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 […]
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 […]
A TURNING POINT: MIKE MURPHY’S FIRST ROLL
Our family is at the Marine Stadium in Long Beach, CA on a beautiful spring day in 1991. I usually ride first but today is different. Uncle Mike suits up first because he has a new move to show off. He tries to keep it a secret, but can’t resist […]
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 […]
5: KNEED FOR SPEED
In 1978, at the Endo’s International Speed Skiing Championships, I witnessed kneeboarding insanity.
The site was the Long Beach Marine Stadium. I only remember the kneeboarder by his nickname, Dumbdee. He was a Long Beach local who talked the promoters into letting him have a speed run on his Tunnel Board. Just to […]
