Bodyboarding

Bodyboarding is a water sport in which a rider lies, kneels or stands on a short rectangular foam board and rides the face, crest and curl of a breaking wave toward the shore, usually wearing swim fins for extra propulsion and control. The modern board was introduced by Tom Morey in 1971 as the Boogie Board, but the practice descends from the Polynesian custom of riding waves on the belly, using alaia boards that Captain Cook saw Hawaiian villagers riding in 1778; those boards later evolved into the paipo board. A modern board has a foam core wrapped in a plastic bottom, a softer deck and soft rails, and riders use three basic forms: prone on the stomach, dropknee with one knee on the board, and stand-up. From its American origins the sport has grown into a worldwide industry with strongholds in Australia, Peru, Chile, Japan, the Canary Islands and South Africa, and its champion has been decided by a world tour since 1993.