History of the Knee Board

[JBZ]

Kneeboard timeline — A Centennial Celebration of Watersport • WakeSki 100

www.wakeski100.org

 

[RogerThat99]

My dad bought us a Knee Ski at the Cow Palace boat show around 74 or 75. Loved that thing.

 

[sintax]

Wasted so much time as a kid mastering that goofy contraption.

Countless gallons of lake water swallowed, 1 blown out ear drum

Should have just stuck to skiing

 

[Gelcoater]

My dad bought us a Knee Ski at the Cow Palace boat show around 74 or 75. Loved that thing.

The Cow Palace!

 

[Backlash]

1 boat
2 ski ropes
2 kneeboards
2 kids

A complete blast!!!

 

[dave29]

I had my first aquaplane ride in the early 60's at San Pedro. Mid 60's we had Val Surf belly boards. Early 70's I was building telephoto lenses for Century optices. George Greenough, Bruce Brown etc were our customers. Early 80's, Connelly knee ski.

 

[Eliminator21vdrive]

I used a disk of plywood that I sanded and painted lol..

 

[RiverDave]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

I remember renting an air chair at Naci. We had no idea how to use it, it was hysterical pulling people out like they were skiing and launching them straight up like 10 feet in the air. We never really got the handle on that, lessons would have been better.

 

[rivermobster]

Wasted so much time as a kid mastering that goofy contraption.

Countless gallons of lake water swallowed, 1 blown out ear drum

Should have just stuck to skiing

Right?

I tried it and didn't dig it. So boring! Luckly we only wasted maybe a day with it.

Skiing was Way more fun.

 

[JFMFG]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

The OG wakeboard with 3 fins in the back? Curved like a surfboard in the front?

 

[Bpracing1127]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

Yep, my dad had one. Was hard transition from double boot single ski tho

 

[SoCalDave]

Drug my nephews all over Pine Flat on one in the mid 80's.
Early 70's we would take (steal) the inflatable rental rafts from Daytona Beach when on vacation and bring them home, tie a ski rope to one and drag each other around the lake. What a blast that was...

 

[Taboma]

Kneeboard --- that infernal contraption the allowed me to feel the pleasure of having my big toe nail torn off ---- yeah, I remember it well to this day.
Acrobatics + nasty face plant = being driven backwards so hard my big toe nail dug into the rubber mat and ripped the fucker clean off.
Moral of the story, trim your damn toe nails before ridding !!!!!!!!!!
Moral of the story # 2 --- Stick with water skiing

 

[GreenEnergy28]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

I was fortunate enough to be an early teen when the skurfer came out.
My Dad was always into boating so even though we didn't have much money, we always had a boat and the pull toys. I was always the guinea pig for all the latest toys. First time trying out the kneeboard, Pop's dropped the hammer, like you would to ski, and beat the hell out of me as I tried to hold on to the rope and stay on the board. Once we figured out how to do it, my sisters got to go for it...
When the skurfer came out, we spent so much time in the water trying to figure it out. We didn't have Youtube, nor did we have any friends who knew how to do it. Once I finally figured out how to get up and ride, I was obsessed. Then came the Hyperlite wake board. A couple of years later, a firend of mine showed up to the lake with one of the new fiberglass boards shortly after and we really started to have some fun. Finally learned flip tricks and handle pass 360's.... So many great memories growing up on the lakes.

 

[HBCraig]

My dad bought us a Knee Ski at the Cow Palace boat show around 74 or 75. Loved that thing.

Same
My Dad bought us a Knee Ski from Kona boats in 1976

 

[obnoxious001]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

Got one in my garage!

 

[sintax]

Right?

I tried it and didn't dig it. So boring! Luckly we only wasted maybe a day with it.

Skiing was Way more fun.

Ya, max fun thing is the flips… but that’s also what blew out my ear drum as my head slapped the water.

 

[sintax]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

Yup! Got the OG in my parents shed. I should bring it out as garage art in Havasu

 

[RiverDave]

The OG wakeboard with 3 fins in the back? Curved like a surfboard in the front?

Yep

 

[2Driver]

When my kid was 9 he wanted to kneeboard when we were just south of Steamboat.

LOL He didn't drop until the no wake buoys in Thompson.

 

[Travmon]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

Mine was pink and a blast. Some jack ass friend borrowed it never saw it again.

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

1 boat
2 ski ropes
2 kneeboards
2 kids

A complete blast!!!

One rope longer then the other so you can pass over!

 

[Hydroman55]

I used a disk of plywood that I sanded and painted lol..

1968 was 13 living on Bethel Island and made my aqua plane from plywood and rope.

 

[JUSTWANNARACE]

I was stoked when I was a freshman in high school I was able to get the latest and greatest at the time, an O'Brian fiberglass with molded knee pad, double strap and the fins you could drop and retract from the nose of the board! Was amazing compared to the plastic Hydroslide that I had.

I still have the O'Brian but the pads are shot! Spent many, many hours on that thing!

 

[Taboma]

One rope longer then the other so you can pass over!

Unequal ski lines put my ass into the hospital when I was about 15 yo.
Yup, big fun over and under, problem is if you both cut really hard for a beach landing and fail to remember the longer rope has ended up on the outside and you with your shorter rope now on the inside --- and you suddenly discover that after you've released, that the longer ski rope has magically become wrapped around your lower leg ---- it's quite a startling realization, especially when the Chris Craft tow boat has instantly snapped you back in the opposite direction and is now dragging you underwater by your right leg.

Trust me, it not only fucks up your day, but the rest of your summer and leaves a forever deep gouge and scar.
That was the last time I ever skied double.

 

[jetboatperformance]

The early "pull behind" version of a wave tractor , learned on My EP went to a Maha , never looked back

 

[pwerwagn]

Cool Article!!


My 10yr old LOVES to kneeboard. He saved his money up last summer and bought his very own board. I always hated kneeboarding, his brothers hate kneeboarding, but he LOVES it!

 

[samsah33]

Was easy for my kids to get "up" on a kneeboard (my board has the beginner hook...). It's what I have kids try once they learn that wakeboarding is not as easy as it looks and get frustrated... Here's my fearless 5yo daughter (15 now and still fearless...)

 

[Clank123]

Bud was a great guy!
He showed up at the Lagoon in Carlsbad in 1973 selling his Knee Ski.
He gave a couple to us local boys down there and we loved it!
We would put three guys on boards behind the boat and the tried to knock each other off for a couple laps.
We were extremely hard on them and Bud challenged us to break them so he could make them stronger.
The early ones we could snap almost on demand. He’d bring a new design down the next week.
Naturally being V Drive kids, it also evolved into how fast could we go on them.
We could all run into the mid Sixties on them.
One of our group, Rusty Sharman, ran right at 80 at the Long Beach Marine Stadium before a drag race I’m gonna say in 1976.
Good times!

 

[Jay Dub]

Kneeboard timeline — A Centennial Celebration of Watersport • WakeSki 100

www.wakeski100.org

As a kid we had the skurfer. sometime in the late 70's, maybe 1980 we got our first Hydroslide. We were hooked. jumping wakes, 360's. Fast forward to the mid 90's, when the wife and I bought our first boat. We bought a kneeboard too. The HO Joker. As an adult, she learned to kneeboard. Nearly drowning at first while securing the strap. Our kids all grew up knee boarding too. great memories. thanks for sharing that history

 

[havasuhusker]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

I remember it and skurfed a few times in the early 90's.

 

[sintax]

As a kid we had the skurfer. sometime in the late 70's, maybe 1980 we got our first Hydroslide. We were hooked. jumping wakes, 360's. Fast forward to the mid 90's, when the wife and I bought our first boat. We bought a kneeboard too. The HO Joker. As an adult, she learned to kneeboard. Nearly drowning at first while securing the strap. Our kids all grew up knee boarding too. great memories. thanks for sharing that history

My jam was the old school black magic

Had a bullfrog at one point, and I cant recall the the last old school board i had, it was black, had a neon green knee pad, retractable skags. I'll try to dig in the memory banks

I think it was a Hydroslide Magna Comp

 

[Riverbound]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

I found one under our house last trip the kids loved it. will have to get more pics of them on it.

 

[Riverbound]

As a kid we had the skurfer. sometime in the late 70's, maybe 1980 we got our first Hydroslide. We were hooked. jumping wakes, 360's. Fast forward to the mid 90's, when the wife and I bought our first boat. We bought a kneeboard too. The HO Joker. As an adult, she learned to kneeboard. Nearly drowning at first while securing the strap. Our kids all grew up knee boarding too. great memories. thanks for sharing that history

we have both a hydro slide and the ho joker from my childhood. my kids still use them

 

[snowhammer]

We used our kneeboards in the winter behind our snowmobiles.

 

[snowhammer]

I used a disk of plywood that I sanded and painted lol..

Grandpa took an exit sign from the highway and did the same. Every year at the ski show on his lake he would wear his floating belt and climb to the top step (not rung) of a six foot stepladder on the disc. He would start out laying on the disc while holding the ladder and set up the ladder while under way.

Dang allergies are getting to my eyes...

 

[Gramps]

around 1960 we took a 3 ft round of 3/4" marine plywood, beveled the edges, glassed it, and used it as a round "ski"

 

[Wheeler]

 

[boatnam2]

We use to ride them a lot, nothing like a nice face digger on one when your jump the wake.

 

[coz]

Anyone remember the skurfer?

I have one sitting in the corner of my garage. I'm the original owner from the 80's.

 

[kurtis500]

My daughter was about 6-7 or so and strapped in to a kneeboard. She fell getting up and flipped upside down. Underwater she couldnt get her knees out of the strap and was just underwater until I swung the boat around, jumped out and turned the kneeboard upright. A little coughing and a scared girl was all. Didnt see that coming

 

[brgrcru]

Loved the knee board
Until my knees didn’t around 40

Ours was used mostly to start barefooting
Sit on it . Say hit it, get to 40mph and the yellow board pretty much bounced you off and on your feet, toes up .

 

[Eliminator21vdrive]

Loved the knee board
Until my knees didn’t around 40

Ours was used mostly to start barefooting
Sit on it . Say hit it, get to 40mph and the yellow board pretty much bounced you off and on your feet, toes up .

I had many unsuccessful and painful tries at that lol!

 

[cole_skier]

Got one in my garage!

I have this in my garage. One of the first wake boards.

 

[DWC]

My daughter was about 6-7 or so and strapped in to a kneeboard. She fell getting up and flipped upside down. Underwater she couldnt get her knees out of the strap and was just underwater until I swung the boat around, jumped out and turned the kneeboard upright. A little coughing and a scared girl was all. Didnt see that coming

Did the same to my oldest son first trip out. Scared the shit out of him. It took quite awhile for him to want to do anything but tube. I bought the Nautique thinking they’d be the next Parks Bonifay. Instead i towed around a damn tube for 100’s of hours.

 

[DWC]

I started going to the river in HS with friends. They (Riggs) had a place on the water in Blythe. We had a blast with knee boards. We’d play full contact games of chicken. Winner stays on..
Most painful was learning to barefoot off of them with @ArizonaKevin ’s uncle. Start feet forward, step off when you got enough speed. Lots of enemas and asses/elbows crashes.

 

[NicPaus]

I remember getting cracked in the head by it twice in one day at Naci. It was history after that. Stuck with the wakeboard.

 

[King295]

I was stoked when I was a freshman in high school I was able to get the latest and greatest at the time, an O'Brian fiberglass with molded knee pad, double strap and the fins you could drop and retract from the nose of the board! Was amazing compared to the plastic Hydroslide that I had.

I still have the O'Brian but the pads are shot! Spent many, many hours on that thing!

I had something similar when I was younger. I loved kneeboard and could go all day on that thing. Drop the fins and carve or pop them up and do 360's until you were about to puke. I'd bet its sitting in my storage unit along with a ton of other water toys that rarely get used.

 

[poncho]

Unequal ski lines put my ass into the hospital when I was about 15 yo.
Yup, big fun over and under, problem is if you both cut really hard for a beach landing and fail to remember the longer rope has ended up on the outside and you with your shorter rope now on the inside --- and you suddenly discover that after you've released, that the longer ski rope has magically become wrapped around your lower leg ---- it's quite a startling realization, especially when the Chris Craft tow boat has instantly snapped you back in the opposite direction and is now dragging you underwater by your right leg.

Trust me, it not only fucks up your day, but the rest of your summer and leaves a forever deep gouge and scar.
That was the last time I ever skied double.

Equal ropes, Mom as a spotter best friend and I....Contest was to see who could knock out the other guy's ski on a hard cut till the time we both straightened up and seriously cracked skulls, still a great memory but that toned things down a bit.