Last year a friend of mine finished work on "Skips Stones for Fudge" (mentioned at the end of the article). This is a documentary about competitive stone skipping. The world record was broken a couple times during filming. Some of the same guys in this article are featured in the film. The fun part was after the premier of the film in Missoula, most of the "stars" came out on stage and did a Q&A.

It's really fun to see people who take things like this to the limit. The film is worth a watch.

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/skipsstonesforfudge

Would it be legal to use tools to perfect stones, or even use artificially made stones?

If so, where's the Kickstarter?

If not, do people go and dive to retrieve record-breaking stones to sell them to competitors?

I'm not a pro but I think half the joy of stone skipping is finding the stones. It's an enjoyable leisure activity walking down a beach scouring for stones.

Here's a video of the 88 skip record mentioned in the article.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1KfuErAcj0

That's got nothing on Easdale Island in Scotland : http://www.stoneskimming.com/

Hard to compare...

* Skims are judged on the distance thrown rather than the number of bounces

A lot of history involved Mackinac. See some of the First Nations Histories at: http://www.tolatsga.org/Compacts.html

Especially Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Huron. They are not short but quite good.

I was mesmerized by the passion and detail of the article, regardless of it being stone skipping or other content. Hearing about little unknown communities like this is always heart-warming.

I'm a stone skipper, though not competitively. And yes, if I'm standing on a beach, then I probably do have a lot of free time. My particular version of the sport is to see if I can get the most improbable stone to skip at all.

Those who live in glass houses...