Weight variation in a new ski

Assume you were buying a brand new ski, in lightweight layup, for full retail price.

The manufacturer says the skis are guaranteed to be at stated weight plus or minus 10%.

This means a 12 kg boat could weigh as much as 13.2kg.

Would you accept this? Do you weigh your boats when you buy them? Do you look for the lightest boat in the batch? Do you care?

I would be spewing if I recieved a ski that was 10% heavier. Which manufacturer?
That is shit quality control

It hasn't happened yet but I am waiting on a new boat to arrive. I noticed on the manufacturers website the 10% thing and it got me thinking.

I am quite pedantic and was wondering if anyone else was. I intend to weigh the new boat in the shop and was wondering if that is reasonable.

I don't want to name the brand as they haven't done anything wrong at all.

I've bought several new & used skis...The scales are very much part of the process in the purchase.
I bought a V8(ultra) in December last year - the spec weight was 12.5kg - between the three skis the dealer had available 12.2 was the lightest and 12.9 was the heaviest. Check for imperfections in the finish too. I was amazed how some left the factory in the condition they were in! In contrast I bought a Stellar SR Excel recently, the spec weight was 11.5kg - mine weighed 10.5kg and the finish was absolutely fantastic. If it is not to your liking insist on a discount or buy elsewhere. Why should any consumer pay top dollar for less than perfect.

On average you pay about $500 per pound as you go lighter so, I think is is a very big deal and I weigh my skis with a baby balance scale to the nearest ounce.
The main reason I like a lighter ski is that it is easier to pack around and a lighter ski should accelerate better. I'm a fanatic on weight and I just like a lighter ski better.

My hawx elite , & my hawx elite pro both came in at advertised weights. 11.5kg & 9.5kg

No shame in walking into a ski shop with scales for the $$$ you are laying out. I did just that years ago, weighing several of the skis on display and finding big differences to the claimed weight.

This process resulted in me buying a different ski than what I had intended on buying.

The first Carbonology Flash I demoed was closer to 13 than the quoted 12kg claimed for the glass/carbon hybrid layup. I reported this in the review and not long after Carbonology decided to use a full carbon deck on the Hybrid Flash which brought the weight down to 12kg exactly.

So when comparing skis make sure you compare real world weights too not just quoted weights.

Jamie, You must be one of the lucky ones. Cade's Hawx elite pro weighs 10.7kg using my digital fishing scales claimed to be accurate to 0.5g. On the same scales my V14 Elite weighs 10.8kg and my New V10 Ultra 11.9kg. Happy with mine being around advertised weights.
For some perspective though, Cades could be 5kg heavier & he would still smash us. Engine has more to do with it than boat weight. Give or take a kilo or so does not matter much in the ocean.

My SES Exel advertised as 11kg weighed in at 10.9kg. Boat when purchased came with final checker's sheet ticked off for whole lot of quality control bits and pieces. Weight of ski was specific to that particular boat - 10.93kgs recorded on the sheet, my own scales not quite as accurate but under 11kg's for sure.

Word of caution however is the roundabouts and swings thing - what you gain with weight loss you (potentially) lose with strength. Reckon I could belt my Honcho Rookie (18kg) with a hammer and have to replace the hammer, compared to my SES which has a couple of dimples in it from careless treatment (not with a hammer). One stupid thing was opening and just letting go the rear spring-loaded boot/window of my SUV forgetting boat was on the roof. There was a decent bang from rear windscreen wipers onto boat, but I was still surpised at the dimple it made in the hull - no scratches or breach of gelcoat but clear dimple.

Confess I have been used to solid downriver boats, however that little episode reminded me that while SES stiff in the water and certainly seems solidly built, it is a racing ski, not a barge and I need to treat it accordingly. Not saying the boat is egg shell, but with light boats there is a compromise going on.

Reckon Ranga is laughing his ginger bollocks off here if reading this as he kindly fixed my ski after it blew off the roof and landed down the road on the rudder and mashed the rudder box big time. But that was different - seriously I had just taken rear strap off and a gust lifted it up off the racks and sailed it up and back three or four metres behind my vehicle. Anyway, damage done there would have happened to most any boat so not relevant in this context. Thanks Walt, brilliant job.

Yo Simon Haywood, keen to get an update on your venturi mods if you've had them done.

Its coming, its fitted - Full report next week!

I recently bought a ski advertised at 14kg - it came in closer to 16.5kg and the manufacturer was happy to take it back and replace it for free.

So that's just to say that there can be variation.

I will be much more careful in the future though, and sure, yes, take scales to the shops.

Probably worth noting that the accepted standard for pharmaceuticals around the world is also +/- 10%...

Just sayin.....

Wow, imagine they tried to do that with a box of wine and only put 11 bottles in the box.

Isn't the "baker's dozen" an attempt to work around this problem by adding a 13th item to ensure the customer is never short-changed?

I picked up my new ski today. A new v10. I was able to weigh some of the available skis and got one at 11.9 kg against quoted weight of 12.3.