Previous Record - Tallest sit-down hydrofoil ridden - 2015

World Record Snapshot

Record Title: Tallest sit-down hydrofoil ridden
Discipline: Sitdown Foiling
Class: Open / Height
Measured Result: Height: 3.42 m (11 ft 2.6 in) - (Higher is better)
Date: 2015-08-22
Has Stood For: 2 years, 249 days until broken on 2018-04-28
Location: Long Beach, California, USA, CA, United States
Record Holder: Mike Murphy
Reference: Guinness: Mike Murphy breaks 11 ft Air Chair record

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Tallest sit-down hydrofoil ridden - 2015 — Rider: Mike Murphy

Record Holder Spotlight

Mike Murphy

Founder & Owner / Operator, Next Foils; Official Armstrong Dealer

View Foiling Freaks Profile

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.

Monster Council Approval

Pinto, along with the foiling community at large, has given this glorious achievement the official Foiling Freaks nod for Sitdown Foiling.

May it inspire better evidence, cleaner runs, bigger claims, and even louder hooting from the crowd.

Adopt Pinto and celebrate this victory with a little monster merch from the Pinto merch store.

The Story Behind the Record

Guinness says Murphy rode a 3.42 m tall Air Chair at Long Beach, California; later local coverage identifies the record date as 22 Aug 2015. This is the directly documented predecessor to Geno Yauchler's 4.21 m record set in 2018.

Rules of the Beast

Rider must be towed and demonstrate controlled flight on a sit-down hydrofoil chair; progression uses published record claims and Guinness titles.

How This Got the Nod

Height and location from Guinness; event date from later secondary coverage; record progression places this as the prior mark before Geno.

Video Proof From the Vault

Mike Murphy's 3.42 m (11 ft 2.6 in) Air Chair stood as the previous tallest sit-down hydrofoil record before Geno Yauchler's 4.21 m mark.

Previous Freaks Holding This Record

Before this mark took the throne, these earlier accepted records were set.

Tallest sit-down hydrofoil ridden
2003-01-01 (year precision) | William Blair | Height: 3.28 m (10 ft 9.1 in) | Stood for 12 years, 233 days until broken on 2015-08-22