New slalom ski design
 

Anybody out there heard anything about these new 'relaxed' waterskis for open water skiing? Not saying I am going to rush out and buy one, but it seems like a decent idea for when the boat is full, you have newbies on board, etc.

Overview: http://vimeo.com/49747021

Skis:
HO Freeride:
http://www.hosports.com/waterskis-freeride.php

Radar has one with a wood core, but their site is under construction right now and I can not think of the name of it. It looks similar to a older Maharajah.

Any opinions on this?

NCSONE

I suck at skiing. Do you think a ski like this would be good for a novice?

Yeah, probably so. Lots of surface area makes them easy to get out of the water on, a stable ride and slower speeds are all good things for those new to the activity.

I had a previous version of the Freeride - great beginner to novice ski. the new design makes a very fun ski...you won't win and competitions with it - but it's a great price and a great product. Kind of looking like the next model will be a type of cross-over wake/ski thing... I really doubt the edge design will make that much difference for the demographic of this ski buyer. It's always been a great cruisin' ski - Kinda like driving a pickup truck without power steering tho...

It did seem like Marcus wasn't ripping the turns nearly as good as he can, but I don't really plan to do any competitions, I just want to be able to enjoy any and all types of towboat watersports i.e. ski, wakeboard, surf, kneeboard, and maybe even try the chair. I know I gotta lose some weight though or I will have trouble doing just about any of it.

I am thinking I may pick one up for those days when we have a boat full of people and I just want to do something to get in the water and get wet.

HO add looks like the ski sizes are 65" 167" 169" 171" 65 is to short for me the others would be a bit to long I think.:rolleyes:http://www.hosports.com/waterskis-freeride.php

Might I suggest one of these. They don't make water rough enough or a wake large enough to bother you on one of these. They have just about doubled in price since I bought mine 9 years ago though.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_...255B1%255D.jpg

I normally ski a HO System 8 68". I bought a HO Triumph 69" for the bigger boys to use, it's the wider more forgiving shape. It does not have a double tunnel like the Burner or the other freeride series - I have a friend with the Burner who could never get comfortable with it. If it were me, I would stay away from any of those double tunnel models - if it were such a great design idea we would have seen it elsewhere.

Whenever the water is rough and/or I just want an easier ride, I grab the Triumph - rides nice and easy and if I have the driver slow down a couple ticks it makes some nice carving turns and throws a good wall of water.

My wife needed her first slalom when I taught her and we bought another wider body ski - the Connelly Outlaw. As with the Triumph, the wider shape helps the skier get out of the water quicker and provides a nice stable ride.

That new Radar ski interests me as well with the wood core, but their website has been down for the last 3 days so I can not link to it just yet.

The HO seemed interesting with the reverse sidewall on the back 1/2 of the ski and all. The Radar ski looks super laid back. May just have to demo one to see what it is all about.