Water skiing

The water skiing is a water sport consistent to be made tractor draw by a boat. There exist also several alternatives such as the " Barefoot " or flip-flop which is practiced without skis.

History

The water skiing was tested in France as of 1920 then taken again by the American Ralph Samuelson in 1922, which acts today as inventor of this activity. In 1925, Fred Waller deposits a patent for the first truths water skiings called Dolphin Akwa-Skees .

In 1940, Jack Andersen develops the first ski to make figures. It is a smaller ski, broader and which does not have drift.

Material

The first skis were made in Bois. Since the end of the Years 1970, the Glass fiber made its appearance, then other materials like carbon or graphite. The current skis of competition are mainly made out of carbon, for its rigidity, longitudinal and in torsion, and its lightness. The water skiings resemble the Alpine skiings, but they are broader. Fixings, called here fit, are in rubber, so as to allow a baring of the foot in the event of fall. In slalom and especially in figures, a growing number of candidates uses fit before rigid, known as Skitechnic or Skitec, made up of a hull similar to those used for the rollers on line and of an attachment unit resulting from the ski touring allowing a baring identical to that of the Alpine skiing in the event of violent fall. The skis also comprise a drift, possibly adjustable, at their back end.

The principal current marks of ski are American: Connelly, O' Brien, HO, Jobe, Radar… The majority of the European marks which existed in the Sixties or 70 (the such French marks Reflex, SIMS or Horn, the Italian mark Freyrie) disappeared. It should be noted that the Austrian manufacturer of articles of sport in Fischer composite launched in 2006 a top-of-the-range carbon ski (the model " #01"), very powerful according to the tests published. Once the development of the ski carried out, the moulds of these skis were however yielded to the English skier Jodi Fisher (without " c"), which intends to develop a mark with its name. It would seem that for the season 2007, the skis are still produced by Fischer in Austria.

The skiers are drawn by a cord attached to the boat at an end and with a handle, the swing bar, with the other. They are drawn by the Bateau, but can move laterally by modifying their center of gravity.

The boats of water skiing usually measure between 4 and 6 meters, and present certain characteristics: they are motorized by V8 engines of 300ch or more power, for the couple of the engine which allows frank accelerations starting then the hold a constant speed in spite of traction of the skier, who can be very strong in slalom. In addition, they present a plan of very released bridge, with a advanced cockpit: in this manner, the engine and the chechmate of traction to which is attached the cord are close to the center of gravity, in order to avoid a tacking of the poop when a skier slalome behind the boat. Lastly, works sharp of the boat have a particular form, in order to create the flattest possible wake. This last point distinguishes the boats from water skiing and those of wakeboard, which must create a high wave of wake in order to allow jumps.

The principal marks of boats of water skiing are also American, or Australian: MasterCraft, Correct Kraft, Stem, Malibu, Centurion, Moomba…

Various types of practice of the water skiing

The Bi-ski

This type of ski is practiced with two independent skis, and is generally advised with the beginners for his facility. More the large surface obtained with the 2 skis (in comparison with that of a monoski), gets to the skier more bearing pressure and allows him to leave water more easily. The young beginners (as of the age of 4-5 years) can also initiate themselves with the practice of the water skiing by using an adapted version of the Bi-skis, which on the occasion dependant between them and will be ballasted with the back to increase the stability of the skis under water. In Bi-ski, the speed of the boat is adapted to the gauge of the skier, and is generally between 15 km/h (very young skiers) and 40 km/h. Contrary to a spread belief, the speed of the boat proportionally does not increase forcing on the level of the skier, but this last will seek rather here to turn to other disciplines, such as the slalom or the figures.

Slalom

The slalom is one of the 3 tests of traditional ski, with the figures and the jump. in slalom, the candidate skis on only one ski, known as " monoski" or " monoslalom" , and must circumvent by outside 6 buoys (3 on both sides of the boat) while the boat follows a straight line to the center of a channel.

The competition starts to 34 km/h (37km/h for the open category) and progresses by stage of 3 km/h: 37,40,43,46,49,52,55 then 58 km/h. For certain categories, in particular among the women or juniors, maximum speed is adapted to the gauge of the candidate and is limited to 55 km/h.

After having carried out successfully the passage at maximum speed, the cord is shortened by successive steps (shortening often indicated in English language by " X off" where X corresponds to the length of cord which was removed). The buoys being always located at the same distance from the channel in which the boat passes, it becomes increasingly difficult for the skier to reach these buoys. With less 11,25m, the cord is shorter than the distance from the channel to the buoys and the skier must supplement the distance using his body, while lying down on water.

The winner of the test, with the image of the jump to the pole, is the person who succeeded in passing the most buoys with the smallest cord while having supplemented all the other preceding lengths and speeds.

The male world records are currently of 1,5 buoy with 9,75m/58 km/h (" 43 off"), and is held by Chris Parrish, skier American. The female record is held since 1996 by Kristi Overton-Johnson, to 1 buoy with 10.25m/55km/h (" 41 off") Male world records in the course of homologation by jaimy Beaushene 2 buoys have 9.75/58 km/h at the time of the masters of France has lacanau. The cord of slalom respects a code color, allowing the judges and the public to know with precision the length of this one:

18.25 m (60 ft) red
16.0 m orange
14.25 m yellow
13.0 m green
12.0 m blue
11.25 m purple or braided blue/white
10.75 m white
10.25 m pink
9.75 m black
9.45 m red

The jump

The jump is a discipline consisting in carrying out the longest possible jump using a springboard (or crawls). The jumper carries out its jump on two long skis, generally around 110-120% of its size, provided with long of a score of centimetres but not very major drifts to be able to support the weight of the skier on the springboard and not to unbalance it. The skier is drawn with the back from a boat at a speed fixed beforehand and limited to 57 km/h for men (54 km/h for the women). The springboard, a 6,80 m length, is high according to the will of the jumper to 1,50 m, 1,65 m or 1,80 Mr.

In order to jump possible further, the skier will take speed by carrying out cuts (diagonal trajectories with the axis of the boat), which will be accompanied by against by the boat. Indeed, the power of the skier at the time of these cuts can slow down the speed of traction of almost 5 km/h for the skiers to high-level. Adopting in the air a position comparable with that of the skijumpers, the skier will carry out his jump and especially will continue to ski after his reception so that the jump is approved. Certain skiers can go up to 70 m - the male world records are currently held by the American Freddy Krueger (called, " Cauchemar" because of a well-known homonym of horror film) with a jump of 73 m, the female record being that of Elena Milakova, to 56,6 Mr.

Figures

3rd discipline of the traditional ski, the figures consist in accumulating during 2 20 second old courses the most possible points, points being allotted according to a scale related to the difficulty of the figure carried out.

The figurist uses one (two for the beginners) ski broader and shorter than the traditional skis, having the characteristic not to have of drift. The figures are carried out in " hand-in-main" , i.e. with the swing bar in the hands, or " twist with the pied" , which requires an adapted swing bar.

This technical and spectacular discipline was dominated a long time by the French Patrice Martin. The world records of figures are held today by another French, Nicolas the Forester, and for the women by American the Mandy Nightingale.

Races of ski

The races of ski are simply races of boat, with the characteristic to tractor draw a skier. A gathering, Southern 80, is held with Echuca on the Rivière Murray in Australia. The boats and the skiers go to approximately 160 km/h on a distance of at least 80 km. The race of 2006 to summer gained by Hellbent after having beaten the record of almost 9 seconds.

Spectacles of ski

The spectacles of ski often include a topic, advertisers, music, several boats and a large variety in ways of skiing (jumps, barefoot, wakeboard and pyramids). In a competition, the teams have one hour to make their spectacle. Judges give points according to the difficulty, the clapometer, the quantity and the execution of each figure. The judges give also points on the music and the advertisers, the quality of the control of the boats, the equipment and the spectacle in its globality. The spectacles of ski are current in the amusement parks, and one of the headlights teams in this field is the Cypress Garden TEAM.

Assessment of the finales of world cup of water skiing

To see the assessments of the finales of the world cup of water skiing, to click here

Related sports

the " Kneeboard " who is practiced with knees on a board;
the " Wakeboard " who is practiced the two feet fixed on a board, following the example snowboard;
the " Barefoot " who is practiced barefeet;
the " Hydrofoil " ,
the " wakeskating ", which is a fusion of the Skateboard and wakeboard
the " Wakesurfing ", particular form of surfing which uses the wave formed by the boat like a perpetual wave

External bonds

IWSF - International federation of water skiing
FFSN - French federation of water skiing
FSSW - Federation Swiss of water skiing and wakeboard

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