AWSA TOWBOAT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

AUGUST 13, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA

 

 

1. 2009 Model Year Towboat Tests

  • The 2009 Model Year AWSA Towboat Tests will be held October 9-12. Boat check in will begin at noon and on water testing will be Thursday through Saturday with Sunday reserved for overflow testing/committee meeting.
  • Testing will be conducted at Jack Travers' in Groveland, Florida.  We will use onsite lodging

2. WSIA Representation to AWSA Towboat Committee

The Water Sports Industry Association (selected by WSIA) is a non-voting consultant to the Towboat Committee.  Duties include:

  • Acts as a conduit for communication between industry and the Towboat Committee
  • Attends meetings including the AWSA Towboat Tests and the annual meeting at the AWSA Nationals
  • Provides input and broad perspective from industry – should not be specific to any manufacturer

3. Selection of Boats for Events at Regionals and Nationals

  • The Committee received positive feedback regarding the selection of boats for the 2008 National Tournament prior to July 1.
  • The Committee has been asked to explore permanently changing the date for the boat draw for Nationals to July 1 preceding the respective National tournament
  • The Towboat Policy Manual currently provides that-   Record Capability Approved Boat models which participate in 20% or more of the traditional class C and higher tournament events held during the preceding year in a given Region are invited to pull each of those AWSA Regional Championships where it has qualified. Boat Models that participate in all 5 AWSA Regional Championships and receive a positive performance report from four of the five Regions will be approved to pull the National Championships.

The Policy further provides: Nationals: The grouping of events for towboat assignment shall be done by USAWS headquarters and the assignment of groups shall be by random draw. The towboat assignments shall be completed and posted by headquarters as soon as the 5 Regional Tournaments are completed.

  • If the date of the boat draw for Nationals is changed to July 1, we will need to alter the requirement for "successful" Regional participation as well as change the time frame for the boat draw.
  • I could not find any reference in the bylaws or rulebook regarding towboat draw.
  • Towboat Committee - Please provide your input and thoughts regarding proposing a change to the BOD.

4. Towboat Use Documentation Form

  • The Towboat Use Documentation completed at the conclusion of each tournament asks, "Was the boat used in slalom, trick, jump"?
  • This question will be eliminated from the form. AWSA towboat policy is revised so that if a boat is present and set up to pull all of the events in the tournament, it will receive credit for all of the events available at that tournament.
  • Manufacturers will need to be informed of this change.

5. Weighted Boat Draw for Regionals and Nationals

  • It was requested that we consider a "weighted boat draw" for AWSA Regional and National Championship Tournaments, thus rewarding manufacturers that participate at a higher level.
  • Currently the Western Region uses the following weighted boat draw: Boats pulling over 50% of the tournaments in the Western Region receive a double draw. Boats pulling the minimum, but less than 50% receive a single draw.
  • Towboat Committee – Please provide input regarding instituting a "weighted draw" for Regionals and Nationals. Provide let me know if you favor implementing a weighted draw?  Also give me alternative models for a weighted draw.

6. High Horsepower Jump Specific Boats

  • The Towboat Policy Manual currently provides:  For AWSA Regional and National Tournaments each qualifying boat manufacturer may provide one "high horsepower jump specific boat ". The 35 MPH jump events in those tournaments shall be equally divided among those manufacturers providing a "high horsepower jump specific boat". If no ”high horsepower boats" are available the 35 MPH jump events shall be included in the random draw by all the qualifying manufacturers.
  • It was the Committee's desire to clarify that this policy does not preclude the use of high horsepower boats in any of the jump events.  The following sentence will be added to the above policy: At the discretion of the Chief Driver and Chief Judge high horsepower boats may be used in any of the other jump events

7. Speed Control Discussion

  • The Committee has received a number of concerns from our membership regarding Zero Off shortcomings related to customer service and customer communication. To remedy this situation ZO has hired three technical/sales representatives and added three phone lines to include international communication. They have agreed to provide updated information and communication to be disseminated to speed control users through the USAWS website as well as E-Blast announcements. ZO has increased production in order to have a readily available supply of systems and components.  They have also agreed to participate in the National Senior Judges Clinic.
  • The Committee has also received concerns related to the "feel of the pull" in slalom.  ZO is working on additional changes and will distribute experimental "XX" program downloads to selected users in different areas of the skiing community in order to "field evaluate” slalom changes to the ZO software.  They will statistically evaluate the user/skier response to the changes and attempt to arrive at a highly accepted subjective "feel of the pull". They will also attempt to standardize the feel of the pull between different boats and different engines.
  • The Zero Off representative indicated they are working to make the User Operations Manual friendlier.  ZO has been working with an individual who is highly skilled in preparing operating procedures for airline pilots. They are also working with improvements to the flow of the display screens.
  • The most significant issue expressed by members is the lack of backwards compatibility.  The frustration expressed is the lack of thought when  implementing significant changes that have a high cost to our membership.  Numerous emails express frustration with practicing behind one system and skiing in tournaments behind another.  We have been asked to work with both GPS manufacturers towards a solution.   Zero Off indicated that there should be no issue with Perfect Pass developing a program which emulates the ZO pull.  PP is currently in the process of developing software to emulate ZO for installation on 2008 and earlier boats.

8. Judges Display

  • It was requested that we eliminate the requirement for the second (judges) speed control display in Record tournaments.  Experience with GPS based speed control systems shows there is virtually no variance from actual times in slalom and jump. The back-up displays add additional cost to the boat owner, are large and cumbersome, and provide unnecessary redundancy. If a boat judge is more comfortable reviewing the times, they can periodically lean over and see the actual time.   We work with IWSF to accomplish doing so.