I will answer the ultimate question asked about my screen name expertwaterskier. Am I really an expert water skier or just someone who thinks they are the king of the water? The answer is officially yes. I skied tournaments all over California for about 6 years. The last year I skied in a tournament was around 1997. I ran 5.5 buoys at 28 feet off at 36 miles per hour which gave me an expert ranking with the American water-ski association. Rankings above expert at that time were Exceptional Performance which qualified you for the national tournament and open where the pros run. I also was an assistant judge and considered to be a very good driver by fellow national level skiers. We skied every other day from April to October and when you are on the water that much you should at least reach an expert rating. I had no weight training or even worse, no cardio exercise commitment and that held me back alot.