Mike Murphy is one of the true originals of modern foiling. A water-ski racer, show skier, freestyler, inventor, teacher, and lifelong tinkerer, Mike helped create the sit-down hydrofoil as a co-inventor of the Air Chair, then pushed the sport forward again as founder of Sky Ski and Next Foils. His history reaches back to stand-up hydrofoils in the 1960s, the original Knee Ski in the 1970s, the Air Chair boom of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and decades of hydrofoil design, promotion, clinics, records, and big-air riding. Mike was also the first hydrofoiler credited with riding away from a flip, making him one of the foundational riders and inventors in the foiling world.
First measured Big Air world champion in sit-down hydrofoiling - 1998
World First Snapshot
- First Title
- First measured Big Air world champion in sit-down hydrofoiling
- Discipline
Freestyle Foiling
Sitdown Foiling- Class
- Open / Height
- Measured Result
- First: 17 ft 6 in - (First only)
- Date
- 1998-01-01 (year precision)
- Location
- Flight Worlds, USA, United States
- First Achieved By
- Mike Murphy
- Reference
- Tony Klarich: Air Wars
World First Spotlight
Monster Council Approval
Jinx, along with the foiling community at large, has given this glorious achievement the official Foiling Freaks nod for Freestyle Foiling.
May it inspire better evidence, cleaner runs, bigger claims, and even louder hooting from the crowd.
Adopt Jinx and celebrate this victory with a little monster merch from the Jinx merch store.
The Story Behind the Record
Tony Klarich wrote that Flight Worlds held the first Big Air contest in 1998 and crowned Mike Murphy the first Big Air World Champion with a measured leap of 17 ft 6 in.
Rules of the Beast
First Big Air world title awarded with an explicit measured height at Flight Worlds.
How This Got the Nod
Year-level event with explicit measurement in source.
