Kneeboarding (towsport) - History

History

Kneeboarding has had a rocky road on its way to becoming one of the mainstays of the water ski industry. 2013 marks 40 years as a commercially produced product. That’s been enough time for the kneeboard to grow from a fad in the 1970s, to public darling of the 1980s, and then mature in the mid 1990s as the Rodney Dangerfield of water skiing. And through it all kneeboarding continues to hold its own with sales of about 100,000 units per year.

The creation of any new sport is usually a drawn out series of events with an interesting cast of characters, and the development of kneeboarding was no exception. As far back as the early days of water skiing, riders experimented with kneeling down on round plywood discs. There were many others who fooled around with kneeling on surfboards and even people who rode on kneeboards made specifically for riding waves. But it was not until the early 1970s that a new product, the water ski kneeboard, was to emerge.

The first commercially available water ski kneeboard was Knee Ski, co-invented by Mike Murphy and Bud Hulst in 1972. Hulst came from a surf background, manufacturing kneeboards for wave riding under the name of El Paipo. Murphy brought his expertise as a professional show skier. The original Knee Ski was made from molded fiberglass, just like a boat hull, and had neutral flotation. Each Knee Ski had a flat neoprene pad covering the entire deck, and a Velcro strap.

The next big breakthrough was from John Taylor in 1973, who decided to make and sell his own boards under the name of Glide Slide after a brief stint with Knee Ski. Taylor used the revolutionary process of blow molding a plastic shell and filling it with foam. Unfortunately the teardrop design was unstable and Glide Slide faltered when the widespread economic downturn of the 1974 U.S. gas crunch devastated the water sports industry.

Another early design was Tunnel Board, founded by Andy Remy and Mike Murphy in the mid 1970s. For the first time a board was designed for high performance.

The biggest boost in kneeboarding came from the man most recognized for popularizing the sport. Danny Churchill, quarter mile speed ski record holder in 1974, bought Glide Slide in the wake of the gas crunch. He was a former employee of Glide Slide who knew the business. Churchill redesigned the Glide Slide to make it more stable and renamed the product Hydroslide in 1976. Churchill is most commonly known for popularizing the sport through advertising and promotions in the newly released full color water ski publications of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In the early 1980s the very first association for competition was formed called the International Kneeboard Association (IKA). Founded by Roland Hillier of Maitland, Florida he was a former World, National and Masters Water Ski Champion who decided to have a fun form of competition. He attended the Chicago Boat Show to promote the sport but was told by the industry the sport would not be popular enough to create kneeboards by their companies. Time proved them wrong as the sport flurished and they jumped on the bandwagon. The three events were tricks, slalom and wake crossing. An additional event was added called the "flip-out" when more competitors began doing flips in their trick pass. The flip-out was to see how many flips could be completed in twenty seconds. Membership was worldwide. Roland Hillier also wrote the first book on kneeboarding called "Kneeboarding A - Z"; produced "The National Kneeboard Championships" while the competition was being held in Orlando, Florida. The thirty minute program was aired on ABC and then converted to a PBS format where it was also aired. The kneeboarders who added new trick to the IKA rule book through their "What If?" are: Mario Fosa, Ted Bevelaqua, and Mario Fosa. Their barrel rolls, front flip and back flip, and surface rolls added a new and exciting twist to the sport. Sea World of Orlando approached the IKA to hold its next Nationals at their park. However, original sponsors would not be allowed to participate and Hillier felt strongly that supporters should be included and did not accept. The American Kneeboarding Association (AKA) was founded after the International Kneeboard Association rejected the Sea World offer and started to produce competitive events. This is when the AKA started and was then taken in by USA WaterSki. ¹ Kneeboarding History