SKY SKI
I think of Mike’s time running Sky Ski from 1997 to 2004 as the golden days of foiling. His shop was in Lake Elsinore, just minutes from our homes in Canyon Lake. Now Mike was free to let loose with all the innovations and new designs that had been bottled up inside him for […]
YOU’RE FIRED
The partnership between Bob Woolley and Mike Murphy at Air Chair was always a strained one. That was unfortunate because each man had a set of skills the other did not have, and together they had what it took to run a successful business.
Mike was the star and front man. He was already a […]
FLIGHT HYDROFOILING NEWSLETTER
I travelled the world as a water skier for well over two decades. Living out of a suitcase meant hundreds of restaurant meals with friends and business associates. Ever since I could remember I was a fan of simple magic tricks, brain teasers, and visual oddities that you could do at a table. […]
WELCOME TO MY WORLDS
I was impatient for hydrofoiling competitions. Most people recognized me as the top all around rider in the sport since my coming out party at the first Fly-In in 1994, and I wanted to prove it.
Usually when you want something done, you have to do it yourself, and this was no exception. […]
ON THE RECORD
On a trip to the River in 1995 Mike had another challenge for me. He had taken a ride on his foil from Mike Mack’s shop to the Roadrunner floating bar and back behind a sit down Sea-Doo. It was a round trip distance of about eight miles. Just for fun he had […]
LOVE TO CRASH
Over the next few years I was in the midst of hard-core riding. Bob Dunham and I worked on compiling a list of the early hydrofoil tricks that documented who was the first to do a particular move and on what date. I reviewed the list that covered the first seven years of […]
FLY-IN’
The first Fly-In was coming up soon, and I wanted to be ready with even more new tricks. Next on my list was a gainer in the flats. Mike claimed this trick first, but all of the attempts that I saw him do were something shy of a true gainer. His was more of a […]
INNOVATIONS
In the early days of foiling it was up to the riders to improve performance. Many of the changes came in an attempt overcome the limitations of the stock Air Chair, and some were born to avoid injury.
Modifications to the foil were the most important thing riders could do to upgrade an Air Chair in […]
TIE HIGH
Uncle Mike always had a thing for loop around the boats. He did them for years on everything from the kneeboard and slalom ski to trick skis and the hydrofoil. The loop around the boat became the standard way to turn around during Mike’s runs on the backwaters of Canyon Lake. He even spiced […]
SHOOT TO KILL
Everyone was excited for Air Chair’s first big video shoot. We all knew how important a promo video was to support a new product, and this one was sure to be hugely popular. Our base camp for the weeklong shoot was a rented houseboat on the shores of Lake Havasu, just a few […]
