10: RIDING THE WAVE – COMPETITIONS
In the early 1980s watersports enthusiasts were excited about kneeboarding. The industry was pumping money into the market with new designs and an advertising blitz. More riders than ever were getting good on a kneeboard, and companies like Hydroslide, O’Brien, Connelly, and Ski Master were giving free product to the […]
7: SKI MASTER
The popular water ski manufacturer Ski Master wanted to grab a piece of the kneeboard pie in the early 1980s. They bought Tunnel Board in 1981, who was still hanging around in a distant second place to Hydroslide. Ski Master kept the original thin profile high performance board, and expanded the line with […]
6: HYDROSLIDE
The next big boost in kneeboarding came from the man most recognized for popularizing the sport. Danny Churchill, quarter mile speed ski record holder, obtained the rights to Glide Slide in April, 1974.6 He was a former employee of Glide Slide who knew the business. From the next few years Churchill redesigned the teardrop […]
4: TUNNEL BOARD
I made my first video appearance at 10 years old on another one of the early kneeboards. Tunnel Board was founded by my uncle Mike and Andy Remy. The gas crunch was over, and with that Mike and Andy opened two businesses at the same time in 1976. The first was Murphy’s Water […]
