no a sj is stock form is barley rideable once you are a fairly competent rider...
there are very few people that can use even a limited setup to its potential...look at what the old school freestyle guys could do on a ported 701 in a sj hull...you can spend as much $ as you want but it will never buy you skills
pipes and handling mods actually improve your skis performance there is no arguing that...with some of these hulls their performance benefits are questionable at best..ive seen really good riders jump on some of these freestyle hulls and look like an absolute beginner..they are either so backflip oriented that they are terrible for anything else or they are made to be so stable that they kill their handling for anybody thats a halfway decent rider...they are like training wheels for jetskis...they are easy to ride but they arnt high performance
the level of riding on average in the last 5years isnt even close to what it was in the 90s...people are riding "better" skis now but arnt nearly as competent of riders as they were back then...(doing backflips dosnt make you a good rider btw)
down at my local beach circa 1991 there would be 40guys on 550s railing buoys going bar to bar for 20min motos...most guys now cant even do a turn going over 20mph let alone hang on for 20min pinned in the surf..
I had a big reply written up, but as i re-read over your stance on this subject, I realize that in your eyes I will be wrong no matter what I say.
I truely respect that you were present for the peak of this sport and that
back in the day people had a ton more skills. I wish I had been involved then, because I enjoy the hell out of this now with the small group of friends who i've made in the 3 years i've been riding.
I just don't see what the harm is in someone wanting to try a better hull, regardless of their skill level. Its money that goes toward people who support the sport.
Sorry to thread jack Brian, I'm very intrested in the results of your endeavor. Nickwads hull is beautiful, I hope you can make it work.