The late 1980’s saw the emergence of a new extreme water sport, one that needed only a large body of water, like a lake, instead of being only an oceanside sport. Taking a cue from snowboarding, Tony Finn took the idea to water and by combining skiing and surfing techniques developed “wakeboarding”. This very athletic [...]

The primary construction material for the high performance wakeboards used in wakesurfing is “ultra high molecular weight polythylene” (UHMWP). This thermoplastic is created by a process that spins the molecules into strands that create a very high density material which has both a lighter overall weight and strength yet still maintains a bit of flexibility [...]

The beginnings of the official extreme sport of wakeboarding can be credited to Herb O’Brien and Tony Finn. As the owner of H.O. Sports, Mr. O’Brien contracted the top surfboard designers of Hawaii to help him create a new type of water board. Seeking a specific balance of neutral buoyancy in a compression molded board, [...]

In the eternal quest for sporting excitement, new extreme sports are being constantly created from older, more conservative methods of play. One such sport to make a place for itself in the annals of extreme sports is “wakeboarding”. Developed from a cross between regular surfboarding and water skiing, wakeboarding involves a single board, smaller than [...]