The technology of water skiing has come a very long way since the earliest days. Advancements in materials, design, and construction have enabled manufacturers to create incredible water skis. We take them for granted today, but they would be practically unrecognisable to the pioneers of this great sport.
Ski Technology
Ralph Samuelson invented the very first water skis in 1922. His earliest versions were made from the staves of wooden barrels, and he then tried snow skis.
Eventually he made a pair of skis out of 2.4m long pine boards, with leather strips for bindings. To create the upward bend in the front of his new skis, he softened the wood by boiling it in a copper kettle.
Wood was the primary material used in water skis over the next few decades. Compared to other materials of the time, it was relatively light, buoyant, and flexible. However, wood did have some downsides – including being heavy, and prone to warping over time.
Around the 1970’s we started to see the first manufactured material enter the realm of water ski construction, in the form of fiberglass which offered superior flexibility and resilience. Although inherently heavier than wood, fiberglass enabled greater flexibility in both design and manufacturing. In turn this created water skis that were lighter, stronger, faster, and more responsive.
Later we started to see composites of different materials including fiberglass and graphite, which further enhanced the tensile strength, lightness, and flexibility of water skis.
In the current era, even low-end skis can incorporate some pretty high-end technology. Skis can be made from very sophisticated composites of various thermoplastics, aluminium, Kevlar, and carbon fibre. These surround ultra-light cores made of PVC or polyurethane foam.
These materials produce water skis that are incredibly light, strong and fast.
Fin technology
Even the humble fin has come a long way.
Modern skis have fins that are adjustable for front and rear depth, as well as fore/aft positioning. These tiny adjustments make a massive difference to the handling characteristics of the ski.
Around the 90’s we saw the introduction of wings (also known as foils or spoilers) attached to the fins. These improve the stability of the tail of the ski, providing more rapid deceleration coming into slalom turns.
A quick side-note here: If you’re thinking of altering the position of your ski fin or foil, do your research first, and resist the temptation to change things dramatically. Only alter one dimension at a time (e.g. depth, angle, etc) on one component at a time (fin or foil).
Also, don’t go overboard – changes of just a few degrees or a single millimetre can make your ski feel completely different. A series of small changes is your best bet.
Tow rope technology
Back in 1922, Ralph Samuelson’s first tow ropes were made of clothesline and window sash cord.
For many years ski ropes were made of braided Nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene or polyester. These were light and had high breaking strain points, and served most skiers very well.
Modern high-end tow ropes are made of a very cool, high-tech material known as “ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene”. This is sometimes known by its UHMWPE or UHMW acronyms, or by trade names such as Spectra® and Dyneema®.
As well as being 8 to 15 times stronger than steel (!!), UHMWPE tow rope is light enough to float, has very low water absorption, low coefficient of friction, and is highly resistant to flex fatigue, abrasion, UV radiation, micro-organisms, and damaging chemicals like acids, solvents, and corrosives.
Impressive stuff.
Personal Floatation Devices
Once known as ‘life jackets’ or ‘live vests’, personal floatation devices (PFD’s) are sold in a number of types and configurations to suit their particular application. They’re all intended to keep you afloat, but they differ in convenience and protection level.
One key difference to be aware of: some are specifically designed to support an unconscious person, while others are not.
Evidence of primitive life jackets has been found in the forms of inflated animal bladders and skins. By the mid 1800’s, seafarers had access to wearable buoyancy devices incorporating light woods such as cork or balsa, and kapok.
Today’s PFD technology commonly incorporates polyethylene or PVC foam cores, contained within nylon or neoprene outer skins which are very thin, light, flexible and warm.
Today we’re fortunate to be able to buy a ski vest straight off the rack that is designed to withstand hard impacts, while being ergonomically designed for maximum mobility and comfort.
Higher-tech versions feature multi-panel construction with excellent multi-dimensional stretch characteristics, internal water drainage systems, very strong seams and zippers, and some come with integrated kidney belts for lower back support.
The rest
Ski boats and engines have also developed significantly of course, but I’ll leave those for a future article.
As always, please leave your comments in the box below.
Your virtual water ski coach,
Todd
PS – Before you go, why not:
Do you know what was the first non-wood water ski? I have a Connely Short Line that I bought in 1979. I think is in the early years of non-wood.
Do you know anyone that would be interested in buying it?