history of skimboarding

The earliest known record of skimboarding goes back to 1920 in Laguna Beach, CA.[1] There are photographs from that time period of Laguna Beach lifeguards skimming along the sand on large plywood boards. Skimboarding continued to grow in Laguna over the first half of the century, as well as worldwide, as people everywhere fashioned home-made wood boards out of plywood and used them at their local beaches. These boards were commonly circular in shape and not very well designed for controlled skimboarding. Early boards were often called paipo boards in Hawaii. In the early 1970s skimboards started to take on a shape more similar to surfboards and began to be manufactured out of fiberglass instead of plywood. Tex Haines started the first skimboarding business which he named Victoria after his home beach in Laguna. With rising popularity, many others have sprung up and skimboards are now very easy to come by.
Although skimboarding is predominantly a recreational activity, like surfing, it has also evolved into a highly competitive water sport and is now being taken more seriously.