I began my season on a 68" RS-1, a ski that I ran very well on at the end of last year, but had a major non-skiing related accident in May that could have ended my skiing forever. Instead of letting that happen I talked to Eddie Roberts and my Radar dealer (The Liquid Edge) on the phone and decided to step away from that ski in favor of a 67" Carbon Senate. The idea was I'd ride that ski for its combination of performance and stability while I re-habbed. It delivered in a HUGE way.

The 68" RS-1 and the 67" Senate-C are within 3 square inches of each other in total surface area and are less than 1/10" different in forebody width measured right in front of your front toes. So obviously the Senate-C has a very different profile from the rear foot instep to the tail. Its wider, very supportive, and extremely confidence instilling. It literally saved my season by allowing me to run slalom drills of all kinds on a rock stable, and more important to me, completely predictable platform.

It has taken 3 months to get my strength and balance back and in that time the Carbon Senate kept up with me and just continued to deliver. It is a fantastic 34mph ski that I have now run (in various drills) on rope lengths from -15 to -38, all at 34mph, and its remaind neutral, quick, stable, compliant, is capable of turning VERY hard without blowing out the tail, and demonstrates no bad traits at all.

Last week I noticed that, among other things, I'd stopped spontaniously dropping things and my balance was really good, so I switched back to the RS-1. The transition was completely seamless. Here is what I got from it:
The RS-1 rolls onto an edge quicker/easier, its lower effort to accelerate, holds its direction better off the ball (this can be good and bad), but most noticeably it holds its direction off the 2nd wake better. All these really just mean more width for me.

So what do you do? (my 2 cents)
1st - The RS-1 has no trouble at all running 34mph, especially if you're already at 28-off and shorter so don't change skis just because somebody said this thing is exclusively a 36mph ski. Its very happy here.
2nd - I still say the MPD and RS-1 are demanding designs, I believe they are. They demand a good pre-turn position. They reward the skier that can be aggressive between the wakes and then patient from the edge change through the exit. The Carbon Senate puts out for everyone
3rd - If you want to turn up the stability factor without having to change your skiing style at all, the carbon Senate will be a good investment. Its not as explosive and quick, but it certainly is forgiving.

If you elect to try a Carbon Senate do yourself a huge favor and use Chris Rossi's set-up numbers that are published on this site. He has the fin back substantially from the initial numbers release (0.785" vs 0.860") and it makes a night-and-day difference off the 2nd wake. I went back even a touch farther and still had to concentrate on countering the off-side to keep the ski casting out. It just wants to turn turn turn

That's probably more than you wanted, but I have both skis right here and I'm keeping them.

Last edited by GalaxyToad (Thu, Aug 27, 2009 6:50 PM)

Thanks for the advice.  I'm now thinking I'll stay with the rs-1.   I love it's edge change and it's quite forgiving for my offside turn, but I've  gone downhill this year.  Maybe that has something  to do with the cracking behind my rear binding.  I'm hoping a new blank will get me running 32's again.   
Aaron

silver fin on 67 in.   with Rossi's recommended settings: 

Bindings-29.25
dft-     .76
length-  6.85
depth-  2.5

but I use less angle on my wing -  7

I used to have it set at 9. I've run less angle in the wing to try and get easier edge changes.  Does this help? - I'm not sure-it's really just me experimenting, but it feels like the ski doesn't hold so tight to the water and hence, it can change edges easier.  ( my upper body is usually too far forward in my lean thru wakes, so it's hard to get a good edge change with too much weight over front of ski).    I just took the wing off of my old F1 and ran 32 on Friday- I'm waiting to get my rs-1 back from Radar, then maybe I'll take that wing off and see how it feels.

As far as video goes, yes, someone can tape me, but i hate to watch myself ski- I see the video and cringe at my poor technique. I should have them tape me anyways.

Rear bindings, especially a toe plate, are pretty easy to fix up with the proper plate. Don't ever rule out a ski because your bindings don't "fit." Likewise, never drill your ski for the same reason. If I recall correctly, HO and Radar share insert patterns. You front boot will be find regardless. The pattern for the rear plate is not common with D3. That's a $15 solution though.

I think the Senate C and the Custom X are similar class of ski. It would probably be a lateral move unless the Senate C just really jives with the way you ski. RS1, A1, and X5: on paper and dollars they are all pretty big jumps. You won't know until you try. You will gain performance and lose the safety blanket of extra width and stability, but you might not need it anymore.

2gofaster wrote:

I've had a Custom X, Senate C, RS1, Sixam SS, and an Elite over the last 4 years.  In my opinion, the Senate C is a step up from the CX. It's got the stability and tracking of the CX, but almost the performance of the RS1. And with the surface area, it's fast from side to side with less effort than comparable 67" skis.

What he said.

As far as the wing goes, its been my experience that removing the wing causes the ski to initiate the turn real weak and not finish, it just points at the boat. All I need is some reason to hop on the front...