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 […]
I’m a fan of costumed water skiing. Not only is it fun, but it also plays into my “smoke and mirrors” technique for skiing.
Here’s my previous post on costumed water skiing that explains the whole evolution. With more pics and links to related content.
WaterSkiersLife.com Blog Post “Costumed Water Skiing”
While researching this post I ran across […]
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 […]
Here’s a little experiment…
You are free to repost these water skiing memes near or far.
I have no idea of whether or not this is gonna work, but I sure had fun making them.
Enjoy! -TK
3 NEW MOVES
After I saw Mike make those first rolls at the Marine Stadium in 1991, I was on a mission to do them too. Mike was always an inspiration to my riding, and now he had a 3 year head start. It was time to fly!
1992 interview with Mike Murphy : The father of […]
KNEEBOARD HYDROFOIL > AIR CHAIR (1983-1991)
It was the early summer of 1983, and I found myself in the midst of all the action while working full time for Mike at his “Ski Shop” on the Parker Strip of the Colorado River. Uncle Mike’s collection of rental equipment became the fodder for the next big breakthrough in foiling. […]
FIRST FLIGHT > STAND UP HYDROFOILS (1906-1989)
The first record of using a hydrofoil on a boat belongs to the Italian inventor Enrico Forlanini in 1906. Alexander Graham Bell and Casey Baldwin improved upon Forlanini’s design in 1919, and their hydrofoil boat, the Hydrodrom-4, set a speed record of 60 knots, which lasted into the 1960s. There have […]
