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Towing (Ski's, Wakeboard etc) Forum

SkySki

by argonaut » 02 May 2015, 20:57

Overview of the SkySki (available as pdf : http://www.4shared.com/office/RJQPaT38ce/SKYSKI.html)

I have been asked to do a write up on the SkySki – so here it is.

Background
My interest started 6 years ago after a series of operations on my knee, I could no longer Kneeboard, and time on wakeboard or water-ski was seriously limited. Had to find an alternative, and the Skyski allows me to get the adrenalin water sports rush with absolutely no loading on my knee … and the SkySki is a serious rush.

What is a SkySki?
Back in 1972 Mike Murphy and Bud Holst were kneeboarders who were trying to solve the issue where Kneeboards removed the ability for the knees to act as shock absorbers (as they do for skiing) and the pounding the knees ten take - they hit upon the idea of adding hydrofoils to a kneeboard.

After many Heath Robinson prototypes ..they sold the design to the big name in Kneeboards – Hydroslide ... who never produced it:
Image
The Airboard

The guys then developed the idea a sit down Hydrofoil,and in 1984 produced the ‘Sit Ski’ which was a pair of skis, with a frame below, attached to which was a hydrofoil. This evolved to be a single wide top ‘board’, and the company formed by Bob Woolley, Mike Murphy & Brad Barnett started production of the ‘Air Chair’.
Image
Original Air Chair
Here is Mike Murphy demonstrating original air chair




As with many companies the guys that could play together could not work together ... and Mike Murphy left to form his own company ........SkySki developing the product into a serious piece of competitive watersports equipment.

It evolved to a much stronger & lighter product and with better design on foils a full competition item arrived.
Image

This is the current serious SkySki and for many the optimal entry model ... SkySki Pro SS

I have that model and over time have changed to Velcro wrap straps for feet bindings, swivel fitting for the seat strap, anodized the T-bar&foils ...

It is just the start..as you can get seats with shock absorbers built in, longer T-bars, lighter weight carbon fibre board, larger & more aggressive foils.

The cost – and this is why I think SkySkis are so rare ... as there is no UK stock of these, a standard Pro SS imported into the UK will cost you around £2000. There are almost zero 2nd hand ones in UK ..........

I bought mine only 3 months old from a guy in Switzerland ........at less than ½ price ... but still not cheap.
I pick up my spares and upgrades bits on trips to the US, there are very good dealers who will ship to you .. SkySki will ship direct if you need parts.


So what else do you need ..........
You will 100% without any doubt need a good fitting flotation jacket ... the type made for wakeboarding or waterskiing are OK ... but need to be the zipped neoprene type or it will ride up over your head when in the start position.
A normal waterski line will not work ............ the handle is fine ... but you need a zero stretch line ....braided nylon waterski line will not work ... what happens is boat puts on the pull .. due to drag of you & foil the rope will stretch ... you come up on water trying to get your balance and the moment you break surface .. drag changes and the rope then contracts, pulling you off balance , same when the driver changes throttle the rope stretch will flip you over the foil - crash, or slack rope will send you backwards – crash ... a no stretch rope (eg Dyneema) is what you need.

It is recommended you wear a safety helmet … I do some of the time but admit I find them a pain, once you start doing big jumps there is risk of fall onto your side … and many riders have burst eardrums … a helmet with ear protection flaps avoid this.

Other than that - a good driver ................ it is very hard to learn, and if your driver does not know how to drive for SkySki... you will fall and he will keep having to come back for restart ,it will be very frustrating ....for both.


Learning ...
The usual advice is go to a school for professional lessons – there are non in the UK. There are plenty of videos that explain what you need to do to start, and I also full instructional DVD’s … but they don’t really help until you can ride.
I have put the links for a basic set of learner videos below … but it can take weeks before you can get up every time– the videos make it look instant.

Getting on the Ski …

Thist is the official way form the SkySki instructional DVD


This looks easy, but take away the swimming pool, add waves and it becomes a whole different ball game.

If you don’t have a lake , and you have current & waves to contend with, It’s a lot easier if you get strapped into the SkySki on the bathing platform, then back roll off into the water … see video:




To start to ride

You need to sit with your butt cheeks about 2” in from rear of seat, further forward is better when learning.
Then you relax in the water, let the board float you into a seated position – and you need to be confident in the water & able to relax, you can’t start leaving go of handle and paddling with one hand … you will get in a mess.
Sit back, relax and let the SkySki float you.
This means that ideally you need flat water to learn … I had to learn in middle of the bay ….. often with waves breaking over my head in the start position – if you can get flat water then take it.
You also need a minimum of 9’ depth of water to avoid foil strike on a fall.

The life jacket will keep your head out of water, start by facing back of boat with no slack in the rope, use the tension of the rope to get your position, leaning forward arms straight elbows either side and outside of the knees, when the pull starts keep leaning forward, and you will start off slowly ploughing through the water.
Practise until you can keep a straight plough …

Now the critical stage the transition from plough to ride on the water.
The boat speed increases smoothly (12-14mph) and you will break the surface and the board will rise out of the water and plane on it …. and at this point you need assume the ‘superman’ position, by this I mean lean forward arms straight out at shoulder height, lean as far as you can.

Image

This position will allow you to ride without the board rising & flying … at this point it can get real interesting for me it took many, many falls, the board would start rising very rapidly and you then fall … to recover you try to lie back and that angles the foil upwards and you rocket out of the water.

I have had many falls from inverted position 6’ or more above the water.
You will fall, don’t panic – leave go of the rope the foil will re–right itself and put you back into start position, this is why you need to be firmly strapped in …. otherwise you would get hurt making contact with foil or T-bar.

Once you have managed to get in the superman position and feel comfortable with it you slowly need to start changing position to be in a more natural seated stance, this will take time, as the SkySki will want to rocket up as soon as you lean back.
It is all about core & balance …. You need to get your centre of balance above the bar, and when you change any position keep the balance point …. You do this by pushing down on the board with your feet ….
This is referred to as the Taxi position:

Image
Think of it as sitting on top of a one legged bar stool, it’s all about balance … and as if it isn’t hard enough to get your balance point you then have to do this while boat is pulling you in one direction and water in another … get arms, balance or pull wrong – and its crash time – these come fast and when you are learning you can’t recover from them.

What is absolutely key is that you do NOT need speed, what you need is a steady smooth pull from the boat .......... when you are learning it is a major step to go from being simply towed through the water (ploughing) to running on the water (taxi position) , the moment you break out of the water the load on boat drops dramatically so boat will surge ... if driver then tries to compensate by slowing .. you will go over front of the foil – crash.
If he does not keep speed constant you can end up with slack rope – crash.

Once you are at the point that you are consistently sitting comfortably while riding in Taxi position … it’s time to start raising and lowering the SkySki …. And to start with it is as simple as lowering the handle from shoulder height towards your waist … keeping arms straight ..arms up you stay down, lower arms foil will rise.
Once you can control rise & fall of the foil, you start to steer … you point your knees where you want you go and once you start getting the hang of it by leaning …. And then you can start increasing the speed of the boat.

Ride the Ski

The speed you ride at will make a difference, and for a lightweight rider (teaching kids for example) 14 mph is fine, for heavier adults .. you will start feeling more settled once speed is up around 20 or 22, like riding a bike, its more stable at speed … but it’s a bit of catch 22 … you need to be able to ride to increase the speed, and as you can’t ride yet the speed is has to be low.
It’s all about little steps.

Here is a clip of me having fun … put in a few of the falls at beginning to show what happens, and then how good it feels when it comes together.





I am no expert, I can’t do the tricks that are possible, but just flying the foil and jumps over the wake are such a buzz.
These guys are the experts:




Some comments … it is hard to learn, very hard, out of all those who come out on my boat only one other has mange dot get up on the SkySki … it has a long hard learning curve.

One of the biggest changes I made was fitting boat with ‘Ridesteady’ cruise control …… this locks to your desired speed that means no surging, it made a huge difference to my riding ……. Amazing difference, as driver no longer struggling to try and keep a constant speed.
A tower also makes a big difference as pull is upwards not downwards … and also I have a rack on the Tower that takes my SkySki …. They are a big dangerous heavy piece of kit ….. and difficult to put anywhere in the boat.


SkySki is great fun …… if you can find someone who can teach you, or at least knows how to ride one and drive boat to suit … go for it. Any forum members are welcome to come and try a ride on mine.

Skyski add off US TV
http://youtu.be/q7NHGQ0KoOE





Learning to Hydrofoil

Lesson 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BfEj_jZbvU

Lesson 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY_9rorcBeQ

Lesson 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfuxYVsijJg


Hope this has been of interest
(clips & pictures where not my own copyright belongs to originator - in most cases SkySki or USHA)
Last edited by argonaut on 03 May 2015, 14:02, edited 1 time in total.
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by shibbs » 03 May 2015, 06:55

Once again a really interesting write up, I really enjoyed reading that.
Really does sound amazing fun (once mastered :D )
Thanks for taking the time to post it..
Stu

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by argonaut » 17 May 2015, 18:27

You might like to see the alternative way of getting in ........... first drop into the bay this year .......... very breezy conditions, and water was a tad cold.

My boating buddies thought it needed some super slow-mo video :lol:

http://tinyurl.com/pptnuuc
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Tow Vehicle - Landrover Discovery Sport
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