My Ski design
Designed by taking the best of existing designs like the US built Kan-ski,
I measured the amount I needed to widen the cage, designed both a new
cage and a plywood ski using Autocad, and had
them built. It cost a lot less than a commercial ski, and was tailored
to my size and lack of ability. The ski is 2100 mm long, quite wide at
350 mm, and made of three layers of 6 mm marine plywood epoxied together.
This makes it incredibly strong and not too floaty to start off. I found
the foam core fibreglass skis very difficult to try to stabilise under
me when starting as they try to pop out from under and tip you over. It
has a notch at the front with a block that holds onto the ski-rope making
starts much easier for a quad with limited strength like me. That was early January 1996. The first handle back then was a standard
single handle with a toggle for the easy-up starting block. Made from an alloy 'cow-horn' style racing bike handle, threaded with
ski rope and with padding at the curves, it allows a C5-C6 quad like me
to hold on with my forearms hooked under instead of through. Much easier
to get into position and a stronger grip. I can now ski up to 10 miles
in one hit with my grip being OK only my body starts to collapse down
onto my knees, making breathing difficult. The handle is still safe as
it is very easy to release, all I need to do is relax. For
a better view have a look at the closeup photo. Anyone with interest in water skiing please e-mail me with questions
or suggestions on colin@gizbytes.com. If you want to buy equipment, check out my 'Garage
Sale' website. Last revised 10 December, 2000.
Click on either
of these photos for a closer look.
Well,
January 1998 saw us back skiing on the Marray near Waikerie in South Australia.
A new handle design proved a great success.