Looking for footage of water ski tournaments/contests from 1980s to early 2000s.

mbug90 · February 2016

That era of water skiing seemed pretty awesome (especially the trick performances) and I am rather frustrated that there is not enough video of it online. I have searched everywhere.

If there is anyone here who can help me on my way, please speak up. I am indeed grateful.

Edbrazil · February 2016

The Water Ski Foundation has tapes of just about all the pro events, such as the Tour
events of the 80's that were shown on TV. They used to make copies for a reasonable
cost. Contact Tracy to see if they still do that: [email protected]

The_MS · February 2016

I think Tracy left the WSHOF.

MISkier · February 2016

@mbug90, I have some old VHS recordings of ESPN Hot Summer Nights from 1990. I would have to either dupe them in VHS or try to digitize them. Send me a PM and we can try to figure something out.

mbug90 · February 2016

@Edbrazil MS said that Tracy has left the WSHOF. So, now what?

mbug90 · February 2016

Assuming this Tracy person is no longer associated with the Water Ski Foundation, I sent an email to [email protected] asking if they are still making copies of their tapes. I am now waiting for a reply.

mbug90 · February 2016

@MISkier Is that all you have?

MISkier · February 2016

That is it. Just a few episodes.

mbug90 · February 2016

I especially would love to see the women's trick runs from this era.

Bruce_Butterfield · February 2016

mbug90 · February 2016

@Bruce_Butterfield Ah, I have already seen that one and thought it was awesome! Unless routines were that short back then, I wish there were longer ones.

Thanks anyhoo. I appreciate your contribution.

Edbrazil · February 2016

Tawn: 6930 with just one flip, but 4: W5's and 1 W7B. And, starting with a Wake Line 5.
I don't think that anyone these days does 4 Wake 5's, although I'm sure that the top and
even mid-level trickers could. But flips pay more.

mbug90 · February 2016

@Edbrazil I love when the women do flips.

Edbrazil · February 2016

From 1964, Al Tyll made the first run over 4,000 points at Scotia, NY.
Records were not official at the time. Best of my memory:
1st Pass
2skis
WO
R
WLB
WLF
WB
F
B
Back approach
Ramp Front
Air O
B
WBB
5F
RO
LB
LF
1ski
LB
LF
WLB
WLF
Wave to crowd

2nd Pass
1 ski
TWO
TWB
TWF
TB
TF
TS (when they had to be 2 seconds)
After that, I don't remember well, but it
would have consisted of WO, R, etc.

At that time, there was the Rideout Bonus and also Form in tricking. And,
even the Ski Overhead bonus, which Al didn't use.

Somewhere, somebody must have it on film. Was a milestone in the sport.

dchristman · February 2016

@Edbrazil ask and you shall receive

dchristman · February 2016

Pay attention @MS - you will enjoy this one

@mbug90 I know you said 1980-2000, but this was the place to put these since @Edbrazil jumped in. I have more from Bert Mileski's films. There is some early 80's, and some is tricks.

Edbrazil · February 2016

Al is shown at the 1965 Eastern Regionals at Reading, PA. That event is infamous for
finishing Men Jumping in the dark. And I mean DARK, as in "Turn on your headlights".
The event was seeded, so the best jumpers got screwed. The Easterns was held the weekend
before the Nationals, so it couldn't spill over to Monday, as the officials had to depart for
Minneapolis.

I don't think that the Chief Judge ever judged a Regionals again. The Eastern Region
council voted to not use seeding after that, and this stayed that way for a while. The
event was back when you had 3 jumps, 2 passes, and one fall out of course. Penny
Baker was there, skiing out of Region. He used all of those options. On one pass, his
handle dropped over the 45 foot buoy, and yanked it loose, causing a delay of at least
15 minutes. The sponsoring club did a good job of producing the event, other than
no buoy easy breakaway feature. The 45 buoy sailed a good 80 feet.

After I had jumped, well back with the also-rans, I drove away for an errand. Maybe
for a beer run. I was incredulous to find the event still running into twilight when I
got back. Somewhere, I have 8mm film, but it is useless, as there was not enough light
to film the last 3 or 4 Men jumpers.

It was about the ultimate Murphy's Law event. Next year, the AWSA went to just 2
jumps, and 1? pass. Eventually settling to the current system of 3 jumps/passes,
after a year or two or three I'd need to check old Rule Books to be sure. That was the
last time that the Easterns was the weekend right before the Natonals.

The Club eventually lost that site after some work was done on the river. They donated
the proceeds from their clubhouse sale to Grew Lake.

mbug90 · February 2016

Could we get back on topic, please? I don't want this thread to become an entirely different discussion.

Edbrazil · February 2016

I have footage somewhere of the 1965 event. Can try to find the 8mm film. But, as
noted, the top jumpers ran in the dark, so no usable footage of that. I think that I
have some of the 1959 Nationals converted to DVD. Will also look for that.

mbug90 · February 2016

@Edbrazil I am looking for footage from 1980 to 2005, by the way.

Edbrazil · February 2016

My stuff is older. Try contacting the USA Waterski Foundation. They have plenty of that,
such as the Hot Summer Nights programs, on videotape.

mbug90 · February 2016

@Edbrazil I did that yesterday. Hopefully I will get a reply before Tuesday.

Edbrazil · February 2016

vs. Hall of Fame/Museum: busy time of year, with the Hall of Fame and other inductions
coming up in mid-April. At Disney for the first time. Not much leftover time, for other
things, especially since the USA Water Ski Foundation doesn't have a lot of staff.

Meanwhile, the rumor that Executive Director Tracy Mattes is leaving is incorrect. See a
much earlier post by @MS. I just got confirmation that she is still around and has no
plans on leaving.

Would be nice if all their Pro Skiing video tapes got posted online, and for a reasonable
co$t. That would be quite a project that would likely need a fulltime intern for a while.
The archived tapes may not be in just VHS format, but also could be in Beta. Compared to
today's HDTV, VHS is not up to that level of sharpness.

But, still not as bad as files converted from old 8mm film. See the video clip of Tawn
Larsen among the early posts in this thread, for an example of non-HD video.

The_MS · February 2016

Sorry @Edbrazil I was thinking of the other Tracy that ran the officials qualifications before Melanie took over.

mbug90 · February 2016

I think I should tell you all that I have indeed made contact with Tracy Mattes of the USA Water Ski Foundation and they are indeed still offering copies of their footage for under $20.

mbug90 · February 2016

Does anybody have coverage of the Moomba Masters of 1987? Out of the thousands of miles of footage the USA Water Ski Foundation has, this particular event is not part of it.

mbug90 · February 2016

Anyone?

mbug90 · February 2016

@Mark_Matis I have already seen that one, but thanks anyway.

I am looking for full trick performances (particularly women's) from that event.

mbug90 · February 2016

Is there anybody else who possibly has full footage of the '87 Moomba Masters?

MattP · February 2016

@mbug90 have you tired contacting the Victorian waterski association that hosts the event?

mbug90 · February 2016

@MattP I don't know if they will offer copies like the USA foundation does. Also, they're in Australia; I'm in California. They might not be able to export said copies to the USA because of human customs laws or something mortaly unfair.

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Looking for footage of water ski tournaments/contests from 1980s to early 2000s.

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