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WATERSKI MagazineDriving a boat is what you make of it. In tournament water skiing, it can be a thankless, even punishing job with long hours, little or no pay and fickle skiers who only see things from their end of the rope.
Les Todd doesn't see it that way. He didn't map out a career path that would carry him to the place of respect and prestige he occupies in water skiing, but now that he's there, he's not ready to toss aside the 20-plus years he's devoted to the art of driving.
With the advent of speed control, his considerable skills are minimized, and while he knows the technology is inevitable and he's resigned to get on board with it, he's not sure it's best for the sport.
“I think it's going to dumb-down driving,” Todd says. “You're not going to see the caliber of drivers you see in Jack Walker, Les Todd and Ian Staples, who are excellent tournament drivers.”
What you will see, though, is a leveling of the lake, and Todd says that's especially important in international competition, which seems to be the hammer that's driving speed control to the forefront, perhaps even before it's ready.
“We've got excellent drivers in the United States,” Todd says. “When you get outside of here, I fear for the level of driving you're going to get because all they're going to learn is how to drive these [speed-control] machines. We need to bring up the level of driving now, on a world basis, so it's not subpar to what the level of skiing is right now.
“What it's going to do to performance overall, I don't know. Right now, jumpers don't feel they can jump as far behind speed control as they can behind myself or other competent drivers – and that's not because we're bending rules. You can drive right by the rules.”
Todd never had a problem following the rule book, partly because of the early influences on his career. He broke into tournament driving after marrying Hall of Famer Cindy Hutcherson in 1975. Todd got his assistant driver's rating in 1975, and was a senior driver by 1980.
“My driving career, even as an assistant and a regular driver, had a lot to do with having been the husband of Cindy and Cindy being the skier she was,” Todd says. Cindy Todd's connection with Hall of Fame driver Jack Walker – both were members of the Miami Ski Club – also helped. Walker took Todd under his wing and taught him the trade.
And Todd might be viewed as the next Hall of Fame driver, if speed control doesn't get in the way. He already knows there are milestones he won't get because of it.
“Jack Walker drove five straight years at the Masters without a reride,” Todd says with the awe only a fellow driver can appreciate. “With speed control, I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to do that.”
Todd drives about 22 tournaments a year, including the eight pro tour events, the U.S. Masters, U.S. Open, Southern Regionals, Nationals and World Championships. About half his tournaments include Cindy, who now competes in Women III, and their three children. When the Todds aren't skiing, they work their farm in Pierson, Florida, growing ferns and orange trees along the 68-acre lake they've shared with neighbors since 1975.
“I was a college dropout who went water skiing,” Todd says. “I didn't have any idea what I was going to do. If I had not met Cindy … Being the husband of Cindy Todd, I owe a lot to the career of driving I have. The availability. Her relationship with Jack Walker. That kinda sums it up.”
As for the future – his and the sport's – Todd isn't ready to trust his crystal ball.
“I don't know what the future holds; there are too many variables right now,” he says. “I will say, as far as speed control goes, the past couple of years there have been a lot of drivers who have really bucked the system or didn't want to be the first one to do it.
“Yeah, it is taking my job. On the other hand, it makes my job very easy because all I've got to do is worry about steering. I hit those buttons and that thing takes over. Before, I'm under the clock. No one's breathing down my neck to get the speed right; they're breathing down a machine's neck to get the speed right.
“If it's coming, which it will eventually, I want to be on the ladder somewhere. If it's the bottom rung, fine. I want to be on there somewhere.”
Speed control was not used at the 1997 U.S. Masters, and Les Todd drove the tournament without a single reride.
