , something is in the works rather
than some Media blitz next summer. Should be a great venue exposure wise...

I think there is possibly something cooking. July or August I think
 

skiracer321

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With the Worlds being in Seattle next year it would be nice if there was some sort of exhibition there THIS SUMMER... Like at one of the unlimited races or something.. Hopefully , something is in the works rather
than some Media blitz next summer. Should be a great venue exposure wise...

I believe they are doing some exhibition races up there in August during the unlimited races. NWSRA has it listed on the site I think but it was mentioned at the Parker race.
 

boat527

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I believe they are doing some exhibition races up there in August during the unlimited races. NWSRA has it listed on the site I think but it was mentioned at the Parker race.

Honestly, the Worlds are a huge opportunity to revive ski racing in the US.. Seattle is Huge, not an LA by any means but the largest City up here ( 3.5 mil vs San Fran area at 4.3mil) Water everywhere...

The way the worlds are run ( and the way we ran them in Long Beach, some ROUGH and some Fast and Rough) We ( the US) should be able to put on quite a show.. I understand that Lake Washington ( Fast) and Possibly the Sound
( Rough) are venues.



Should be awesome
 

138

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I will be sending at least one boat up to the exhibition races.
 

herculesboat

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We quit in the late/mid 2000s when the circle races dried up. Those were just so much fun to watch and participate in and with out the spectators I don't know how you would grow the sport. I always thought short course racing in Marine stadium (great place to watch and race) or a place like Tempe town lakes would draw a crowd.

Yeah i agree with this!!!
 

138

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Elsinore was so long courses from the beach it was hard to watch most of the race hard to keep spectators interested.

Still it hard to build a sport when the most economical class is not being checked for compliance with current rules. There are boats that are running negative slip numbers with the props they are running and no one is smart enough to do the math. Hard to make it fun and inviting when rules are not being followed.
 

brgrcru

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Are most kids even being taught to waterski? I learned at a very young age of 5. My kids were forced to learn to waterski at 5. No tube rides or boat rides, until you made an effort to waterski or wakeboard. 1 time doesn't count.
it takes a lot of patience as a parent and a beginner skier. I feel most parents, just don't want to deal with it. And God forbid you actually push the kids out of there comfort zone !
With all that said , I am sure there are plenty of parents pushing there kids into water sports. I just don't see it, as much as before, I see most kids being dragged around on tubes.
Going to the river , was never about just going to the river . It was about skiing, racing, and hanging with friends/family. But skiing was a big priority.
I am a member of USA waterski and love to ski. I support and sponsor, as much as I can .
I think it will always be what it is today. People that are and were into it, will continue, finding new people to get into it?
 

MrWarpath

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"Still it hard to build a sport when the most economical class is not being checked for compliance with current rules. There are boats that are running negative slip numbers with the props they are running and no one is smart enough to do the math. Hard to make it fun and inviting when rules are not being followed".

That is what Carl 138 posted the other day and post these same kind of cry baby posts all the dame time and I am just tired of reading them. What boats are you talking about Carl ? Who is not doing the math? What F#*KING Math ? I hear from everyone all the time how you say my boat is cheating and I am just like everyone else on this site that's tired of hearing you cry ! My motor up until two days before Havasu still had the spark plugs that it came with AND WITH 119 HRS ON THEM ! my cowling hasn't been off for over 2 years!! The only thing that boats get done to it before a race is taken off my hoist and put on a trailer. The prop which I know you have pictures of is a 25 stock out of the box Fury and it works fine for me to fun ski and to race. If you would like I could run the LABBED ET props I have and make my boat faster. At Elsinore I ran past you doing 78 mph ! My motor wasn't making power because I had cracked reeds and a bunch of plastic stuck in the throttle body from the shroud being chewed up by my stock flywheel. You don't have to believe me as you know Drew just ask him how bad my motor looked when he took off the cowl after more than two years !! It still wasn't right at Havasu !!

I will be happy to make you a deal, the next race after I drive right past you again you can take my cowl off and check my boat out ! you can put a little prop on and see it hit the limiter, you can check my flywheel as well and after that when you see that nothing is wrong with my motor you simply turn to everyone and say how sorry you are for being such and cry baby and promise not to be a dumb ass ever again !

Your boat doesn't go fast for these reasons and for a guy that always tells everyone how much money you have why you don't change it, I have no idea unless its like everything else about you and that's all talk ?

1- Your boat is too heavy
2- Its not set up right
3- The prop notch in the bottom won't work with that heavy motor as it keeps the ass down to much
4-The driver cant see because of all the tears falling from his eyes

Those are the reasons that just come to the top of my head but I am sure there are so many more reasons that you can't run with the other faster boats in the race but for sure none of the reasons are that I am cheating !!!!!

Just my two cents on this but the sport does not need to have this whining and crying about cheating all the time and I for one and sick of hearing it !!

So just for the record and I swear on my mothers eye balls it to be true:
MY MOTOR IS STOCK ON MY OUTBOARD AND ITS JUST FASTER THAN YOURS !! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT OTHER THAN THE CRYING !
MY CATALINA BOAT IS 43 FEET LONG !!! NOT 47 AS YOU AND OTHERS SAY ALL THE TIME !! RANDY'S IS 43 FEET AS WELL !! WE ALL FIT THE RULES OR WE WOULD'NT BE ABLE TO RACE !!

NOW LETS JUST ALL ACT LIKE SPORTSMAN AND RACE !! IF YOU DON'T WIN THEN WORK HARDER AND TAKE ANOTHER SHOT !! THAT IS WHAT I HAVE DONE ALL MY LIFE !!! IF YOUR BOAT ISN'T FAST ENOUGH WORK ON IT OR BUY ANOTHER !! REMEMBER THESE ARE WATER SKI RACES AND ITS A TEAM SPORT SO MAYBE WORK ON YOUR TEAM AND AGAIN THAT IS WHAT HAVE DONE ALL MY LIFE !!

WHATEVER YOU DO JUST STOP ALL THE F*#KING CRYING !...............THANKS
 

skiracer321

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"Still it hard to build a sport when the most economical class is not being checked for compliance with current rules. There are boats that are running negative slip numbers with the props they are running and no one is smart enough to do the math. Hard to make it fun and inviting when rules are not being followed".

That is what Carl 138 posted the other day and post these same kind of cry baby posts all the dame time and I am just tired of reading them. What boats are you talking about Carl ? Who is not doing the math? What F#*KING Math ? I hear from everyone all the time how you say my boat is cheating and I am just like everyone else on this site that's tired of hearing you cry ! My motor up until two days before Havasu still had the spark plugs that it came with AND WITH 119 HRS ON THEM ! my cowling hasn't been off for over 2 years!! The only thing that boats get done to it before a race is taken off my hoist and put on a trailer. The prop which I know you have pictures of is a 25 stock out of the box Fury and it works fine for me to fun ski and to race. If you would like I could run the LABBED ET props I have and make my boat faster. At Elsinore I ran past you doing 78 mph ! My motor wasn't making power because I had cracked reeds and a bunch of plastic stuck in the throttle body from the shroud being chewed up by my stock flywheel. You don't have to believe me as you know Drew just ask him how bad my motor looked when he took off the cowl after more than two years !! It still wasn't right at Havasu !!

I will be happy to make you a deal, the next race after I drive right past you again you can take my cowl off and check my boat out ! you can put a little prop on and see it hit the limiter, you can check my flywheel as well and after that when you see that nothing is wrong with my motor you simply turn to everyone and say how sorry you are for being such and cry baby and promise not to be a dumb ass ever again !

Your boat doesn't go fast for these reasons and for a guy that always tells everyone how much money you have why you don't change it, I have no idea unless its like everything else about you and that's all talk ?

1- Your boat is too heavy
2- Its not set up right
3- The prop notch in the bottom won't work with that heavy motor as it keeps the ass down to much
4-The driver cant see because of all the tears falling from his eyes

Those are the reasons that just come to the top of my head but I am sure there are so many more reasons that you can't run with the other faster boats in the race but for sure none of the reasons are that I am cheating !!!!!

Just my two cents on this but the sport does not need to have this whining and crying about cheating all the time and I for one and sick of hearing it !!

So just for the record and I swear on my mothers eye balls it to be true:
MY MOTOR IS STOCK ON MY OUTBOARD AND ITS JUST FASTER THAN YOURS !! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT OTHER THAN THE CRYING !
MY CATALINA BOAT IS 43 FEET LONG !!! NOT 47 AS YOU AND OTHERS SAY ALL THE TIME !! RANDY'S IS 43 FEET AS WELL !! WE ALL FIT THE RULES OR WE WOULD'NT BE ABLE TO RACE !!

NOW LETS JUST ALL ACT LIKE SPORTSMAN AND RACE !! IF YOU DON'T WIN THEN WORK HARDER AND TAKE ANOTHER SHOT !! THAT IS WHAT I HAVE DONE ALL MY LIFE !!! IF YOUR BOAT ISN'T FAST ENOUGH WORK ON IT OR BUY ANOTHER !! REMEMBER THESE ARE WATER SKI RACES AND ITS A TEAM SPORT SO MAYBE WORK ON YOUR TEAM AND AGAIN THAT IS WHAT HAVE DONE ALL MY LIFE !!

WHATEVER YOU DO JUST STOP ALL THE F*#KING CRYING !...............THANKS


Well said Mike! Cudo's!
 

21 Trick

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This only being my 5th season sounds like I have missed a lot of B.S. of the past. Anyway having fun and plan to continue, seams like Worlds has brought back some interest.
We also plan to campaign for F-2 Mens and Womens with the new Velocity. I too will pull my Cowling anytime and unplug my Jackplate if anyone objects. We run well below the bottom.
Good luck to those who enjoy the sport, Great group of people in my book.
13102686_1176407219066063_1733786095382277868_n-3.jpg
 

obnoxious001

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This only being my 5th season sounds like I have missed a lot of B.S. of the past. Anyway having fun and plan to continue, seams like Worlds has brought back some interest.
We also plan to campaign for F-2 Mens and Womens with the new Velocity. I too will pull my Cowling anytime and unplug my Jackplate if anyone objects. We run well below the bottom.
Good luck to those who enjoy the sport, Great group of people in my book.

Sign me up for a ride in that boat sometime when you are up here, or if you ever need an observer for fun skiing.
 

138

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QUOTE=MrWarpath;2352931]
"Still it hard to build a sport when the most economical class is not being checked for compliance with current rules. There are boats that are running negative slip numbers with the props they are running and no one is smart enough to do the math. Hard to make it fun and inviting when rules are not being followed".

That is what Carl 138 posted the other day and post these same kind of cry baby posts all the dame time and I am just tired of reading them. What boats are you talking about Carl ? Who is not doing the math? What F#*KING Math ? I hear from everyone all the time how you say my boat is cheating and I am just like everyone else on this site that's tired of hearing you cry ! My motor up until two days before Havasu still had the spark plugs that it came with AND WITH 119 HRS ON THEM ! my cowling hasn't been off for over 2 years!! The only thing that boats get done to it before a race is taken off my hoist and put on a trailer. The prop which I know you have pictures of is a 25 stock out of the box Fury and it works fine for me to fun ski and to race. If you would like I could run the LABBED ET props I have and make my boat faster. At Elsinore I ran past you doing 78 mph ! My motor wasn't making power because I had cracked reeds and a bunch of plastic stuck in the throttle body from the shroud being chewed up by my stock flywheel. You don't have to believe me as you know Drew just ask him how bad my motor looked when he took off the cowl after more than two years !! It still wasn't right at Havasu !!

I will be happy to make you a deal, the next race after I drive right past you again you can take my cowl off and check my boat out ! you can put a little prop on and see it hit the limiter, you can check my flywheel as well and after that when you see that nothing is wrong with my motor you simply turn to everyone and say how sorry you are for being such and cry baby and promise not to be a dumb ass ever again !

Your boat doesn't go fast for these reasons and for a guy that always tells everyone how much money you have why you don't change it, I have no idea unless its like everything else about you and that's all talk ?

1- Your boat is too heavy
2- Its not set up right
3- The prop notch in the bottom won't work with that heavy motor as it keeps the ass down to much
4-The driver cant see because of all the tears falling from his eyes

Those are the reasons that just come to the top of my head but I am sure there are so many more reasons that you can't run with the other faster boats in the race but for sure none of the reasons are that I am cheating !!!!!

Just my two cents on this but the sport does not need to have this whining and crying about cheating all the time and I for one and sick of hearing it !!

So just for the record and I swear on my mothers eye balls it to be true:
MY MOTOR IS STOCK ON MY OUTBOARD AND ITS JUST FASTER THAN YOURS !! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT OTHER THAN THE CRYING !
MY CATALINA BOAT IS 43 FEET LONG !!! NOT 47 AS YOU AND OTHERS SAY ALL THE TIME !! RANDY'S IS 43 FEET AS WELL !! WE ALL FIT THE RULES OR WE WOULD'NT BE ABLE TO RACE !!

NOW LETS JUST ALL ACT LIKE SPORTSMAN AND RACE !! IF YOU DON'T WIN THEN WORK HARDER AND TAKE ANOTHER SHOT !! THAT IS WHAT I HAVE DONE ALL MY LIFE !!! IF YOUR BOAT ISN'T FAST ENOUGH WORK ON IT OR BUY ANOTHER !! REMEMBER THESE ARE WATER SKI RACES AND ITS A TEAM SPORT SO MAYBE WORK ON YOUR TEAM AND AGAIN THAT IS WHAT HAVE DONE ALL MY LIFE !!

WHATEVER YOU DO JUST STOP ALL THE F*#KING CRYING !...............THANKS[/QUOTE]
 

wildone

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First off, let me just say not taking sides on any of this... The complaint of whose boat killed ski racing or those who have the money to race are to blame for the lack of participation is all bull shit...

I have been out of the sport for about 4 years now. I grew up in it. I stopped to focus on high school and college sports. Returned after collage, and then took another break as my working career evolved. I will come back one day, but between working 50 - 60 hours a week plus all of lifes other commitments, i have no time to train, let alone take 2 weekends a month off for a race.

Ski Racing is a team sport. Driven by the skier. Anyone who owns or does not own a boat can show up and race. However, as many can attest to this its not that simple. To race competitively, the skier needs to have the time to train. This has always been the key to racing. When more people were water skiing in pre the 2000's you have a huge inventory of water skiers that came and went from the sport.

If someone got too busy with life, caught up in work, there were other avid water skiers that would join the ranks and no one would notice the loss of one or 2 people. With less people water skiing in the united states you have a much smaller inventory of people willing to come out and try.

It seems like almost everyone i know in ski racing has stepped back post college, post children, what ever their personal needs were at the time.

Sure I could come out and ski my age class or do it for "fun" but even then that fun is out weighed by the exhaustion of a long weekend, a worn out body, and a dip in the bank account come the monday after a race. Factor in a weekly or (bi weekly) training run, gym time, ect.... It gets to be too much.

Only a select few people are fortunate enough to treat ski racing as more then a hobby. It is an expensive time consuming hobby. Not in the form of the you have to be a millionaire to particpate but you definetely have to have the vacation time, the cash for gas going to and from races. 12 hours of travel time each race weekend, room and board cost. All before you even get to race.

So to sum this rant up people need to stop focusing on whose to blame and just accept it. Water skiing in the united states is on a decline. You want more ski races and more skiers, then people need to get people water skiing again. People need to accept people will come and go with the sport over time. If someone really wanted to ski race its up to them. Per my own personal experience and observation it will always have its ups and downs in participation and with less skiers in general, it will have lower high points then the past and even lower low points in terms of participation.
 
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138

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This thread was started with the question from a member ?Can Ski racing in the U S survive??
With the worlds coming back to the US next year, this is a great question. We are putting together a team to support that endeavor.

You make a lot of claims in your post that don?t seem very sportsman like. The things I bring up on posts are to hopefully make this sport more accessible and prosperous here in the U.S. as this thread started out wanting to discuss. Regardless, each race should start out with actual motor inspections. That doesn?t state anything about anyone, just that we need to be conscientious that as a country, we will be hosting the world championships and we should want people to have confidence that we can put on a safe and honest race.

These forums I thought were meant to be discussion boards. Your post brings up other posts I have written and rants that I am a cry baby and yet your post in fact sounds a lot like a tirade. Also, lots of people talk about people cheating and the fact that this turns into drama doesn?t help make this sport more accessible or better. Sure doesn?t make it seem very inviting either.

We are building a team and are not going to be the fastest one out there yet nor did I expect that. I know that my boat weighs more as the plug. That isn?t the point of the discussion. It is nice to see posts from people who want to see what can be done to help our sport which is what this thread seemed to want to do.
 
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