Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Windsurfing
Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gained a popular following across Europe and North America by the late 1970s and had achieved significant global popularity by the 1980s. Windsurfing became an Olympic sport in 1984.
Newman Darby of Pennsylvania created a rudderless "sailboard" in 1964 that incorporated a pivoting "square rigged" or "kite rigged" sail which allowed the rider to steer a rectangular board by tilting the sail forward and back. Darby's design however had notable performance limitations. Unlike the modern windsurfer design, Darby's sailboard was operated "back winded", with the sailor's back to the lee side of a kite-shaped sail. This much less efficient and less desirable sailing position is opposite of how a modern windsurfer is operated. Jim Drake, a California aeronautical engineer, invented and patented a sail powered surfboard in 1967 that became the modern Windsurfer we know today. Drake's version differed from Darby's in many significant ways. The sailor stood upright on a large, high-performance surfboard while holding directly onto the windward side of an aerodynamically shaped triangular sail.
Peter Chilvers is also cited for inventing a kind of sailboard in England in 1958.
Drake has stated in various interviews that he recognizes Darby and Chilvers as early sailboard pioneers, and sees himself as the sport's "re-inventor".
On May 21, 1967, Jim Drake made history by successfully sailing the world's first modern sailboard.
The details of Jim Drake's original windsurfing concept were published in 1969 by Drake's employer at the time, the RAND Corporation, in a technical paper he wrote and presented at a symposium, titled, Windsurfing - A New Concept in Sailing."
Further details on the invention can be read in published interviews.
Despite forty years of subsequent development, Drake's original Windsurfer design is still remarkably similar to today's equipment, and the word "windsurfing" has become synonymous with the sport itself.
Hub AI
Windsurfing AI simulator
(@Windsurfing_simulator)
Windsurfing
Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gained a popular following across Europe and North America by the late 1970s and had achieved significant global popularity by the 1980s. Windsurfing became an Olympic sport in 1984.
Newman Darby of Pennsylvania created a rudderless "sailboard" in 1964 that incorporated a pivoting "square rigged" or "kite rigged" sail which allowed the rider to steer a rectangular board by tilting the sail forward and back. Darby's design however had notable performance limitations. Unlike the modern windsurfer design, Darby's sailboard was operated "back winded", with the sailor's back to the lee side of a kite-shaped sail. This much less efficient and less desirable sailing position is opposite of how a modern windsurfer is operated. Jim Drake, a California aeronautical engineer, invented and patented a sail powered surfboard in 1967 that became the modern Windsurfer we know today. Drake's version differed from Darby's in many significant ways. The sailor stood upright on a large, high-performance surfboard while holding directly onto the windward side of an aerodynamically shaped triangular sail.
Peter Chilvers is also cited for inventing a kind of sailboard in England in 1958.
Drake has stated in various interviews that he recognizes Darby and Chilvers as early sailboard pioneers, and sees himself as the sport's "re-inventor".
On May 21, 1967, Jim Drake made history by successfully sailing the world's first modern sailboard.
The details of Jim Drake's original windsurfing concept were published in 1969 by Drake's employer at the time, the RAND Corporation, in a technical paper he wrote and presented at a symposium, titled, Windsurfing - A New Concept in Sailing."
Further details on the invention can be read in published interviews.
Despite forty years of subsequent development, Drake's original Windsurfer design is still remarkably similar to today's equipment, and the word "windsurfing" has become synonymous with the sport itself.