Power on the pond: Water-skiers get up to speed

NEAR AVERY, OHIO — Tom Whaley's 19-foot vessel resembles most small powerboats that cruise the lake on nearly every sunny day in the summer.Except for the short pole sticking up in the middle of the deck."The boat is a technological marvel," Whaley said of his competitive ski boat. "It's truly like a Porsche or Corvette — a sports car on the water."Whaley's Ski Nautique can reach speeds of about 48 miles per hour, but rarely hits that because its main purpose is to pull skiers along at the regulated speed required to run through a slalom course. The boat must be able to get up to speed quickly, deliver enough power to pull a skier upright from a stop in the water and then provide as little wake as possible so the skier can navigate a series of buoys."A ski boat is fuel-injected with a throttle response that is outstanding," said Whaley, owner of TW Teleproductions Inc. and producer of the North Coast Game of the Week for the last 30 years. "The hull is designed to create the smallest wake possible, which is probably the No. 1 benefit of a ski boat. You want the wake to be small so when you are crossing the wake, you aren't thrown in the air."The hull also has three fins on the bottom that add stability so when you are going through the slalom course, the fins keep the boat running straight and narrow."The boat uses Perfect Pass, a digital precision speed control system, and is powered by a 350 smallblock GM engine that sits midship, which also aids in its handling. The short pole is where the tow line is attached to pull the skier through the water."The boat goes in and out of gear smooth as silk," Whaley said. "You go in and out of gear a lot when you are picking up a skier, which is putting a lot of stress on the transmission and the engine."All the technical stuff aside, the boat makes it possible for Whaley and his family to pursue their summertime passion of water skiing.His son's Ryan and Chad are avid skiers and both competing collegiately. The trio have stopped competitive water skiing, which flourishes in eastern Ohio, to focus their attention on competing against themselves and the course, which sits in a place affectionately known as The Pond, a 40-acre body of water at the corner of Milan and Oxford townships that is only six or seven feet deep."It's an adrenalin sport," said Ryan Whaley, owner of The Volsted, Moseley's Public House at Hotel Kilbourne, Oh Taco and Paddle & Climb, all in downtown Sandusky. "I guess we do it because we're a little screw-loose, and we like to do things that are risky."They are also members of the Flatwater Ski Club, which calls The Pond its home. Tom's wife, Lezlie, and Chad's wife, Amber, also are avid water-skiers and club members, as are Marty Beerman, Jim Tibboles, Bill Myers and Aaron Jacobs. Slalom water skiing requires working around a series of buoys at a regulated speed of the skier's choosing. They are being pulled by the standard 75-foot pull rope, which gets shorter as the boat goes faster."As soon as you come around the corner and tuck the handle in, you start to accelerate," said Chad Whaley, who is manager of Paddle & Climb and does social media and public relations campaigns for Green Door Mediaworks in Sandusky. "You go from a pretty slow speed when you're turning to a really fast speed when you're going across the wake. Probably from 15 miles an hour all the way up to 50 miles an hour in the snap of a finger."The rope is decreased in increments of 15, 22, 28 and 32 feet off the standard 75 feet. Competition speeds range from around 22 mph to just over 34 mph, depending on age and skill levels. The number of buoys skied around at the required speed determines the winner in a competition, with the world record set at 2 1/2 buoys at 43 feet off the line."That record has been that for a while, but someone is going to come along and go around another half buoy and then it will be another 15 years before someone does it again," said Ryan Whaley, who is also adept at skiing barefoot, another and even tougher form of competition. "It's that hard of a sport, but when you ski your best day, that's when you're filled with adrenalin. Of course, you can also come back the next day and be awful."While a passion for the Whaleys, slalom skiing is also a very physical form of exercise."When you come out in the early spring to take your first runs, the next day you can barely move your arms," Ryan Whaley said. "It's a lot of your upper body, but it's also a good core workout because you feel the pain in your back after you ski.""The reason I got involved in series skiing was a friend of a friend asked if I wanted to learn how to barefoot in the Huron River in 1986," Tom Whaley said. "I said, 'Yeah,' and he took me over to the Huron River and beat the hell out me trying to teach me, but Iearned how to do it that day."From that moment on, I was just hooked on the sport. I like the sport, I like everything about it."Chad Whaley gets ready to jump the wake behind his family's powerboat.Tom Whaley's ski boat is powered by a 350 smallblock GM engine that sits midship. "The boat goes in an out of gear smooth as silk," Whaley said. Tom Whaley's 19-foot Ski Nautique can reach speeds of about 48 miles per hour,Ryan Whaley shows off his barefoot skiing skills during a recent outing on a pond near Avery.Tom Whaley and his sons are avid water skiers.