Skate king Hawke tests out hoverboard

He's the undisputed king of skateboards.

But when it comes to hoverboards, even the great Tony Hawke has a long way to go to match Marty McFly, Michael J. Fox's fabled character from the Back to the Future films.

The veteran skater was recently invited to try his hand at riding the first ever functional hoverboard at the US headquarters where the board, known as Hendo's Hover, was built.

The idea of a hoverboard has been the pipedream of skaters - and movie buffs - since the eighties when McFly tore up the terrain in Back to the Future II.

But despite many attempts, no-one has ever managed to actually build one - until now.

The board, which cost $10,000, is like a boogieboard with magnets and engines on the undercarriage, and can only operate on non-ferromagnetic conductors, like a sheet of aluminum or copper, so buzzing around McFly-style is out of the question.

But just the mere mention of an operational hoverboard is enough to raise the excitement of many - Hawke included.

Although as the footage shows, even the great skater found the bulky, 90kg board difficult to master as it floated about 10cm off the ground.

It took Hawke many goes to find the right stance and style to stay on the hoverboard.

But typically he didn't give up until he at least nailed a few tricks riding on a miniature half-pipe.

"It’s like a skimboard that’s out of control," Hawke quipped.

The Hawke video comes about eight months after the skate legend hoaxed the world with footage riding what was billed as a functioning hoverboard.

And while mastering the Hendo Hover looks a tough ask, at least it's bona fide and gives some hope to all those dreamers hoping to one day emulate Marty McFly.