There have been some large advancements in the sport of water skiing over the past 5 to 10 years. We have GPS based speed control systems for boats, giving us an impressive tolerance for consistent speed. We have water skis designed with such precision that 1mm of movement on a fin can completely change the dynamics of a ski.

I am somewhat suprised when the upcoming regionals championship put out a call for VCR donations.  In a video world where flash based memory can record high definition streams on something that fits in my pocket, the officiating system that still holds to be the standard, is based off of standard definition video cameras tying into VHS recording systems.
With spotters in the boat and on the shore to report whether the skier makes it around each buoy, the cameras themselves are used for watching the entrance gates, ensuring the boat stays straight down the course and measures the distance of the jump.

It is long past time to move away from the VCR as the recording platform and into a DVR system. It is also time to move into something of a little higher quality for video capture.  While considered to be reliable, the VHS tape medium itself scares me compared to digital archiving.  I don’t like relying on one VHS tape to hold the fate of my video.  Knowing I could add some redundancy in digital recording and even an archival system to DVD almost instantly makes it more attractive.

This week, we will be going through some interviews and documenting what it actually takes to put on a water ski tournament and hopefully dig a little deeper into what the technology does now and where it should go.

One thing still needed for the regionals waterski tournament next week are the competitor bags. It seems like a simple item, but with almost 200 skiers signed up it equates to a significant cost for the event coordinators to purchase decent plastic bags to hand to the competitors.

Jim has been able to get about 60 bags from his own channels at Kodak, but the rest of bags have so far remained unclaimed.

I am pretty green to the world of marketing, but this sounds like an easy opportunity for any company to get some relatively cheap exposure.  You have a sporting event in the Rochester area, where competitors from around the country are flying into, spanning 4 days of activities. The more bags you have the more exposure you get, not to mention that you can put your own marketing literature in the bag itself.  There will be pictures, there will be blogs, and there will be exposure of this event, reaching around the country.

If there is anybody out there who has a box of decent quality plastic bags lying around, who wants to help out and gain some excellent exposure, please come forward.  I will make sure your efforts do not go un-noticed and bring you some exposure to the rest of the world.

This site is always a great place to ski! Little nervous about it because I’m not skiing at the level I was last year at this time, I will definitely take advantage of the practice rounds on Friday.
I am sure Steve will be around with his camera so we will post some pics as soon as we can.

Congratulations to Lex Brumagin(M3) and Steve Cole(M4) for winning their divisions with 1 bouy at 10.75 meters (39.5 off)

Full results: http://www.awsaeast.org/results/2009/09E059CS.htm

June 27th, 2009 was the 17th rendition of the Buoy Bash.

This is the first time for me at Crystal Springs.  Its a 2 hour drive from Rochester to the home of Crystal and Darrell DeBay and their picturesque pond in the southern tier.  The mood was a little heavy due to the recent tragic loss of a wonderful member of the skiing community, John O’Neill.  All of the proceeds from the event went to his family, and everyone there was very generous.

It was recommended to me by John O. last year to make sure I take some practice on the pond prior to competing due to the overlapping course.  Basically you ski the last 6 balls of an 8 ball course, with a few extra gates and 55m balls sprinkled in for good measure.  2 passes and you get the hang of it, and realize that the turn in for the gates happens right around ball 5 (friendly bouy as it is referred to) of the return pass.  This acts as a fantastic reference, and if you ski here enough, your gates can be flawless. 

Overall, its a great site truly situated in the middle of no where.  Well worth the drive.

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