Ryan, is he running the course? I ski with two guys who are good open water skiiers / part time course skiiers and this is what they ride.
One of em is a bigger guy and he rides an HO Triumph and he really likes it. It's a wider ski so it works well for just freeride. But he can also run 15 off at around 30-32 on it.
The other who is more about your dads size rides a Connelly F1 Concept. Same story as the HO Triumph but is narrower.
I'd check out
http://www.ski-it-again.com. They usually have pretty good deals.