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JahJah, this is not a replacement for the Tahoe benchmark, and thanks to James for all he does for that. This is fun.
I wasn't able to get involved until the last race of last year, which is why you don't see me on the sponsors page. I'm trying to get that fixed for this year by negotiating with the organizers. I think I'll probably have to buy the beer.
The Tahoe benchmark is a scientific study under controlled conditions to determine very specific real life operating parameters of a host of scooters. The WWL is a bunch of serious and semi-serious divers out having a good day on the water racing around a rusty hunk of junk in real (waves, cold, wind current) conditions. If you break a blade at Tahoe, you replace the blade and go on. If you break a blade at WWL, you lose. If there is something wrong with the thrust output at Tahoe, or a nosecone floods, you remove the scooter from the water, fix the problem, and go on with the test. When a scooter floods on the Vandenberg/Oriskany, you wave goodbye unless there is a set of doubles with trimix on the boat.
The WWL is designed for bragging rights, where the benchmark is designed to tell you which scooter will most meet your needs. I'll bet you've never considered a Pegasus before as a real scooter, have you. I gotta tell you, they impress the heck out of me.
The biggest difference between the benchmark and the WWL is that the benchmark is a bunch of divers trying to replicate data because the scooter manufacturers whine and cry when their scooter is found to be less satisfactory than someone else's scooter and they blame it on the testers. The WWL is a bunch of divers out having a good time. That's what diving is all about, isn't it?
I wasn't able to get involved until the last race of last year, which is why you don't see me on the sponsors page. I'm trying to get that fixed for this year by negotiating with the organizers. I think I'll probably have to buy the beer.
The Tahoe benchmark is a scientific study under controlled conditions to determine very specific real life operating parameters of a host of scooters. The WWL is a bunch of serious and semi-serious divers out having a good day on the water racing around a rusty hunk of junk in real (waves, cold, wind current) conditions. If you break a blade at Tahoe, you replace the blade and go on. If you break a blade at WWL, you lose. If there is something wrong with the thrust output at Tahoe, or a nosecone floods, you remove the scooter from the water, fix the problem, and go on with the test. When a scooter floods on the Vandenberg/Oriskany, you wave goodbye unless there is a set of doubles with trimix on the boat.
The WWL is designed for bragging rights, where the benchmark is designed to tell you which scooter will most meet your needs. I'll bet you've never considered a Pegasus before as a real scooter, have you. I gotta tell you, they impress the heck out of me.
The biggest difference between the benchmark and the WWL is that the benchmark is a bunch of divers trying to replicate data because the scooter manufacturers whine and cry when their scooter is found to be less satisfactory than someone else's scooter and they blame it on the testers. The WWL is a bunch of divers out having a good time. That's what diving is all about, isn't it?
