Section Dying???

[iwaterskihard]

Wow with the drop in teh Outback DD's and the influx of the big boats section of teh forum sure seems to be a dying place? Especially considering I was the last one to post in it months ago LOL.

It's a shame that slalom skiing and the people who do it are a dying breed with the exception of a few on here and even they are posting less and less.

I can almost see tis section of the forum being removed as it just seem to be taking up space. I know I don't have my Outback anymore but I do check this site often as I am in southern Texas where I can ski year round now and was hoping i might see more talk in this category over the winter by those who do ski.

Thoughts people? Or am I right that this part of teh forum is truely dying off? :(

[kaneboats]

No, it's never going to die. Be sure to get pictures to share. Even those of us who don't slalom anymore still follow it and love seeing the pics you guys share. DD's will always have a place in our hearts (cough cough).

[mikenehrkorn]

I'm with Kane -- keep it going and keep the pics coming!!!

I once considered myself somewhat proficient on a slalom ski (not that I was EVER on your level) and still give a try from time to time though with much different goals that I had 25 yrs ago :). You probably won't get much feedback from this novice but I love to see others that excel at the sport!!

[drb59]

I sold my DD last year and it is still near and dear to my heart. I enjoy the pictures you put up and my son is still an avid skier.

[beat taco]

My dad would say that's only because the real men are dying.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/07/mu6anapa.jpg

[tarheelskier]

That is such a great picture, in so many ways! Awesome!

[jmb]

Still have my Outback. Waiting on a decent break in the weather and ill be out. I still slalom. No pro though, just like it.

[kaneboats]

Ah, yes. I remember the 100 ft. jet boat ski rope to get out of the rooster. LOL. Miss those days.

[fu-man]

Just bought my first boat last fall. 03 outback DD. Love to ski/slalom.

[beat taco]

Ah, yes. I remember the 100 ft. jet boat ski rope to get out of the rooster. LOL. Miss those days.

Jetavator!

[Mikey]

This section will only die if we all let it... Obviously for some of us skiing is not happening at the moment, but rest assured as soon as the ice comes off the lakes ,out comes the drysuits and wetsuits and we will be back at it.....


Long live Slalom......

[skiyaker]

I am still here and looking forward to some big things once the ice thaws!

Funny over on ball of spray a recurrent topic is the desire for an "entry level" slalom boat- which we used to have with the outback. There are apparently enough slalom nuts out there to make mastercraft want to invest R&D $ in the new prostar (beautiful!). I like this part of the forum and will continue to post here but I could see it dying now that the outback is dead.

Long live slalom!

[Boatdrinks797]

I'll admit it....I'm a traitor, but still enjoy seeing pics and stories so keep it up! I promise to strap my HO on this year and dig deep and post some pics.

[sandm]

There are apparently enough slalom nuts out there to make mastercraft want to invest R&D $ in the new prostar (beautiful!).


I wonder why they feel the need to invest r&d? every boat manufacturer has a hull mold of an old dd waterski machine. start molding a few every year and drop an injected motor in it and you're set to go. I spent a lot of time in my buddys boomerang over the years and they really already have perfected the flat wake. put in a minimalist interior to keep pricing low and I bet you'd move a few every year.

[Lynn Syndrom]

Skiing is still alive on the Upper Allegheny. We have a camp on pool 8 of the river and there are at least 6 families that ski. We have a regulation ski course (tough to keep the course straight with the river current / debris). One family has a few barefoot skiiers who get at it in the mornings when we have glass.

The wife my two boys and I ski and love the Outback wake. Neighbor has a 2012 Malibu Response that has a little softer wake and a lot thicker payment book.

I'll commit to posting up some pictures since I understand that it didn't happen without pics.

[kaneboats]

Just bought my first boat last fall. 03 outback DD. Love to ski/slalom.

Congrats but around here we don't believe you until you post some pics of your baby.

[iwaterskihard]

Here's my weekend I hope? :) Glad to see some input from y'all! I was scared this place was dying off. I know it's not a Moomba but my previous tug was and I liked it for everything it did for my family and I at the time.

http://i1118.photobucket.com/albums/k612/iwaterskihard/IMG_2200_zps69fe25e1.jpg (http://s1118.photobucket.com/user/iwaterskihard/media/IMG_2200_zps69fe25e1.jpg.html)

[zabooda]

I've been recuperating from knee surgery since May and never skiied last year for the first time ever. I got a second scope done and it is all cleaned out and ready to go. I had to give up basketball but damn if I give up skiing at least for awhile. Even when I get back to it, I will never be the same skier I was so I really don't have much to add except the smile on my face. I do read all that comes through this section and the help you guys give out is spot on.

[moombadaze]

slalom skiing is the one thing in the last 25 years I wish I never gave up, boy do I miss it, not that I was very good, but dang I really wish I could still do it. no chance at all now with age and knee's going bad

[beat taco]

Congrats but around here we don't believe you until you post some pics of your baby.

Gorgeous Nauty! I will always admire DD boats, Corvette's on the water.

[BensonWdby]

Actually I recently heard that slalom is making a comeback. All the wake-wanna-bees are finding that wakeboarding it is not as easy as the pros make it look and spending all day going wake-to-wake only from your strong side - just does not amp them like it used to.

That and their knees are taking a beating from landing in the flats.

I think slalom will survive. But it is a much more mature sport so much of what needs to be said has been. When the water softens up a bit you will probably see more action on the board.

I will start a new thread right now.

[skiyaker]

Moombadaze if you can still wakeboard you might want to try the new freeskis like the Radar Satori- low resistance getup like a wakeboard but still a lot of fun. You can ride it at much lower speeds (I've skied at 20 mph on ours)

[Mikey]

Just got back from our boatshow. Only 1 true ski boat. The new MC Prostar. Kinda a stripped down boat , BUT it has a lot of really well thought out features in it. This is the result of various PROS inputs as opposed to Engineers etc doing all the design work. This is a very nice boat and the Pro i was talking too (Stephen Neveau)Was very pumped about this boat and he was telling me about some of the subtle differences in ski characteristics of it VS the SN200. I've skied behind a SN so now i really want to try skiing behind one of these.


Don't know if i will ever get the chance and sadly since SC now makes NO SKI BOATS. some day i may need to look elsewhere. Do not get me wrong i still Love my Outback DD. but just saying.....


Something i noticed and was a little shocked by was the paint colors... Easily 90% of the inboard boats were all Metal flake paint jobs. Nice on some but not all...

Anyways getting away from the subject.,LONG LIVE SLALOM....

[996scott]

I have always been a skier at heart. There is nothing that gets my heart racing than seeing a nice stretch of glass and dreaming of carving it up. I love wakeboarding, surfing, etc but give me a good ski any day and I am a happy camper:)
I've now got my 17yr old hooked on it as well.

[bashton]

I am a long time slalom guy, and now enjoy wakeboarding also. We are a two-boat family, as I own a 2008 DD Outback and Ian has his Outback-V.

As much as my old body prefers wakeboarding, to me it doesn't bring me the rush that skiing allows. On the other hand, my 53 year old body prefers wakeboarding and can hold up to a whole more pulls than when I slalom!

As far as the boats go, as nice as Ian's Outback-V is, I much prefer the handling of my DD Outback. But then...I don't have a new baby on board! lol

Oh...and I recently purchased a new ski, (Radar Senate) in the proper size for me, (67") since I have been skiing on Ian's 65" Senate, so needless to say, I cant wait to get back on the water!

Bashton
2008 Outback DD

[Mikey]

Now when you get a chance to get into ski shape and get yourself kinda dialed in. Using a proper ski for yourself. It would be interesting to see your take on the skiability between the two boats.

[skiyaker]

It's funny to me the discussions coming up between ease of skiing vs wake boarding. For me, getting up on a wake board might be easier than slalom, but the head bonks were 10times worse than any slalom fall I've taken including an out the from front flip. Maybe it's that in order for wake boarding to give the rush that skiing does I would have to learn some complex tricks and even then I'm not sure it would. Or maybe it's just that I really suck at boarding. Either way, I decided that in order to preserve brain cells I needed quit boarding and focus on the slalom course.

[fu-man]

Here it is....19296
Congrats but around here we don't believe you until you post some pics of your baby.

[BensonWdby]

I am certain I have hit the water at 50mph while slalom and in 42 years have only been injured 3 times - none of which were career/season ending.

About third time up on a wakeboard at 20 mph? Tweeked my knee getting out of the water and was down for months.

My son got a concussion from WB. So - not much reason for me to consider it - not fast enough.


It's funny to me the discussions coming up between ease of skiing vs wake boarding. For me, getting up on a wake board might be easier than slalom, but the head bonks were 10times worse than any slalom fall I've taken including an out the from front flip. Maybe it's that in order for wake boarding to give the rush that skiing does I would have to learn some complex tricks and even then I'm not sure it would. Or maybe it's just that I really suck at boarding. Either way, I decided that in order to preserve brain cells I needed quit boarding and focus on the slalom course.

[sled - 1]

OK I've been gone a while, but what the heck is this slalom dying crap! I turn my back for a minute to clean up some personal messes and this is what I come back to.

I will post some pics all right. Pics of my 10 yr old in her first tournament last summer schooling her older brother and his friend. And oh yeah the boys were in the tournament as well.

Sure you can't buy a DD from these guys anymore, but we were, or are all fans and members of the Moomba family.

I had to jump ship because my ex stole my Outback but I have a great many friends over here. Not to mention that while I enjoy BOS, those guys can be full of themselves some times.

[kaneboats]

Welcome, whoever the heck this Sled guy is! Sounds like some kind of old Canadian ski team snowmobile riding PITA cheesehead to me.

Holy crap. I can't believe your little baby is 10 already. How does this happen so fast? Way to school those brothers!

[Schmitter]

Personally I am very disappointed in SC's choice to discontinue the true slalom boat. I was hoping that I would need one more Outback in my life, maybe in a few years, to be my last boat. Now it looks like the 06 I have now will have to be it. My ski friends and I ski either behind my Outback, or their 1990 Supra. Reading through the comments here, what I have noticed is that Slalom skiers tend to stay with it longer. The skiers on the lake still ski, but the wake boarders go all day, and I mean ALL DAMN DAY, for the first year on the new dock destroying monstrosity that they just got. The second year, we can usually get a couple of runs in, even on a Saturday, in between the little kids on tubes. Will skiing ever completely die? I doubt it. Will wake boarding ever go away? As a skier, I can only hope, but I doubt that also.

[kaneboats]

Hmmm. I wonder if you were able to get maybe a dozen to say twenty orders together if SC would let you do a group buy and get out the mold for the Outback again. They could run a few extra to ship out to dealers that want them. Then again, you never know when skiing makes a huge comeback and the demand for DD boats returns. Imagine the tricked out 2020 Outback 2.0.

[skiyaker]

I would be curious to know how many outbacks SC sold with the goofy tower that interfered with shortline. I would bet not many. Once they did that I knew the outback was sunk. I always thought there were enough crossover options out there that only a die hard skier would buy a direct drive and they wouldn't want that tower. If there were to be a group buy I would say do it for the Supra TS6m. I heard they still have the mold. And anybody see the "new" gekko gts 20? Hmmm seems an aweful lot like a boomerang and base is 30k.


Good point Schmitter that skiers tend to ski for life.

Sled good to see you back. If you're ever driving down I-69 between Indy and Ft Wayne and want a pull around exit 45 look me up.

[BensonWdby]

I think Schmitters real point is that the average recreational wakeboarder spends most of their time setting up for heel-side-wake-to-wake, and celebrating after - if they make it. Because of all this time just being pulled around - they can go forever - the whole time screwing the water for the rest of the lake.

I think it might be that SC did not want to invest in the development to compete with the Nautique 200 and the new MC Prostar. As a serious slalom skier - I could see myself in a used 2014 MC prostar someday - if the body holds up long enough to make it worth the money.

[Mikey]

I'm willing to bet, correct me if i'm wrong, But likely the DD Outback Mold will be around and if anyone really wants one bad enough SC will build one. At what cost??? not sure. MB for instance does not advertise a DD boat , BUT they still will build one for you Special Order... HMMM Maybe there is still hope...

[fu-man]

OK I've been gone a while, but what the heck is this slalom dying crap! I turn my back for a minute to clean up some personal messes and this is what I come back to.

I will post some pics all right. Pics of my 10 yr old in her first tournament last summer schooling her older brother and his friend. And oh yeah the boys were in the tournament as well.

Sure you can't buy a DD from these guys anymore, but we were, or are all fans and members of the Moomba family.

I had to jump ship because my ex stole my Outback but I have a great many friends over here. Not to mention that while I enjoy BOS, those guys can be full of themselves some times.

Sled-1 I have skied a couple of tourneys up by you at Stillwater. Beautiful area up there.

I am puzzled a bit by the folks who have lamented the high costs of the Mastercraft, Malibu, and Nautiques. Centurion is a really nice pull at a more modest price but the Carbon Pro has only been back in the game for the last couple of years. I'm aware of Gekko but can't say much for them except I don't really like how they look. Outback DD had been there for years and was AWSA approved. I can see why SC stopped making them if sales were down. Maybe they needed a pro rider to endorse or a better tournament presence?????

[iwaterskihard]

I think that is/was the biggest downfall of the Outback. SC didn't sponser any tournaments or have any Pro's flogging the ride.
Before I moved we actually enjoyed our Outback and it provided us a ton of fun. Was it a SN 196, SN 200, MC ProStar............no. But it was a great entry level ski boat. For anyone who regularly goes to boat shows year after year one could see the writing on the wall.........3 event boats were getting shown less and less each year!
Even the Carbon Pro is now a 50K+ boat.
Moomba let themselves down on the 3 event boat and chose not to compete in my mind! Too bad!!!!!