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RIP Banana George


UWSkier

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Certainly a man bigger than life, and an ambassador to the sport. I feel privileged to have shaken his hand (and chatted with him about 20 years ago). RIP George.

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Sad news. I'd say that it's the end of an era, but that dude lived through several. And what an testament on how to always be young at heart. RIP George.

Being a barefooter and youngster at heart, my sentiments exactly!

Heres to George! :cheers: he'll be missed.

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RIP George. You will be missed.

While he was more well known for his footin, I always knew him from his early days in hydrofoil skiing.

bananageorge1.jpg

Those are some funky looking skis/hydro foils!!

Met George years, ok decades ago, he was a great spokesperson for the ski/barefoot industry! RIP George!

Edited by happypappy
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George was tight with Murphy & Wooley before they started AirChair. The old standup hydrofoil skis are the predecessor to the sit-down foils we ride today.

Here's a shot from the 1980s on the Parker Strip. George in all yellow, even sponsored by Chiquita bananas back then. This was a world record for the most foil riders behind a single boat at the time. :rockon:

8foilskis.preview.jpg

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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George was tight with Murphy & Wooley before they started AirChair. The old standup hydrofoil skis are the predecessor to the sit-down foils we ride today.

Here's a shot from the 1980s on the Parker Strip. George in all yellow, even sponsored by Chiqita bananas back then. This was a world record for the most foil riders behind a single boat at the time. :rockon:

8foilskis.preview.jpg

Bill.

Is each skis independent or are they bound together solid as one to the foil??

Never seen this ,pretty neat!

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More good stuff about George's life here: http://www.pxgx.com/banana/about.html

As I understand it, he didn't even get into the extreme stuff until later in life. And then he was livin life to the fullest! Besides footin & Foilin, I remember him doing snowboard appearances & riding around in his big yellow ragtop Cadillac with a couple of young girls.

bananamontage.jpg

The old foil skis are bound together as one set.... sort of a V shaped t-bar with the wings on the bottom & the skis mounted on top. I actually have a set that I found under a deck near the shores of Lake Sammamish. The original patents date back to the late 1960s.

oldfoil.jpg

Some good hydrofoil history here.

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More good stuff about George's life here: http://www.pxgx.com/banana/about.html

As I understand it, he didn't even get into the extreme stuff until later in life. And then he was livin life to the fullest! Besides footin & Foilin, I remember him doing snowboard appearances & riding around in his big yellow ragtop Cadillac with a couple of young girls.

.....

I haven't looked at the links provided, but I think that I remember reading at some point that he didn't even learn to snowboard until he was in his late 70's. Dude was awesome, he never stopped trying new things.

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I remember meeting him as a very young kid who was just getting into wakeboarding and watersports. He was at a local cable waterpark competition. He did some barefooting passes on the cable during a break. It was awesome. He was a very classy guy. He will be missed.

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Never got a chance to meet him in person, just talked to him once on the phone when Mike Seiple handed me the phone so I could talk to him....What a great guy he was....and he was so gracious on the phone to a total stranger........

May we all live so long and so well....

God Bless You George....

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