Although never a show driver, I have been pulling waterskiers regularly for 25 years and have attended countless waterski shows. However, if I thought that qualified me to drive my Hydrodyne through a "360 around the boat" slalom act, I was wrong. I tried it this weekend with my brother on the slalom ski and, well, let's just say that I don't appear to have any idea what I'm doing, as evidenced by the fact that it never worked. I'm interested in getting some tips on this. My brothers and I have enought experience that we should be able to do this. What is missing is some quality instruction, which I hope to get right here on Hydrodyners. So, guys, let's have it... How do we do this?
ok, here we go....... Mark, to do this you definitely have to work together. I use to teach on the junior team, and I taught countless little kids how to do these. I use to do these on my 18 with my wife's daughter all the time too. For the skier it is VITAL to keep cutting away from the boat. If he plains off on his cut then you will get slack in the rope and more than likely will get caught up on the bow light. Tell him to look away from the boat, that helps. Misconception is to get a nice big double wake cut. FALSE. Have him start to the outside of the wake. For the driver it is much better to give him shall we say a nice pendulum swing instead of a quick burst whip. That is where a lot of newbies go wrong. I would probably pull it around 30-34mph. When he makes the cut start to turn left and increase throttle on the "swing". When he is a good portion in front of you, cut the throttle back, and whip the wheel quickly to the right (This is where you hydraulic helm guys are spoiled rotten!) When you are doing this he should have already cleared the bow and making his way around. Reapply the throttle and you should have completed the ATB. If you had an experienced skier helping you learn to drive it, then it would definitely help you get the hang of it. An excellent skier can make a bad pull look good.
I just thought of something. I believe you have the single big fin on the bottom. My 18 had the double single fins like the inboards. I noticed that my hull did not roll up on its side as much as the original 18s. I think a lot of that had to do with that change of design. Therefore probably made it a little easier for ATBs for me.
I posted a video of the Backwater Gamblers going around with 6 for you to examine Mark. Daniel Http://hydrodyners.com/movies.php
Mark, I just watched that video clip of the Backwater ATB. You do not want to whip the person like that until they are experienced. The best way is a more gradual swing. A good example to view would be to watch a backward 360 ATB. Those pulls are a lot more delicate. They have to be because the skier can not cut as hard on a flip turn compared to normal slalom. There should be some examples of that type of ATB on www.youtube.com. I will search, and if I find a good one I will let you know. Greg
If you want to see the most talented boat driver in the world for ATBs then go onto www.youtube.com. Search Little Crow around the boat. There is a video clip from this last years show ski nationals. That boat driver is absolutely amazing. The sound of the clip is messed up, but the footage is unreal. Check it out! I think you will all agree with me on this one.
If you want to talk inboards, I like this one--ten around: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMNrHxazKKE jim
Mark, I can only give you some tips from a skier's perspective. I have tried it on almost every kind of ski we own, and the easiest I have come across is a Connelly Big Easy. I don't think they make this ski anymore, but here is a link to one on e-bay. It is a piece of cake from the skiers standpoint. Unfortunately, this trick is 99.999% driver, so... good luck with that. http://cgi.ebay.com/Connelly-The-Bi...ryZ71175QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem If you can't find one of these, an old wood ski like a Dick Pope Jr. works pretty good. I wouldn't recommend a fancy slalom ski. Oh yeah, and cut like mad.
Mark, I got the perfect ski to donate to you for the cause. It is an old wooden flat bottom ballet ski. You would need to just mount a large fin onto it (like from a Dick Pope) and you are good to go. Right now it has the polyeurethane double swivel type fins on it. If you want it you can have it. It can be your 360 ski. BTW, I should have asked this the first post. What length rope are you using? Try to keep it 60 ft or shorter. Anything over that is too long for a single ATB.
Mark, I do it about like Greg describes except we shorten up the line and enter slower, maybe 25 or a little more, depending on what the skier likes. At the slower speed the boat will tend to bank more, so a big observer helps to keep the boat level. I have done it solo, but it is more difficult because I tend to lose sight of the skier during the last right turn because of the bank. This is where you need to modulate the throttle when the skier is turning back in behind the boat and crossing the wake which can big because of the turn. If you pull them too hard there it makes it harder for them. The power modulation. during the right turn is where you can help them. I try to keep the speed to a minimum which makes the whole thing a little more difficult and safer I think. I think I enter at 20 with the big easy. A big guy will need more. I would suggest that you start out by just practicing the initial whip until you are comfortable with that, then try to put it all together. If the line goes slack, just stop. The rope will hang on anything it can find in that situation. jim
