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Old 08-16-2018, 08:32 AM   #47
FlyingScot
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I was not being snarky. I do not ski or board, so I thought there might be something about the math. Based on your message below, it is clear that you do not understand the math in two important ways.

First, if the legal requirement for boats is 150', then a skier, no matter how long his tow rope, can ski 150' from shore if he is directly behind the boat and the line is parallel to shore. So let's drop the 225' claim.

Second, and more importantly, as pointed out by ITD, 1/4 mile is a better estimate of how far these wakes extend.




Quote:
Originally Posted by paintitredinHC View Post
Pete -

Well, you're welcome anyway I guess.

Setting aside the mutual snark -- and focusing on the pedantic --

I thought I'd save our compatriots by not going into the nuanced details of the math calculations, but alas, here we are.

A typical tow rope is 65 feet in length. Picture a boat towing a skier that is edging far off to the side of the boat, and said skier comes within 150 feet of shore -- they are in violation of the law. Therefore, a legal 150 feet plus 65 feet (of rope) equals 215 feet. I know, math is hard.

But, this gets more nuanced! This must drive you nuts, because none of this can possibly be nuanced. Black and white - amiright?! Please bare with me.

Sometimes I like to Wakeboard with more than 65 feet, because more line means more air-time on tricks (ugh... physics AND geometry). 75 feet bumps this math calculation to 225 feet! I'll admit, a calculator was used for this extrapolation.

Darn, sometimes I waterski at 55 feet because the water is flatter as I cross the wake on a slalom. I'm not even sure I can do all this math... Wake surfing you ask? There's no rope... but the rider is roughly 5-10 feet from the part of the boat with the spinny thing.

I just thought it'd be easier to just say an average of 215 feet than go into the pedantic details, but I totally get why I should have outlined my methodology beforehand.

Last edited by FlyingScot; 08-16-2018 at 09:12 AM.
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