Know about the various competitive water skiing. Many of us are interested in water skiing. But how many of us know the various categories of water skiing.
Well, water skiing is divided into various categories, and competitions are held in each category. The various categories are:
Slalom
This is the most common recreational water skiing. Here six buoys are set up, three on each side of a centre line, along which the boat travels.
You will find that there are two entrance gates and two exit gate buoys. When the boat drives through the middle of the buoys, then the skier must pass to the outside of each buoy.
Here, the skier also has to pass through the entrance and exit gates. During a contest, the skiers have to pass through a number of passes, in which first the speed is increased in steps 43, 46, 49, 52, 55, and finally 58 km/h.
Then in the next phase, the target is to gradually shorten the tow line in fixed decrements. In this race at its shortest, the tow line is shorter than the shortest distance from the track center and each buoy!
The winner has to complete going round the most buoys with the shortest tow line after first completing a run of all six buoys and gates at the previous towline length.
In some tournaments some or all of the speed increment passes may be omitted, in which case the tournament may start at the speed of 52, 55 or 58 km/h for men, and 49, 52 or 55 km/h for women.
In the Slalom tournaments, the tow lines have loops spaced into the line at given distances from the handle to facilitate quick and correct change of length. They are sometimes color coded to help differentiate between them.
Trick skiing
For this type of skiing, you need one or two very short skis rather than the conventional gears. Here the skiers try to perform tricks somewhat similar to those of gymnasts.
They perform while they are being pulled along by the boat. In this type of water skiing, winning is totally dependent on the difficulty of the tricks performed and the accuracy of execution. Participants are awarded points for each successful trick.
Ski jump
For this game two long skis similar to those a beginner uses is used, with a specialized tailfin that is somewhat shorter and much wider.
The skiers are towed behind a boat at fixed speed, and manoever to achieve the maximum speed when hitting a ramp floating in the water.
After hitting the ramp they jump into the air with the goal of traveling as far as possible before touching the water. The skier must successfully land and retain control of the ski rope to be awarded the distance.
Ski races
In these skiing competitions, a powerboat is introduced with a skier attached to it. Normally these events are held over rivers so that the course becomes more interesting.
Skiers and boats typically maintain a speed of 160 km/h on average over the 80-kilometer course. So, here are the popular water skiing games in which various championships are held.
