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Portable Slalom Course Use 101

By Ed Obermeier

Course Setup Considerations

Let's assume that you've already selected the site at which you intend to set-up your course. You have enough room length and width wise at your site (which generally should be 2000' or more in length and 250' or more in width) and you have enough water depth throughout your site (5' to 6' minimum) for safety. You've checked in with the local authorities if necessary to gather
any necessary permission, permits etc. You've got the course in the boat and you're ready to roll!

Before beginning there are a few issues that should be considered. First, it really takes a minimum of three people to install/remove a portable slalom course efficiently, especially the first few times you do it. One to handle the mainline and attach gates, one to handle and extend the buoy arm sections, and one to drive the boat and help with attaching buoys and arm sections. With experience two can do it easily, it just takes longer. A good average set-up time for a properly designed portable course should be in the range of 15 - 25 minutes for 3 persons who are familiar with the courses design and have installed and removed one a few times. Two persons familiar with the set-up should be able to do it in 25 - 35 minutes. Removal time should be in the 15 - 25 minute range.

Secondly, when extending the buoy arms away from the boat during installation it helps to try to keep them pointed in the general direction in which they'll actually be situated once the course is in and settled. It's not a critical issue however. The PVC pipe from which most portable slalom course buoy arms are constructed is actually surprisingly flexible and will take a lot of bending and still straighten itself into proper position. We've seen buoy arms bent nearly into a circle straighten themselves properly without any damage. Still, there's no sense tempting fate. You will reduce setup time significantly if you keep the buoy arms somewhat correctly positioned as you're installing the course.

Thirdly, while installing your course try to keep some light mainline tension as you go. Certainly you don't want buoy arms floating around all over the place, and if you'll keep a light tension on the mainline as you go it shouldn't be a problem. Do keep most of the slack out of the mainline but don't worry about everything being in perfect alignment until everything's in the lake. Aligning the course is described later in this article.

There are two different methods for installing a portable slalom course. The first method involves attaching and deploying the complete buoy arms as you go, then tensioning and straightening the course with the completed arms already attached. This is the preferred method. The second method is pretty much the same except that you'll install the mainline with the attached Boat Lane sections of the buoy arms only, then add the rest of the arms after tensioning the mainline. In some cases (i.e. a light crossing breeze) it may be easier to tension and align the course without the arms attached. Once this is done you can go back and add the arms. Keep these two different installation methods in mind as you read along.

Installing a Portable Made Simple

Now that we've discussed the issues involved with using a portable course let's take a step-by-step walk through the installation process.

Once you've established where to set up, begin by attaching an anchor to the end of the mainline, either by tying a knot through the anchors eye (preferably a bowline knot) or if you have an eye in the mainlines end with a device such as a quick link or clevis.

Anchor Attachments

You'll want to keep the anchors inside the boat at all times unless they're attached securely to the mainline. Also, the mainline reel should remain inside the boat at all times while the person handling the mainline rope is best positioned on the platform behind the boat. Use several towels (good) or rubber-backed throw rugs (better) to protect the vinyl, exposed gel-coated surfaces etc at the rear section of the boat from potential scuffs and scratches caused by the handling of the buoy arm sections and mainline during installation and removal of the course.

Drop the first (lead) anchor and have the driver move ahead slowly at idle speed, feeding out the mainline as you go. Just before you reach the first "diamond" (the arm attachment point - see the "Standard Slalom Course" diagram above) pull some tension on the mainline and drag the anchor along the bottom a bit until it bites into the lake bottom and "locks in".

Getting your lead anchor to lock in is very important, as discussed earlier. This will help to insure that your mainline will hold tension when you stretch and align the installed course.

Once you've set your lead anchor into the bottom, feed out the remaining mainline until you've reached the first arm attachment point (the first diamond) and attach your End Gate to the mainline (how end gates and buoy arms attach to the mainline depends upon the design of your course). The end gate should have two red buoys attached to it. Once the end gate is attached to the mainline, drop it into the water and instruct the boat driver to idle ahead. Feed out the mainline as you go and as you're approaching the attachment point for the first boat lane and turn buoy arm (the second diamond) have the driver place the boat in neutral.

Note: As you approach each arm attachment point (diamond) have the driver place the boat in neutral and pay out the mainline from its reel until you've reached the arm attachment point. The boats momentum will keep you moving slowly ahead until you reach that attachment point. You'll be able to pull the boat to a stop by hanging onto the mainline. With practice you'll be able to judge where to have the driver go to neutral so that you can have the next boat lane section attached to the mainline by the time you've run out of slack in the mainline and have to pull the boat to a stop. This is a very neat trick for minimizing set-up time!

When you have reached the second diamond (the first Boat Lane/Buoy Arm attachment point) attach buoys to the Boat Lane buoy lines (these should be yellow) and attach this to the mainline. Make certain that the buoy arm is pointing to the driver's side (starboard side) of the boat. The skiers first cut when entering the course is always to the right (see the course diagram above). Next, have a helper attach a red turn buoy to the Turn Buoy line at the end of the buoy arm opposite the boat lane, extend the arm out from the boat and lock each section into place as you go. Extend the arm into the water and away from the boat (the buoy will suspend the end of the arm as you push it out from the boat) and attach it to the Boat Lane section which should already be attached to the mainline. Drop this into the water and move ahead to the next arm attachment point.

When you reach the third mainline diamond attach the buoys to the boat lane's buoy lines, attach the boat lane section to the mainline, and extend the arm as described above but this time the arm extends to the drivers left side (port side) of the boat. Keep repeating this process for the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth buoy arms, making certain to alternate sides with each arm (arm one to the right, two to the left, three to the right etc).

When you reach the final diamond, attach red buoys to the second end gate arm, attach it to the mainline as before and drop it into the water. As you drive ahead to pay out the end piece of the mainline (the end anchor lead), begin pulling some tension on the mainline to pull the course into rough alignment.