Competitive Water Skiing

There are several forms of competition performed on water skis.

Slalom

Slalom most resembles recreational water skiing. Six buoys are set up, three on each side of a centre line, along which the boat travels. There are also two entrance gate and two exit gate buoys. The boat drives through the middle of the buoys, and the skier must pass to the outside of each buoy, the first being to the right of the centre line. The skier must also pass through the entrance and exit gates. The contest is run in a number of passes, in which first the speed is increased in the steps 43, 46, 49, 52, 55 and finally 58 km/h (the maximum speed at womens contests is 55 km/h).

The next phase is to gradually shorten the tow line in fixed decrements (sometimes referred to as "X off", where X is the number of feet taken off the original full tow line length). The winner of the contest is the individual who can complete the most buoys with the shortest tow line.

In elite tournaments some or all of the speed increment passes may be omitted, in which case the tournament may start at the speed of 52, 55 or 58 km/h for men, and 49, 52 or 55 km/h for women.

Tournament tow lines have loops spliced into the line at given distances from the handle to facilitate quick and correct change of length. The loops may be colour coded to help differentiate between them. If the rope is colour coded, the following sequence must be used for the respective length:

• 18.25m - red
• 16.0m - orange
• 14.25m - yellow
• 13.0m - green
• 12.0m - blue
• 11.25m - violet or blue/white
• 10.75m - white
• 10.25m - pink
• 9.75m - black
• 9.50m - red

Trick Skiing

Trick skiing is performed using one or two very short skis rather than the conventional gear. Skiers attempt to perform tricks somewhat similar to those of gymnasts while being pulled along by the boat. Each skier has two 20 second passes to execute as many tricks as possible. Each trick has a listed, pre-set number of points depending on the difficulty of the trick, and points are awarded depending on the accuracy of their execution. The winner of the competition is the person who accumulates the largest number of points.

Ski Jump

The ski jump is performed on two long skis similar to those a beginner uses (but with no tail fin). Skiers are towed behind a boat at fixed speed towards a ramp floating in the water. The skiers manoeuvre themselves so that they achieve the maximum speed when hitting the ramp, launching themselves into the air with the goal of travelling as far as possible before touching the water. Good ski jumpers can travel up to 60 metres. The skier must successfully land and retain control of the ski rope to be awarded the distance.

Races

Ski races simply involve a powerboat race with a skier attached. These events are usually conducted on rivers to make the course more interesting. One such event held at Echuca on the Murray River, Australia is the Southern 80. S...