Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

[sickwilly]

A wider ski is getting appealing to this old guy. I also think it would be nice to have around for the occasional other adult that wants to try to slalom again. The O'Brien Sequence has caught my eye because the description says you can run the course with it, and I probably revisit a slalom course 1 time a year (I know, I need to improve upon that).

Anyone out there try once of these wider skis and found one somewhere in the sweet spot of fun recreational ski but still able to run 15 off, lower speeds in the course?

 

[skibrain]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

Actually I believe the Connelly Outlaw model is the same ski as the O'Brien Sequence....which I think is the same as the KD Apex. The Pilot is a bit wider still.

http://cgi.ebay.com/KD-APEX-SLALOM-...ltDomain_0&hash=item519359c19b#ht_8484wt_1139

I suspect that many of these skis are manufactured in the same factory but with different graphics and bindings. I've also skied on a iConn Super Sidecut that looked like the same.

The Obiren Synchro, while not quite as wide has gotten some great reviews for as a slightly slower skiing but still great riding ski. No sure if the Synchro is still in the lineup or if they have changed the name.

What are you skiing on now? type of bindings? ski length? boat speed?

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

I would increase the length of the ski before I went wider. Find a 71" ski and go for it.

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

My trusted and true EP GX3 turboglass, at 66 inches I cannot ride since getting back into boating. It has de-laminated and produced some pretty ugly splinters. Its a double boot set up. I can't blame the ski, I used the hell out of it in high school and skiing in college. It then sat for a number of years in a hot garage.

What I have been trying are the following:

I picked up a Kidder KS graphite 67 with a wrap front and toe back off craigslist.

Also, neighbor left behind a 67 HO Extreme VTC with double boots.

Now at 41 and 195, with my wife pulling, I am really using a lot of energy to get up. Once up, until the arms give out, I still can carve it up. But I am finding getting up a real struggle.

Thus, I was thinking a wider ski may be the ticket.

In terms of the HO, I really have only used it one time. I have been waiting for the guy to come back and claim it, so I have been hesitant to try it out a lot. I guess its been 3 years now, I guess its mine? I do not know anything about it, as I guess when HO came out with his series it was during my water skiing hiatus. Its a reddish, fancy looking ski. Not sure if it was meant to be a competition ski, sport, or mix.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

I've got 2 skiis, one wide and the other more traditional. My 69" KD Powercarve is a big wide ski, capable of going through the course as long as the speeds are lower. This is the ski I use most often behind my boat since i'm a bit underpowered for deepwater starts. If I had it to do over again I would have bought the powercarve a little shorter - at 185 I'm right at the lower end weightwise for the ski and it gets a little floatie sometimes.

The other ski is a 69" O'Brien Evidence which requires some more work to get up on behind my boat, but is a dream behind the in-laws Malibu.

 

[skibrain]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

What speed works best for you in the course with the KD?

 

[skibrain]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

This is a nice buy on a 70" ski

http://www.ski-it-again.com/php/skiitagain.php?topic=Search&postid=11798

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

What speed works best for you in the course with the KD?

Usually run at 28 with a full rope, anything much higher than that in the course gets unmanageable for me with the KD. For comparison, I only run at 30MPH at 15 off on a regular ski - On a good day I consider myself an intermediate skier.

 

[sickwilly]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

I dug out the HO. Its an HO extreme VTX 9.8 flex. Its 68 inches long. Maybe I will just take the wing off it and make a go of it until I get my deep water start strength up again.

Connelly has a new slalom called the shortline, which appears to just be the single ski of the eclipse combo series. Maybe I will pick up that combo series so that I have a better slalom for beginners for deep water starts.

 

[convergent]

Re: Anyone ski on an O'Brien Sequence or Connelly Pilot?

I was just looking at the Connelly Pilot yesterday at West Marine and would love to hear some feedback as well. I have never skied a slalom course but enjoy pleasure skiing on a slalom ski. I just got back into boating and skiing after about 15 years and the only skis we have are a pair of Obrien Celebrity combos. I can kick one and ski OK on the Celebrity but its not the best handling ski, which I expected. This far, with many attempts I've not gotten up on it deep water... but haven't given up. Its just putting a lot of strain on my knees which I already have problems with. My 18 year old son has just learned to ski on one and actually gotten himself up deep water on it a couple of times, but he's only about 160 pounds.

The boat we just bought has a 115 HP Mercury outboard which I don't think is the problem... more thinking my technique is. I'm planning a prop change to give it a little more pull. I'm 48 and about 190 pounds.

So looking at the Pilot ski, it looks SOOOO wide. I'm just wondering if skiing on it will be fun and seem like any other slalom. I don't mind going a little slower, but I want to be able to cut easily in the turns and blast through the wake without going airborne. I don't want to feel like I'm skiing on a barge!

Anyone actually skied with this or something similar that give me a comparison of how it compares to pleasure skiing on a more normal sized slalom ski?