Hey skibrain and Daniel: My email was not intended to offend. I own an 18 and am very happy with it for openwater skiing. In answer to skibrains inquiry, my 18 does get used but more for pleasure boating and floating. Daniel, your boat has been modified a bit (with additional tracking fins). In addition, your pylon eye is considerably further forward than the norm for Hydrodynes. My boat has not been altered from its original setup with one fin and low profile pylon. Having the pylon even further forward, up near the driver creates even more leverage aganst the fources of the skier (i.e. typical inboard slalom ski boat setups). The hydrodynes are a blast to own but they don't measure up to the pull consistency of the newer inboard hulls for slalom. On the other hand, they also don't require that you dump $55K to put one in the driveway either. Its realy a matter of having the right tool for the job and yes, you can get it done with an 18, but I find the newer inboards are a pleasure to drive, ski behind, and prevent lost friendships. Going to hit the water! Kevin-
I'm on the receiving end of the ski friendships I have - or should I say that all that hard work of networking is coming back my way! I just show up at the dock with my ski in hand. Any boat is really a compromise. The more they are designed/setup/tweaked to excel at anyone thing, typically makes them less than ideal for something else. And that is cool with me.
If you are saying that the 18 I/O's don't handle well, I would agree with you. I found that out when I converted mine to an outboard. Everything got better including tracking. I could own an inboard or two. I just don't care for them. jim
