Will This SKi be Difficult to Ride

[Samvq1]

My BIL AKA Fred Sanford Picked me up a ski for Christmas. It is a 68" HO Sabre slalom ski. Pictures attached. I am a beginner in every since of the word. I can get up on the slalom from our O,Brien combos but have never used a purpose built slalom ski. As a beginner, will I have a difficult time with this ski?

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Will This SKi be Difficult to Ride

Depends on your size - a 68 is a bit small for a grown man unless you are pretty light.

Pretty decent ski sizing chart here
http://waterski.about.com/od/tipsslalombegin/a/slalom_sizing.htm

 

[skibrain]

Re: Will This SKi be Difficult to Ride

You should be fine. The combos are probably 67" and so the 68" even though it has a bit narrower tail should give you enough planing area. Good looking ski.

With the tighter boot you may need some slime to get into the front binding, but I think you'll find it rides a lot better than the combo.
Remove the adjustable horizontal wing on the fin. It's unnecessary unless you're tuning your ski for competitive skiing.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Will This SKi be Difficult to Ride

You should be fine. The combos are probably 67" and so the 68" even though it has a bit narrower tail should give you enough planing area. Good looking ski.

With the tighter boot you may need some slime to get into the front binding, but I think you'll find it rides a lot better than the combo.
Remove the adjustable horizontal wing on the fin. It's unnecessary unless you're tuning your ski for competitive skiing.

Agreed. Unless he weighs over 200lbs AND is behind an underpowered boat for deep-water starts, 68" will be fine. I ski on a 69" ski at over 220lbs and have no issues popping up behind an average 20' I/O runabout. Also, remove the horizontal fin as skibrain mentioned, as it will slow you down considerably when not skiing the course, making free skiing quite tiring, lol.

 

[12vMan]

Re: Will This SKi be Difficult to Ride

At 170# (a few years ago ) I skied on a 66" Jobe for recreation and competition. The narrow tail will make it more difficult to get up as a beginner, especially with an underpowered boat as said above. Although the winged fin (if you leave it on) will slow you down in the pre-turn, it will also help keep the back of the ski in the water on tight, high speed turns when you get to that level. It's adjustable, so if you leave it on just keep it adjusted to the most horizontal position.

Just take it slow, it's a nice performance ski you can grow into.

 

[Samvq1]

Re: Will This SKi be Difficult to Ride

Thank you everyone for the information. I'm hoping to get it out in the next couple of weeks.

 

[Samvq1]

Re: Will This SKi be Difficult to Ride

I was able to get my ski out yesterday. My technique was horrible but I could tell a huge difference in that ski and the combo ski I had been using. The water was really to rough to ski but I had to try it. Once I actually learn to ski should do me well.