Table of contents for May 1, 2015 in Water Ski

So many ways to die, so little time to live. I try to make the best of my experience on this wonderful planet by enjoying a multitude of activities that often involve painful consequences or can lead to my last breath if I fail to use good judgment — namely surfing, skiing, skateboarding, calisthenics, and acrobatic air guitar on my neighbor’s trampoline. When I’m unsure of a potential hazard or unclear about the risks involved, I call on my good friend, Frank — my imaginary friend. I say, “Hey Frank, bada bing, bada boom, what do you think about this situation?” He’s usually there when I need him, although — to be honest — he’s let me down a few times. When Frank is there for me, he helps me…

How short is too short to have room on lake for a respectable slalom course? 2,000 feet? 1,600? Is 1,400 as low as a course can go? Are the physics of revving the boat up to ski speed while maneuvering into tight position even possible? Conventional wisdom says no: Reputable slalom course companies like AccuFloat, EZ-Slalom and Insta-Slalom are all on the same page with their recommended lake specs that suggest 2,000 linear feet of open water for ideal setup and/or turnaround time. But water-skiing is hardly a conventional sport, as small slalom courses all over the country attest. Skiers, both amateur and pro, alternatively laugh and shudder as they recall some of the hairier short setups. Here are some of their stories. Jennifer LaPoint, recently inducted Waterski Hall of…

Earlier this season, WATERSKI editor Todd Ristorcelli turned up at the Windermere, Florida, home of barefoot legend Peter Fleck with a rubber rooster mask, three veteran show skiers, and no prayer of outlasting the eight-time Footstock champ in what is likely water-skiing’s most grueling event: the Figure 8. The first part of that sentence should tell you a little bit about the uniqueness of the Figure 8, an event in which weekend warriors can go head to head against national and world champions, as well as Footstock, a competition that rewards perseverance and irreverence in equal measure. The second part should give you a hint at 51-year-old Fleck’s recent dominance of it. After all, no one — including barefoot heavyweights Keith St. Onge and David Small — has managed to…

Scot “Rocketman” Ellis was waging a comeback. At 2015’s Moomba Masters International Invitational, held in the murky waters of the Yarra River in Melbourne, Australia, Ellis jumped with a body still recovering from the collateral damage of 25 years on the pro tour. Starting in 2013, his kidney bruised, then his calf tore, then his hip dislocated. For the next year and a half, Ellis nursed those injuries, then prepared for his return on the banks of the Yarra. The results weren’t spectacular, far from Ellis’s three career Moomba jump championships and, more recently, a very respectable third place in 2013. This year, Ellis landed in 10th. Disappointing? “I jumped terrible. It was like I have never been on the river before.” Continues Ellis, “I am so programmed to go…

The wing is a clever component that can be used to fine-tune a broad range of ski behaviors. But most of this advanced skituning is secondary to what the wing does best. More than anything else, the wing adds drag to the ski, especially when the ski is tipped low as it moves into a turn. It’s the closest thing a ski has to a set of brakes. So if adding more drag to make skiing even more work makes no sense to you, it’s time to ski wingless for a while. Tournament skis and their wings are mostly designed for shortline skiers. These agile, powerful athletes can force any highdrag ski to accelerate explosively. When a skier arrives at a buoy with too much speed, their ski is riding…

Prior to competing in a major event, world slalom record-holder Nate Smith trusts Okeeheelee Park in West Palm Beach, Florida, as a premiere training site for a couple reasons. “It’s warm no matter what,” he says. Which is quite the contrary to his iced-over lake in McCordsville, Indiana, in late February. Even Orlando, by Smith’s standards, was “too cold for getting any quality sets on the water.” But there’s another reason why Okeeheelee is so special to him: Becky Lathrop. “Becky is like family to me. She opens up her house in the wintertime and allows me to stay and ski with her. As one of the world’s best drivers, I can always count on the boat being right down the middle.” Smith’s time in South Florida this winter has…

Ahhhhh, spring! That special time of year when the days get longer, the water gets warmer and Midwestern collegiate skiers pack the team captain’s minivan, circus-clown style, and trek down south to get in some serious spring break turn and (sun) burn. Hitting the usual hot spots such as Bennett’s in Louisiana and Jack Travers and Lucky Lowe’s in Florida, committed student athletes know that spending spring break at a ski school is about more than just knees/trees/freeze and tall at the ball. It’s about all the little things they pick up along the way. Here are a few lessons that this year’s crop of skiing spring breakers learned: “Staying up all night, every night, and skiing four sets a day always seems to be the best idea.” – Kathryn…

Swiss Elite National Team member Frederick Halt was, by all counts, leading a successful life – until he decided to redefine the terms of his success. As the vice president of human resources for one of the world’s top business schools, Halt was immersed in his career, but he was beginning to feel unfulfilled. Each year spending less time with his family and less time on the water than the previous, Frederick and his wife, former world number-one slalom skier Natalie Hamrick, decided to reclaim their lives, courageously uproot to the United States and start over. Stepping Away I was seeing so much negativity at work, so many unhappy people. Everyone describes it in his or her own way, but it’s always basically the same issue: losing sight of what…

Joe Cash could do it all. He won world overall titles, set jumping records, headlined at Cypress Gardens, and he was the first person to do a barefoot deepwater start. But to many of his contemporaries, what made Cash so remarkable was the fun he had while doing it all. “He had a jokester’s sense of humor,” says Jon Broderick, a friend of Cash’s from the mid-60s who used to ski with him at weekly shows in Sarasota, Florida. “He was pulling tricks on his skiers all the time, and probably half of the ones pulled on rookies at Cypress Gardens were invented by Joe.” One memorable prank was played on an unsuspecting AWSA board member. “Joe rigged up a slalom ball that had a rope tied to a pulley,…

Canadian 3-eventer Stephen Collins was on the right path to challenge the world’s best skiers. Prior to 2014, he had tournament scores of 2 at 39 ½ off, an 8,000 point trick run, and a 217-foot jump. Then a jump accident in early 2014 at the Pan Am Games in Bogota, Colombia, changed all that, upending Collins’ life — but not his attitude. “We have a choice how we react to bad things,” he says. “I think about the things I can do instead of what I can’t.” His story hints at a bit of serendipitous bad luck. You see, Collins started skiing at age 6 with his dad, then tried his hand at tournaments and competitions before finally landing at the McClintock’s Ski School in Cambridge, Ontario, learning the…

For some graduates, collegiate skiing is the last hurrah. The real world can hit hard: college loans, trying to prove yourself worthy of career growth, family, debt galore, etc. Skiing gets pushed to the back burner, and your days at the lake are a fading memory. Such is not the case for senior UCLA skier Kirk Lee. This lucky boy’s post- graduation employment doesn’t consist of grueling days in a cubicle, but rather a familiar domain with a new twist. Lee was offered a stunt water-skier position in the Waterworld show at Universal Studios Hollywood. “I’m grateful to have a job that lets me do something I love,” Lee says. And Lee has added skills to his repertoire. One of his stunts showcases being shot off a Jet Ski launch.…

There are many ways to think about our movement on a ski, and one important factor is where our focus of attention is directed. Example: As we approach a buoy, we can think of our hip placement and shoulder position. This qualifies as internal attentional focus. When we focus on external objects, such as handle, buoy or ski, we speak of external attentional focus. The question that this distinction poses is simple: Where should we target our attention? Dr. Gabriele Wulf, a professor at the University of Nevada who’s done considerable research on this topic, firmly believes that external attentional focus is best. The idea for this distinction, and the advantage of the external attentional focus, came to her as she was trying to master the power jibe in windsurfing.…

MALIBU 20 VTX Malibu’s Wakesetter 20 VTX’s crossover prowess all starts with its cut diamond hull. A removable center-mounted pylon and small frame mean nothing if the boat’s bottom isn’t designed for high-level performance, and this ski-savvy hull does just that. Further increasing the 20 VTX’s versatility, the Power Wedge is improved for 2015 and features 45 percent more surface area for a better surf wave, which is the perfect compliment to Surf Gate. The VTX’s dash was also redesigned and features the most multisport-friendly interface Malibu has ever offered. A 12-inch center screen now dominates the dash, and an offset auxiliary screen holds deeper functionality. Set up profiles for each of your sports, and the boat is configured with just one button. Opt for the Sport package to get…