My ride list this year wasnt the longest but I wanted to try a few things I havent ridden before. As we all were discussing all weekend, ther are no more bad hulls left. They are all great now. Im not sure you can make a bad decision, just maybe the wrong style of riding hull for your personal riding type. Even the smallest skis are easily rideable now, given some ride time, for anyone. I currently ride an EVO with 1000 DASA and KDX with a Dasa 16mm 1100.
Rickter XFS with the 10mm 1100 tuned by Taylor and Hiro, if I rememeber correctly. 46 stock carbs and a new Rickter pipe. MSD enhancer. Killer all around package, one of the cleanest tunes for what it had. I was very impressed with this set up. I have ridden an XFS a bunch before but really enjoyed this package with the very linear power delivery. I know people with disagree, but i feel this would make a great flat or surf ski for me. Deffinitely on my list for future skis. I currently have an EVO so this change to me felt more nimble, more my style for flat.
EVO 950, great handling all around ski.
EVO 1000, basically my exact set up currently for the surf. I feel 90% of the riders buying aftermarket hulls to ride surf should ride this ski. Perfect balance of everything, only needs minor tweaks to most anything, as Taylor proved by hitting a clean FW BF then hitting the bouys 30 seconds later. Footholds, turf, and sponsons need upgraded in my opinion other than that its perfect out of the box.
Brawler, 771 this one was set up for surf, but still enjoyable to flip around in the flat. I have ridden this ski quite a bit lately and like it more each time. I really wish the red one had made an apperance more that the day I rode it for 5 mins. The Brawler rides very light and nimble and is easily tossed around, and with the 1105 TPE, PFP, 49 FS, 148 Mag, and MSD TL I was nervous to mash full throttle on any tricks right off the bat. Its not my ski so I respect others equipment. Wish I had know it was going down to electrical gremlins right after I was one of the first to try it. I would have rode it longer. This ski and motor have very good potential, very much my style for flat and i have ridden it in surf as well, although that was with the 1000 DASA. Great combo. I can see owning one of these exact set ups in the future.
Backy Chan, 701, what a great ski. I was shocked again by this hull. Felt perfectly balanced and easily predictable. Any input was immediately given to the water. Maybe it was the under powered motor, as I wanted to try it with a larger motor, but I could not find anything wrong with this package. I would like more ride time with a larger motor, and I may get that chance as it seems a few will be around here soon.
Aquabot, 964 TPE, msd enhancer, b pipe, forget the rest. Killer all around ski. This is the newest hull on the market, but I feel Tony has a very good package to build from. I felt the ski was strong, heavy, but still nimble. Shocked at the ride quality. Great set up wakes, and spot on handling. I see this total package as a perfect surf ski, great nose rocker, and very solid construction, with a huge factory backing production. The 964 I think was a crowd favorite. Very strong package, especially for being tuned for about 15 mins. This ski will be something to keep an eye on. The carbon version I have listed as a must try for the future!
Hurricane 900 Xscream. WOW, I knew by the looks and the riding I would like this ski. Cant say enough to Derrick about how nice this ski handles. This package is a home run for me. No reasons at all i would not consider making this ski mine. The power was perfect and I wanted to hit this one hard and it all felt usable to me. Again, respect. Perfect set ups and the pump pulled hard.
KDX 1200 Xscream, killer set up with way too much power for me to handle up top. My rider skill set is not there yet, so I know when to ride a ski and when to sling it around. This ski felt like it could have ridden me easily so i took it easy. Hull is long and very stable. I love mine for small surf and all around flat. Not sure that are any negatives for the KDX.
Footrocket, Frosty has one so I have sepnt a ton of time on this ski. Love it, it is a great all around package for flat and surf. His with the DASA 850 is flat water flipped every weekend, and surf ridden when i get a chance, so I ran out of time and didnt get to try one. One my list is the carbon one for sure. If its anything like the regular FR the build wuality is superb and it will take a severe beating and stay strong. I really like riding the FR as i feel it is a surf and flat ski.
EME Micro. I didnt get a chance again for time constraints, but I have spent a bunch of time getting comfortable on this hull as well. 701, and 900. It rides extremely good, I was shocked the first time I rode it. We even took one out in the 7-9s and had a blast on it. Very stable as it is so wide.
Last for this year was the Circus Freak. I was going to try Chris but he broke it first.
really wanted to try his 900 DASA as i know that would suit my tastes and I feel I would have been most comfortable one this ski out of all the others there. Tem decided top give me the pleasure of trying his yellow one. OK, I have to admit I like this one the best. I loved the motor hit and the way the pump was glued to the water at all times. The ski felt like it was electric powered. Insane linear power. I rode this ski and was done for the day, cracked a beer and hung out. It totally made me want to get home and tune the new 1100 DASA package for the KDX. Nothing like your own set up ski that you know all the ins and outs of.
Thanks to all who let me try their skis. I dont feel any skis there had any major flaws, some i liked better than others but most of it was power and personal set up.