What it Takes to be a Water Skiing Champion
AL “BAMBI” VAN BEENEN WINS 2004 SKI AWARD
From: "Al Van Beenen"
Connie,If you want to take the time: Go to TheFridayFlyer.com
http://www.thefridayflyer.com/FF-2005-4-15/FFS-1847.htm
or CanyonLakeSkiClub.com and click on ski club awards headline. The mug photo was taken at 50-year class reunion. Do you recognize me?Thanks for all your updating and time to keep us going! Al Van
--- Connie Van Horn wrote:
Now you have to explain what your winning category means: 35 Off? Are there any other pictures of you in those flyers?Connie
Connie,
I guess I opened a can of worms! The counting starts with a 75 foot ski line. Theslalom course is 849 feet in length and 75 feet in width. There is an opening gate and an exit gate with six turn balls in between. Each buoy counts as one point. The tow boat speed is 30.4 mph (49k) to 36 mph (58k) depending on your age group. When you skiboth gates and turn six buoys correctly and reach the top speed for your class the judge shortens the line to 15 off. If you do that correctly the line shortens to 22 feet off the 75 foot line; then 28 feet off, 32 feet off, 35 feet off (54 buoys), 38 feet off, 39.5 off. If you miss a buoy or displace it by hitting it you are all done; thanks for your entry! I went to Texas and placed second in the nation; that's the good news. Then I went to Florida anddidn't complete 22 off; I only got five! Sorry to bore you but you asked!Oh, by the way, there's more to it! Al Van
--- Connie Van Horn wrote:
Let's see if I'm understanding this: you made 6 circuits correctly, with the rope getting shorter and shorter. (I don't add this up to 54 buoys. What am I not understanding? Do you get the points for the 5 buoys you got while trying for 38 off?) Do you then try for 38 off and not make it? Does winning 35 off mean you were the only one able to do it orthe fastest one to do it? Do you have to declare your intentions to do 35 off before you start any of the circuits or do you just keep going until your miss a buoy? Does 35 off and no 38 off winner mean you were the last man standing? How can you get 2nd place in the nationals? Someone could do 38 off? Inquiring minds want to know. When a person wins something, we want to appreciate what it took to do that.Connie
To: "Connie Van Horn”
Connie,I am sorry; I didn't want to bore you with the preliminaries! OK. You are right in your counting and adding! What I didn't explain was the speed and rope length for beginning. Let's take my age/class which starts counting at 26 mph and 75 feet line length. Howeverthe skier doesn't have to ski the slow/long line brackets. It's by choice where you start. However, when you start you can't miss to get credit for the preliminary passes. Example: I start at 22 feet off of 75 feet. If I make all six buoys the score is 36. You are right; you can't miss and if you do you are done but if you attempt and only get 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, etc. they count. So the 36 is scored for running six at 22 off which gets credit for 6@26.7 mph, 6@28.5 mph, 6@30.4 mph, 6@32.3 mph, 6@15 off, and 6@22 off. At championships they don't allow the slower speeds because you have to qualify at top speed, but they do count if you run the opening pass! The winner is the one with the highest buoy count according to five judges. The most common opener is either 15 off or 22 off. I went to Florida for a championship and only got five on the first pass at 22 off; that counts as five instead of my expecting to run it and score 36 and counting the future passes. Therefore, running 28 off is 42 buoys. Running 32 off is 48 buoys.Running 35 off is 54 boys. Running 2 buoys at 38 off is 56 buoys, etc. which is my best but the time was slow for 32.3 mph. The time has to be from gate to gate and every ball in between is timed with the overall time being 17.93 seconds. There is a leeway of plus or minus a few hundreds of a second. I told you there's more to it! There are SmartTimersin the tow boats; there are magnets on the boat guide buoys; they are coordinated with the rpm of tow boat to give accurate speeds. This can be similar to cruise control in automobiles. However, cruise control computes 40 times a second; PerfectPass in boats compute 400 times a second! There's still more to it but thanks for letting me spit this out! Next time maybe we can calibrate boats; every boat and every lake is different. For instance, tail wind, head wind, cross wind, etc. Every skier has a different weight which adjust engine rpm.Yes, to most of your questions and I hope this explains a little more of my can of worms.Al Van
(At this point I stopped asking the poor guy any more questions because I was afraid he would never tell me if he ever won anything again. But why does it take 5 judges if everything is mechanically recorded? Points for style? Does everybody use the same boat driver or draw lots or does one have his own? The driver seems to be an integral part of this whole endeavor. Anyway, this is a remarkable skill and I stand in awe. I know I can’t stand on water skis because I tried to once and failed.)
To see a picture of Bambi in action, click on the "Al 'Bambi' Van Beenen A Champion" post.
From: "Al Van Beenen"
Connie,If you want to take the time: Go to TheFridayFlyer.com
http://www.thefridayflyer.com/FF-2005-4-15/FFS-1847.htm
or CanyonLakeSkiClub.com and click on ski club awards headline. The mug photo was taken at 50-year class reunion. Do you recognize me?Thanks for all your updating and time to keep us going! Al Van
--- Connie Van Horn wrote:
Now you have to explain what your winning category means: 35 Off? Are there any other pictures of you in those flyers?Connie
Connie,
I guess I opened a can of worms! The counting starts with a 75 foot ski line. Theslalom course is 849 feet in length and 75 feet in width. There is an opening gate and an exit gate with six turn balls in between. Each buoy counts as one point. The tow boat speed is 30.4 mph (49k) to 36 mph (58k) depending on your age group. When you skiboth gates and turn six buoys correctly and reach the top speed for your class the judge shortens the line to 15 off. If you do that correctly the line shortens to 22 feet off the 75 foot line; then 28 feet off, 32 feet off, 35 feet off (54 buoys), 38 feet off, 39.5 off. If you miss a buoy or displace it by hitting it you are all done; thanks for your entry! I went to Texas and placed second in the nation; that's the good news. Then I went to Florida anddidn't complete 22 off; I only got five! Sorry to bore you but you asked!Oh, by the way, there's more to it! Al Van
--- Connie Van Horn wrote:
Let's see if I'm understanding this: you made 6 circuits correctly, with the rope getting shorter and shorter. (I don't add this up to 54 buoys. What am I not understanding? Do you get the points for the 5 buoys you got while trying for 38 off?) Do you then try for 38 off and not make it? Does winning 35 off mean you were the only one able to do it orthe fastest one to do it? Do you have to declare your intentions to do 35 off before you start any of the circuits or do you just keep going until your miss a buoy? Does 35 off and no 38 off winner mean you were the last man standing? How can you get 2nd place in the nationals? Someone could do 38 off? Inquiring minds want to know. When a person wins something, we want to appreciate what it took to do that.Connie
To: "Connie Van Horn”
Connie,I am sorry; I didn't want to bore you with the preliminaries! OK. You are right in your counting and adding! What I didn't explain was the speed and rope length for beginning. Let's take my age/class which starts counting at 26 mph and 75 feet line length. Howeverthe skier doesn't have to ski the slow/long line brackets. It's by choice where you start. However, when you start you can't miss to get credit for the preliminary passes. Example: I start at 22 feet off of 75 feet. If I make all six buoys the score is 36. You are right; you can't miss and if you do you are done but if you attempt and only get 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, etc. they count. So the 36 is scored for running six at 22 off which gets credit for 6@26.7 mph, 6@28.5 mph, 6@30.4 mph, 6@32.3 mph, 6@15 off, and 6@22 off. At championships they don't allow the slower speeds because you have to qualify at top speed, but they do count if you run the opening pass! The winner is the one with the highest buoy count according to five judges. The most common opener is either 15 off or 22 off. I went to Florida for a championship and only got five on the first pass at 22 off; that counts as five instead of my expecting to run it and score 36 and counting the future passes. Therefore, running 28 off is 42 buoys. Running 32 off is 48 buoys.Running 35 off is 54 boys. Running 2 buoys at 38 off is 56 buoys, etc. which is my best but the time was slow for 32.3 mph. The time has to be from gate to gate and every ball in between is timed with the overall time being 17.93 seconds. There is a leeway of plus or minus a few hundreds of a second. I told you there's more to it! There are SmartTimersin the tow boats; there are magnets on the boat guide buoys; they are coordinated with the rpm of tow boat to give accurate speeds. This can be similar to cruise control in automobiles. However, cruise control computes 40 times a second; PerfectPass in boats compute 400 times a second! There's still more to it but thanks for letting me spit this out! Next time maybe we can calibrate boats; every boat and every lake is different. For instance, tail wind, head wind, cross wind, etc. Every skier has a different weight which adjust engine rpm.Yes, to most of your questions and I hope this explains a little more of my can of worms.Al Van
(At this point I stopped asking the poor guy any more questions because I was afraid he would never tell me if he ever won anything again. But why does it take 5 judges if everything is mechanically recorded? Points for style? Does everybody use the same boat driver or draw lots or does one have his own? The driver seems to be an integral part of this whole endeavor. Anyway, this is a remarkable skill and I stand in awe. I know I can’t stand on water skis because I tried to once and failed.)
To see a picture of Bambi in action, click on the "Al 'Bambi' Van Beenen A Champion" post.
posted by Connie @ Wednesday, April 27, 2005
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