Lower Dripsey is full of interesting stories. In terms of the physical geography, it is the point where the Dripsey River meets the River Lee, which is in the form of Inniscarra Reservoir. At that particular point is the Cork Powerboat and Water Ski Club run by the Galvin Family.

I was intrigued by how ski-ing became one of the first sports to be pursued on the reservoir following the Lee Hydro-Electric Scheme in the 1950s. In a sense, the sport aided in the psychological reconstruction of a new physical geography in the region that was linked to the physical transformation from that of a meandering river to a static lake.

The sport of water skiing has enjoyed a long eventful history. Throughout its history water skiing has closely paralleled the development of recreational boating in its appeal to the general public. Over the years it has shown almost continuous and sustained growth.

Water skiing was invented in the United States in 1922 when Minnesotan Ralph Samuelson built the first pair of skis and was towed on them behind an outboard-powered boat. Noticing that snow skis would allow him to ride on top of the snow, he also believed that they could also keep him on top of the water. He nailed a pair of old boots to the ski, tied a rope behind a speedboat, and successfully skimmed across the service of Lake Pepin. Samuelson has also been credited as the first ski racer, first to go over a jump ramp, first to slalom ski and the first to put on a water ski show. The first woman to water ski has been credited to Katherine Lomerson of Union Lake, Michigan, who completed the feat in 1924.

In the 1920s and early 1930s water skiing became an exhibition sport on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1931, the first ski shows were held at the Century of Progress World Fair in Chicago and at the Atlantic City Steel Pier. Skiing developed officially into a competitive sport in 1939 when the American Water Ski Association (AWSA) was organized and held the first annual National Water Ski Championships at Jones Beach, Long Island, New York. That same year saw the first National Championships Tournament, held at Jones Beach, Long Island, New York. The slalom course at that tournament was a string of pointed buoys set in a straight line. The skier had to ski around each to the end of the course. The tricks event consisted of a skier removing one ski and holding it over his head, and a side slide or two. The jump event provided the most excitement. The surface of the jump ramp was made of wooden rollers.

In 1946, the International Water Ski Union (now the International Water Ski Federation) was founded by a group of skiers performing exhibitions during a series of powerboat races in Geneva, Switzerland. Three years later in 1949, the British Water Ski Club was formed. In the same year, the first World Water Ski Championships were held in France. In 1951, the British Water Ski Federation was formed. In 1966, Britain made a move to get involved in the sport of water ski racing and a meeting took place at the Mandeville Hotel in London, where 30 clubs were represented and a Racing sub-committee of the BWSF was formed.