Picking the Right Ski for Your Boat - Slalom Water Skis 101

If you want to ski but don't have a ski boat, this video will teach you which ski is best for your specific type of boat. Mitch discusses the characteristics of the Radar Senate Graphite, Radar Vapor, and the HO Fusion Freeride Slalom Water Ski and their impact behind non-ski boats. He also goes into depth about wakesurfing, wakeboarding, and sterndrive boats and their effects on water skiing.

Check out the full lineup of the best skis for your boat:

See the full selection of gear from HO and Radar:

Shop a complete range of gear for wakesurfing, wakeboarding and water skiing here at BoardCo:

@radarwaterskis @HOSportsMfg

[mrslkungpowchikn]

This was more helpful to me than any other waterski video and I’m an advanced skiier. But in 2009 we decided to return back to water sports (we had a Mastercraft Tristar a few years before), and we found a good deal on a Mastercraft X2 2003 boat; which “somehow” was “supposed to be” Mastercraft’s official wakeboard AND (tournament?) approved waterski boat!! I loved having the open bow etc but ever since The first day trying to use it for slalom skiing, I never have felt I was ever able to have a decent ski run! I always thought it was something like maybe the rope was too long or too short, or speed was off, or just a bad ski day with too many other boats around or wind chop….because I could never feel like I could get my rhythm behind the boat, and it also felt, to me, that the wake was HUGE! My husband assured me it was some tournament approved boat for WATER SKIING and so that it “should” be pretty decent. I had started to wonder if I just totally lost my waterski “mojo” that I once had late in high school through my young adult years….I mean, I was now a 37 year old “Mom”, but in decent enough shape my skills would have gone out of the window completely ! Coincidentally we were fortunate to have gotten BOTH, a baby boy AND a boat the year 2009! 😂
So even though the wake “seemed” REALLY quite wide as well as much more pronounced than I was used to (AND had wanted to ski behind once again), I thought maybe I was just way too rusty and my ski too stiff for the river we now boated on a regular basis; the hugely beautiful, Columbia River, vs the Willamette River in Portland OR. I DID have a very stiff slalom ski, the HO Adrenaline with a double boot, so THAT, plus me being “rusty”, and us maybe still not adjusting things right on the boat, I kept “hoping” eventually we would be able to figure things out and it’d ski like our Tristar did!
It’s now 13 years later and I FINALLY realize I’m NOT crazy and I was RIGHT about that wake! Now I know WHY it’s always felt like I could not get my rhythm and how I felt like my whole upper body would kind of have to collapse down to absorb some of the impact. I also would think to myself, “
am a really not leaning hard enough away from the wake, and THATs why it’s hitting so HARD?!”. Surely it wouldn’t be an official watershiable boat for tournaments with that crazy wake. I feel like I was cheated kind of . I used to ski slalom courses, did the one handed turns, etc and was taught by a professional skier so I learned good technique. All this time I thought it was me not the boat. So now I’m disappointed to find out it really ISNT, or shouldn’t be listed as any “ski boat”, especially one that is worthy of waterski tournaments?! Could this REALLY be TRUE?

to seem like it try and absorb the

[v-vr-rotatev-vy_vx]

Wow and still have my wooden Maharaja, heavy and tuff to get up on.Tried a Chuck Stearn ski in the late 60s. It would plow through any wake or wave like there was nothing in the way. We had aspirations of skiing from Los Angles to CATALINA ISLAND.

[scottkitchens]

Thanks for this video. Great information. Great breakdown.

[michaelhoelzl]

U Just know everything about all these connected aspects, great!!! I'd Love Some technical advice!!!

[mccallumcra]

In regards to the senit graphite . I've been skiing on this thing for four years and it is hard to ride but it is responsive as all hell. At boat speeds 34mph delivers the cut that is well over 80nph if you want to cut even a bit. I agree the HO is probably better when you are digressing

[martincyrany]

Nice video thanks. Question? Im looking to get back into waterskiing again after 20 years. Ive heard good things about the HO freeride and the hovercraft. Which one would you suggest getting?

[corywalters]

Water Ski question. I'm looking for a ski for my wife. I would say she is a novice. She has been skiing a few years on my ski and likes to do some basic cuts behind a bayliner style boat. Any recommendations for a novice level ski that she can get better on with time and grow into.

[bpatto]

Question, what sort of skis are the guys in the following video use. They are ripping behind a wake boat.