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Will Roberts Boys 2 Pending National Jump Record
bschipps
Posts: 2 Baller
Illinois jumper Will Roberts jumped 144 feet this weekend for a pending national Boys 2 record! 28 MPH on a 5 foot ramp...insane. Check out the video and see the future of water ski jumping.
17
Comments
history, this is a posting I made "On Another Network":
"This can be thought as the 5' 28mph record. Wayne Grimditch, at the 1972 Nationals,
went 134' when winning the Boys event. At that time, the jumping specification for Boys
was 5' 28mph. Although the Boys speed may have gone up shortly afterward. And, in
Boys, a skier may have gone longer at 28mph after Wayne. Of course, Boys became
Boys3, and there were changes. Now the B3 event has 5 1/2' option, 31.7 mph (51kph),
fast 2nd segment times, long-long skis and super-powered boats. [plus Speed Control,
of course--(added later)]
It was not until 2011 that the 5'/28 distance was exceeded by Taylor Garcia, eventually
getting the 'record' up to 143'. Taylor's distance looked like it could stand for a long
while, so congratulations to Will.
Some slightly off-topic trivia:
After the introduction of the double-cut, what is the closest that the Boys (now Boys3)
record has been in distance to the Open Mens record? Noting that the Mens specifications
are nearly unchanged (6 ft/ 35 mph), while the Boys have been able to go faster and use
the 5 1/2."
at the 2013 Regionals. Now in Boys3, he is knocking on the door of 180 feet, and has
done well in some international events. Let us hope that he stays interested and also is
injury-free.
When you see Will jump, I don't think you will see it as scary. Admittedly, anyone putting out a [email protected]/.255 has speed. But, when you see his turn and drive, you might see the difference between his turn and those of Quinn and Taylor at that age. It is smoother, slower and less abrupt, putting him almost completely stacked on his right ski. It needs more tweaking, but is very similar to the turns of Mark Lane and Freddy's. He just needs more speed into his turn. He consistently hits the ramp just right of center and very seldom upper body crushes. From what I hear, his last crash was over two years ago. Knock on wood. But, as we all know, jumping at his level always presents risk. Does he have more in him? Perhaps. He gets 12 more jumps.
But still looks scary