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Conference vicki::boats

Title:Powerboats
Notice:Introductions 2 /Classifieds 3 / '97 Ski Season 1267
Moderator:KWLITY::SUTER
Created:Thu May 12 1988
Last Modified:Wed Jun 04 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1275
Total number of notes:18109

110.0. "People and Product Report" by ROGER::GAUDET (Ski Nautique) Fri Aug 12 1988 14:27

    I went to Water Skis Plus in Spencer, Mass. last night to pick up
    some ski rope handles and learned some interesting things I thought
    I'd share with you folks.
    
    The gentleman there is quite the Wski fanatic.  He's a rated AWSA
    ski instructor and quite handy with fixing skis/bindings.  I watched
    him fix a woman's O'Brien Astral binding in about 10 minutes, something
    about the adjustable binding jamming up.  Apparently he knows many
    people in the Wski world too.  He was showing some folks a picture
    of himself with Banana George Blair, the 70+ year old barefooter
    who makes claim to having 'footed on all 7 continents!  He told
    me that Banana George is the one who first took pictures of new
    born infants in the hospital way back when.  At the time, George
    said he would take pictures (for free) of each child that was born
    (within a few minutes/hours of birth) and then he would donate $1.00
    to the hospital for each child he took a picture of.  And that's
    exactly what he did.  The idea of these pictures caught on very
    fast and as we all know still happens today.  But now Mr. Blair
    has some 300+ franchises of photo studios nationwide that take these
    pictures (now for a fee, of course).  Apparently he still donates
    the $1.00 for each child, but he's a millionaire with his picture
    studios, appropriately named Blair Photography (or something close
    to that).  And he still travels the world with his "Banana" Nautique
    putting on demonstrations and thrilling audiences with the high-speed
    antics of barefooting.  What a guy!
    
    The gentleman at Water Skis Plus also seems to be friendly with
    other big names in the Wski world, like Carl Roberge and Bob LaPoint.
    He described Carl Roberge as a "nice kid."  I also heard him talking
    about his son (not Carl's son) who will be skiing for the NLU college
    team this year.  It sounds like he's pretty good, skiing into 32'-off.
    Excuuuuuuse me!  :-)
    
    Something I would have picked up if I owned a dog is this really
    nifty dog leash.  I've never seen one like this before, but it was
    a 5-6 foot section of ski rope with a eye clip on one end and the
    handle was a stumped version of a real ski handle!  Honest, this
    thing was a regular-thickness ski handle but was only about 6 inches
    wide with the regular handle ends!  Made by Straight Line ropes.
    I think it was something like $6.95.  According to the lady at the
    counter the Straight Line accessory line is the hottest fad this
    year.  No wonder Rick Suter has a Stright Line rope in his boat.
    You yuppie you!  :-) :-)
    
    One last thing I picked up there was a very neat T-shirt.  This
    shirt has the five Olympic rings on the front (in standard Olympic
    configuration) and on the back is an emblem with several impressions
    of water skiers (jumper, slalom, tricker, etc...) in a cirle with
    the characters " '92? " shadowing the skier figures.  This is alluding
    to the initiative to have water skiing included as an Olympic event
    at the 1992 summer games.  I thought it was a well-spent $7.95.
    
    And now for a question to you folks...can anyone post the slalom
    course times/ranges?  I can't find anyone with those darn numbers.
    I know Doug has them engraved on his dashboard and a friend of mine
    has a key ring with the times listed.  But Water Skis Plus said they
    usually have something like key rings or cards but they were all
    out.  Maybe others would like to see these numbers also.  You know
    us guys with "older" boats don't have them posted on our steering
    wheels!  :-)
    
    					...Roger...
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
110.1PSYCHE::DECAROLISGPX UserTue Aug 16 1988 18:5515
    
    I wonder why Wskiing will not be included in this year's Olympics?
    
    Waterskiing needs the Olympics to give the sport more depth, I'm
    amazed at what the pros get for a 1st place finish....$2,000.  Thats'
    not much compared to other sports, i.e., $75,000 for a two-hour
    tennis final.      
    
    So it was a barefooter that started the baby picture business, ay
    Roger?!  I enjoyed your story :>)
    
    Jeanne
    
    
    
110.2T-shirt updateROGER::GAUDETSki NautiqueThu Aug 18 1988 14:1720
    Thanks Jeanne.  I'm glad you enjoyed the story.  And I agree with
    you that Wskiing pros should get paid more in line with other sports.
    But I think that it's getting there slowly.  I mean look at this
    year's coverage of the Coors Light Tour, better than previous year's
    coverage.  It'll take time to get people interested in Wskiing as
    a real competitive sport.  But I think it will come.
    
    An update on that T-shirt...I took another look at it and found
    a small discrepancy in my description...here's the real thing. 
    There are four figures, a jumper, trick skier, slalom skier, and
    a barefooter positioned in a circle with a big "?" in the center
    and the date "1992" in the lower right area of the circle.  Quite
    a message there!
    
    Now, doesn't anyone have those slalom times?  I know Doug has the
    slalom times and jump times on his dashbaord.  You mean NOBODY has
    a keyring or something lying around with those numbers?  For shame!
    :-)
    
    					...Roger...
110.3Water Skiing and The OlympicsTOOK::MERSHONRic MershonMon Aug 22 1988 09:4635
    RE: .1

    Jeanne,

    I think I can give you an idea why it's been so tough getting
    Wskiing into the Olympics.  In fact, I think we're pretty lucky
    that we're gonna see it in 1992, and even then it will only be
    an exhibition sport.  But medals will still be awarded (I'm
    pretty sure).

    Water skiing is a unique sport in that an added human factor
    is present that can affect skiers' performances.  In all other
    sports (I think ws really is unique here), athletes' performances
    are influenced by many factors: physical condition, mental
    toughness, and they are influenced by outside factors too, such
    as equipment conditions and mother nature.  In water skiing
    the added human factor is the boat driver.  This has been the
    downfall of water skiing in the eyes of the International
    Olympic Committee (IOC).  What they don't know, is that a truly
    great boat driver, such as Jack Walker, can give excellent,
    consistent rides.  What the IOC sees is not just a skier, but
    a skier, AND a boat driver!  I hope they are pleasantly
    surprised in 1992.

    A previous event has also discouraged the IOC from including
    water skiing in the Olympics.  In case you didn't know, water
    skiing was once before included in the Olympics.  This was
    a few years back, and the performances were lowsy, due to less
    than desirable conditions.  In 1992, we need to pray for great
    conditions and some great performances from our athletes!!
    
    With a good showing, we may find water skiing included as a
    regular sport in 1996 and beyond!  Keep your fingers crossed!!

    -ric.
110.41992PSYCHE::DECAROLISGPX UserTue Aug 23 1988 12:4917
Ric,

Yes, waterskiing made its way into the Olympics in 1972, in Munich, but
I don't remember seeing it.  From what I've read in Wski mag., it 
doesn't seem like its a definate yet for 1992.  Spain is the hosting
country and supposedly a waterskiing nation.  

These cable systems are interesting.....I'm sure they'd be accepted
by the viewing public, but not so by the athletes, or tournament boat
owners.  If such a cable system were to be used, (and there's still a
lot of refinement needed), that would solve the driver/skier dilemma.

But I think the medal should go to the athlete, and athlete only.  The
driver should be credited as would a coach.  

Jeanne

110.5Nice folks, good store, 508-885-3335MENTOR::REGJust browsing; HONEST, I'm BROKE !Mon Aug 29 1988 13:3914
    re .0	WaterSkis Plus is owned and run by Ed and April
    Bellefeuille.  So far I've bought a wet suit (last fall), a knee
    board (half ownership with my son) and some misc stuff there.  Their
    prices are competitive with Overton's, Skis Unlimited and the other
    mail order houses, and as he says, he's THERE if you have a problem.
    Ed has an American Skier tournament boat on the lake where he lives
    near to the store, I have had a couple of lessons from him which
    I regarded as very good value, will be scheduling more now that
    my vacation is over.

    	Reg
    
    {'spose I should update the  "Lessons in Spencer"  topic}
    
110.6Slalom TimesTRAM::CSMITHChuckMon Sep 12 1988 17:0121
	Times for the slalom course:
					    Record Capability 
Speed	Actual		Tolerance		Tolerance
 mph
 22	26.33		25.75-26.95
 24	24.14		23.65-24.65
 26	22.28		21.86-22.72			
 28	20.69		20.33-21.07	
 30	19.31		19.00-19.64
 32	18.11		17.83-18.39
 34	16.95		16.65-17.25		16.75-17.15
 36	16.08		15.88-16.28		15.93-16.23


			Third Buoy
34	7.13		7.01-7.27
36	6.77		6.65-6.88



From the AWSA Official Tournament Rules
110.7Merci beaucoup!ROGER::GAUDETSki NautiqueFri Sep 16 1988 15:068
    RE: .6
    
    Thanks, Chuck.  I knew someone would post them sooner or later!
    
    Hey Doug, how about those jump times?  A photo of your dashboard
    will suffice.  :-)  You can bill me...
    
    					...Roger...
110.8More gadgetry.SETH::WHYNOTFri Oct 28 1988 10:1913
    Another new gadget on the market, and am I excited! ;^)  Overton's
    has speedchronometers that will not only time your skiboat through
    the slalom and jump courses but display average boat speed for that
    pass. Think of it, no more fumbling with placards and trying to
    read bouncing dashboards, or cursing your inaccurate pito-tube type
    speedometers. Features include mode select for slalom and jump courses,
    split time for third bouy (slalom) and mid course bouy (jump), and
    end of course display that will display full course time, split
    time and avg boat speed. This is available in either a handheld
    for $39.95 or wristwatch for $34.95 and are made by Acutrak.
    Doug.
    Re: Roger; oh yah, I forgot...Jump times are to follow...
    
110.9JUMP TIMESSETH::WHYNOTFri Oct 28 1988 10:4121
                                 JUMP TIMES 
          82 METER SEGMENT           |          41 METER SEGMENT

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------
    20      9.23      8.93-9.53      |  4.61     4.41-4.81    +/-20
    21      8.68      8.38-8.98      |  4.34     4.14-4.54    +/-20
    22      8.20      7.90-8.50      |  4.10     3.90-4.30    +/-20
    23      7.98      7.68-8.28      |  3.99     3.79-4.19    +/-20
    24      7.57      7.27-7.87      |  3.78     3.58-3.98    +/-20
    25      7.38      7.18-7.58      |  3.69     3.51-3.87    +/-15
    26      7.03      6.83-7.23      |  3.51     3.33-3.69    +/-15
    27      6.87      6.67-7.07      |  3.43     3.25-3.61    +/-15
    28      6.56      6.36-6.76      |  3.28     3.10-3.46    +/-15
    29      6.28      6.08-6.48      |  3.14     2.96-3.32    +/-15
    30      6.15      6.00-6.30      |  3.07     2.95-3.19    +/-10
    31      5.90      5.75-6.05      |  2.95     2.83-3.07    +/-10
    32      5.79      5.69-5.87      |  2.89     2.79-2.99    +/-08
    33      5.57      5.42-5.72      |  2.78     2.66-2.90    +/-10
    34      5.37      5.22-5.52      |  2.68     2.56-2.80    +/-10
    35      5.18      5.08-5.28      |  2.59     2.49-2.69    +/-07
     
110.10Thanks, Doug.ROGER::GAUDETSki NautiqueFri Oct 28 1988 10:531