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Before the Theory, I was skiing a Kidder Velocity and Kidder Redline from back in the day. I used to compete as a kid, and got bit by the wakeboard bug and dropped it. Back then, I was skiing into the 28 off territory, at 34MPH due to my age.
When I bought my boat a few summers ago, I noticed the wake at 32MPH was nice so I pulled out the dried out old Velocity and had a blast. I called Ed at Insta-Slalom and bought a course at the end of the season and went looking for a ski.
I came upon the Theory, by both being honest of my ability and being a Ronix guy before hand. I like the Radar products, so I decided that's were I would look and didn't consider others based on the thinking that regardless of available technology, anything Radar made would be leaps and bounds ahead of the old Kidder sticks I had. The Theory has a soft, forgiving core and is .5" wider than the old Strada mold. The concave is less aggressive, with rails extending to between the feet, and it has a bigger flat spot to help correct body position mistakes and keep things moving. It turns really well, just not really fast. Radar calls it a 32 MPH ski and that seems about right. Trying to run the course faster and you really had to force things to keep from being mega late by ball 3, Could be that's just me though
I really liked the Theory, and am glad I used it as a stepping stone to get back into course skiing after 16 some odd years, behind an XStar no less to boot! Like I mentioned, my Sister got back into skiing last year after riding the Theory, and while she never got out of the Jr course as a kid, she's close to a 28MPH pass this year on the big balls for the first time.
This Spring I moved into the Senate, after feeling like I progressed past the Theory last year. I picked up a blank Alloy Senate at the boat show for $375 CAD and used my Vector's I already had. I was excited to try it, so I laced it up for the first pull this year. Bad idea! I should have taken a few runs on the Theory first, because this devil was a different game altogether! The new style Senate is just slightly wider than the Vapor and the same shape. They end the edge to edge base at the widest part of the ski, so there's rails from your front foot up, as well as more rocker, to help keep things above water. You can really get aggressive and not worry about diving and getting hung up. When you get back on the handle, it's gone! I haven't skied a Vapor, but this is the fastest ski I've ever played on. That said, it's versatile too. If my course is being tormented by jet boats or tubes, I'll free ski in the canal and it seems to slow down. Having the target of a course ball will make things more hectic than they need to be, but relaxing carves are fun, stable and smile inducing as it feels effortless to really rail on it.
I'm happy with both skis, but I'm glad I chose the path I did too. Hopping on a more high performance machine was more likely to cause bad habits and make things worse than sparking a renewed enthusiasm for the sport I grew up on. I still don't have a full pass at 28 off, but I'm chipping away at it
When I bought my boat a few summers ago, I noticed the wake at 32MPH was nice so I pulled out the dried out old Velocity and had a blast. I called Ed at Insta-Slalom and bought a course at the end of the season and went looking for a ski.
I came upon the Theory, by both being honest of my ability and being a Ronix guy before hand. I like the Radar products, so I decided that's were I would look and didn't consider others based on the thinking that regardless of available technology, anything Radar made would be leaps and bounds ahead of the old Kidder sticks I had. The Theory has a soft, forgiving core and is .5" wider than the old Strada mold. The concave is less aggressive, with rails extending to between the feet, and it has a bigger flat spot to help correct body position mistakes and keep things moving. It turns really well, just not really fast. Radar calls it a 32 MPH ski and that seems about right. Trying to run the course faster and you really had to force things to keep from being mega late by ball 3, Could be that's just me though
I really liked the Theory, and am glad I used it as a stepping stone to get back into course skiing after 16 some odd years, behind an XStar no less to boot! Like I mentioned, my Sister got back into skiing last year after riding the Theory, and while she never got out of the Jr course as a kid, she's close to a 28MPH pass this year on the big balls for the first time.This Spring I moved into the Senate, after feeling like I progressed past the Theory last year. I picked up a blank Alloy Senate at the boat show for $375 CAD and used my Vector's I already had. I was excited to try it, so I laced it up for the first pull this year. Bad idea! I should have taken a few runs on the Theory first, because this devil was a different game altogether! The new style Senate is just slightly wider than the Vapor and the same shape. They end the edge to edge base at the widest part of the ski, so there's rails from your front foot up, as well as more rocker, to help keep things above water. You can really get aggressive and not worry about diving and getting hung up. When you get back on the handle, it's gone! I haven't skied a Vapor, but this is the fastest ski I've ever played on. That said, it's versatile too. If my course is being tormented by jet boats or tubes, I'll free ski in the canal and it seems to slow down. Having the target of a course ball will make things more hectic than they need to be, but relaxing carves are fun, stable and smile inducing as it feels effortless to really rail on it.
I'm happy with both skis, but I'm glad I chose the path I did too. Hopping on a more high performance machine was more likely to cause bad habits and make things worse than sparking a renewed enthusiasm for the sport I grew up on. I still don't have a full pass at 28 off, but I'm chipping away at it
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