Windsurfing

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A windsurfer tilts the rig and carves the board to perform a planing jibe (downwind turn) close to shore at Maui, Hawaii.

Robby Naish competing in a wave sailing event at Sylt, Germany.

A windsurfer in the final stages of a forward roll at Sardinia, Italy.

Windsurfing, or sailboarding, is a surface water sport using a windsurf board, also commonly called a sailboard, usually two to five meters long and powered by the wind pushing on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating flexible universal joint (U-Joint). Unlike a rudder-steered sailboat, a windsurfer is steered by the tilting and rotating of the mast and sail as well as tilting and carving the board.

The sport combines aspects of both sailing and surfing, along with certain athletic aspects shared with other board sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, waterskiing, and wakeboarding. Although it might be considered a minimalistic version of a sailboat, a windsurfer offers experiences that are outside the scope of any other sailing craft design. A windsurfer holds the world speed record for sailing craft (see below); and, windsurfers can perform jumps, inverted loops, spinning maneuvers, and other "freestyle" moves that cannot be matched by any sailboat. Windsurfers were the first to ride the world's largest waves, such as Jaws on the island of Maui, and, with very few exceptions, it was not until the advent of tow-in surfing that waves of that size became accessible to traditional surfers.

Windsurfing includes speed sailing, slalom, course racing, wave sailing, superX, and freestyle as distinct disciplines.

Though windsurfing is possible in winds from near 0 to 50 knots, the ideal planing conditions for most recreational sailors is 15-25 knots, with lighter winds resulting in displacement mode sailing.

Lessons can be taken with a school. With coaching and favorable conditions, the basic skills of sailing, steering, and turning can be learned within a few hours. Competence in the sport and mastery of more advanced maneuvers such as planing, carve gybing (turning downwind at speed), water starting, jumping, and more advanced moves can require lengthy practice.

Training DVDs exist which are useful in a sport where it is difficult for a coach to be close to a pupil particularly when learning the more advanced maneuvers.

[edit] History

Illustration from US Patent 3,487,800, issued to inventors Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer on January 6, 1970.

Windsurfing, as a sport and recreational activity, did not emerge until the later half of the 20th century. Because of the financial stakes in the manufacture and sale of windsurfing equipment, there has been considerable dispute and litigation between parties claiming the rights to the invention.

[edit] United States

Different courts in different jurisdictions have recognized different inventors, clouding any possibility of clear attribution. However, what is clear from the historical record is that windsurfing, as it is known today, owes much if not all to the promotion and marketing activities of Hoyle and Diana Schweitzer. In 1968, they founded the company Windsurfing International in Southern California to manufacture, promote and license a windsurfer design. Together with Jim Drake, an aerospace engineer at the RAND Corporation, they were the holders of the very first windsurfing patent ever, which was granted by the USPTO in 1970, after being filed in 1968.^[1] They also originated the term "windsurfer," which was registered to them as a trademark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1973.

The Drake and Schweitzer creation was a surfboard-like board with a triangular "Bermuda" sail and wishbone booms, connected to the board via a universal joint. The details of the original designs are available in Drake's white paper on windsurfing. Also, the history of the invention is discussed in these interviews with Jim Drake.^[2][3] Despite forty years of subsequent development, the design is still remarkably similar to today's windsurfing equipment, and the word which Drake and Schweitzer coined to describe their invention, "windsurfer", has become synonymous with the sport itself. There is no evidence that they had knowledge of any prior inventions similar to theirs.

Windsurfing International created the Windsurfer as a one-design class. Going one-design was influenced by the success of the Laser and Hobie Cat classes. Each Windsurfer had an identical computer-cut sail, a technology new at that time and pioneered by Ian Bruce and the Laser class. Later Windsurfing International produced other development board sails, so as not to be left behind with the quickly evolving sport.^{[citation needed]}

Drake relinquished his patent rights to Schweitzer in 1973. Through the seventies, Schweitzer aggressively promoted and licensed his design to manufacturers worldwide, and the sport underwent very rapid growth in Europe. At the same time, Schweitzer also sought to defend his patent rights vigorously against unauthorized manufacturers. This led to a host of pre-dating windsurfer-like devices being presented to courts around the world by companies disputing Windsurfing International's rights to the invention.^{[citation needed]}

Schweitzer sued Tabur Marine, the precursor of Bicsport, which is still a major manufacturer of sailboards and other marine recreation equipment today.^[4][5] In Windsurfing International Inc. v Tabur Marine (GB) Ltd. 1985 RPC 59, British courts recognized prior art by Peter Chilvers, who as a young boy on Hayling Island on the south coast of England, assembled his first board combined with a sail, in 1958. Intended to be steered by a rudder, it did not incorporate the curved wishbone booms of the modern windsurfer, but rather a "straight split boom". The courts found that the Schweitzer windsurfer boom was "merely an obvious extension". It is worthy of note that this court case set a significant precedent for patent law in the United Kingdom, in terms of inventive step and non-obviousness; the court upheld the defendant's claim that the Schweitzer patent was invalid, based on film footage of Chilvers.

In 1983, Schweitzer sued Swiss board manufacturer Mistral, which is today still a major sailboard manufacturer, and lost. Mistral's defense hinged on the work of US inventor Newman Darby, who in the mid-sixties conceived the "sailboard": a hand-held square rigged "kite" sail on a floating platform for recreational use. Darby's published version did not show any connection between the rig and the board (the mast simply rested in a depression on the board) but it did refer to a "more complex swivel step for advanced riders not shown". He published his "sailboard" design in August 1965 Popular Science magazine. Darby organized Darby Industries Inc in 1964 to build these sailboards.^[6][7][8][9] However, the sailboard never gained popularity, and Darby's company ceased operations by the end of the 1960s.

Eventually US courts recognized the Schweitzer windsurfer as an obvious step from Darby's prior art [5]. Schweitzer had to reapply for a patent under severely limited terms, and finally it expired in 1987. Shortly thereafter, having lost its license royalty income, Windsurfing International ceased operations.^[10]

[edit] Australia

For their part, Australian courts, in a 1983 patent case reported in "Intellectual Property Reports" 3 IPR 449, attributed the first legally accepted use to an Australian boy, Richard Eastaugh. Between the ages of ten and thirteen, from 1946 to 1949, aided by his younger brothers, he built around 20 galvanized iron canoes and hill trolleys which he equipped with sails with split bamboo booms. He sailed these near his home on the Swan River in Perth. There is no evidence that any of the later "inventors" ever sighted the Eastaugh craft of a decade earlier on the other side of the world.

It is acknowledged that the Eastaugh, Chilvers, and Darby inventions all pre-dated the Drake and Schweitzer invention. However, the popularization of windsurfing would not have taken place without the efforts of Schweitzer. The prior inventions simply lay forgotten until they re-emerged in legal defenses against litigation by Schweitzer.

[edit] Early scoring programs on portable computers

Windsurfing led to the development of scoring programs on early portable computers. Because Windsurfing regattas were drawing a large number of competitors at remote locations, Windsurfing International sponsored the development of software running on portable computers to score regattas, starting with the 1976 World Championships in the Bahamas. The software, named OSCOR, was developed for the HP9825 (then a $20,000 computer) and later ported to the TRS-80. The OSCOR software was eventually donated to the United States Yacht Racing Union.

[edit] Trends

The boom of the 1980s led windsurfing to be recognized as an Olympic sport in 1984. However, windsurfing's popularity saw a sharp decline in the mid-1990s, as equipment became more specialized, requiring more expertise to sail. Now the sport is experiencing a modest revival, as new beginner-friendly designs are becoming available.

[edit] Boards and Gear

In the 1970s and 1980s, windsurfers were classified as either shortboards or longboards. Longboards were usually longer than 3 meters, with a retractable daggerboard, and were optimized for lighter winds or course racing. Shortboards were less than 3 meters long and were designed for planing conditions. However, this classification by length has become obsolete, as new techniques, designs, and materials have taken the sport in new directions.

A windsurfer using a slalom board to perform a small jump.

Most modern windsurfers (1990s and later) are derived from the shortboard design, and are intended to be used primarily in planing mode, where the board is mostly skipping over the surface of the water, rather than cutting through, and displacing the water. Planing is faster and gives more maneuverability, but requires a different technique from the displacement mode (which is also referred to as slogging or schlogging). Generally, smaller (i.e., lower volume, shorter length, narrower width) boards and smaller area sails are used as the wind increases.

While windsurfing is possible under a wide range of wind conditions, most recreational windsurfers prefer to sail in conditions that allow for consistent planing with multi-purpose, not overly specialized, free-ride equipment. Larger (100 to 140 liters) free-ride boards are capable of planing at wind speeds as low as 12 knots if rigged with an adequate, well-tuned sail in the six to eight square meter range. The pursuit of planing in lower and lower winds has driven the development and spread of wider and shorter boards, with which planing is possible in wind speeds as low as 8 knots, if sails in the 10 to 12 square meter range are used.

Modern windsurfing boards can be classified into these categories:

• Freeride: Boards meant for comfortable recreational cruising (mostly straight-line sailing and occasional turning) at planing speed (aka blasting), mainly in flat waters or in light to moderate swell. They typically fall into the volume range of 90 to 170 liters. The so-called freeride sailing movement diverged from course racing as more recreational sailors chose to sail freely without being constrained to sailing on courses around buoys.
• Formula Windsurfing Class: Shorter boards up to one meter in width, for use in Formula Windsurfing races. See below for a more detailed description.
  

  

  Windsurfing in the late evening on a longboard at Sandbanks in the 1980s (Poole Harbour, England).
• Wave boards: Smaller, lighter, more maneuverable boards for use in breaking waves. Characteristically, sailors on wave boards perform high jumps while sailing against waves, and they ride the face of a wave performing narrow linked turns (bottom turns, cutbacks, and top-turns) in a similar way to surfing. Wave boards usually have a volume between 65 and 90 liters, with a length between 230 and 260 centimeters, and 50 to 60 centimeters in width. A general rule is for a sailor to use a wave board whose volume in liters is about the same as the sailor's weight in kilograms - more volume providing additional flotation for sailing in light winds, and less for high winds, where less volume is needed to achieve planing. In recent years, the average width of wave boards has increased slightly, as the length has shrunk, while the range of volume has been maintained the same more or less - according to board designers this makes wave boards easier to use under a wider range of conditions by sailors of different abilities. The most common sizes of sails used with wave boards are in the range of 4.0 to 6.0 square meters, depending on the wind speed and the weight of the sailor.
• Freestyle boards: Related to wave boards in terms of maneuverability, these are wider, higher volume boards geared specifically at performing acrobatic tricks (jumps, rotations, slides, flips and loops) on flat water. Usually 80 to 110 liters in volume, and about 240 to 250 centimeters in length, with widths frequently in excess of 60 centimeters. Freestyle boards began to diverge more noticeably in design from wave boards in the early part of the 2000 decade, as aerial tricks (the Vulcan, Spock, Grubby, Flaka, and related New School maneuvers, almost all involving a jump-and-spin component) became the predominant part of the freestyle repertoire, superseding Old School moves, in which the board did not leave contact with the water.
• Slalom boards: Shortboards aimed at top speed, rather than maneuverability or ease of use.
• Beginner boards: (sometimes called funboards) these often have a daggerboard, are almost as wide as Formula boards, and have plenty of volume, hence stability.
• Racing longboards: Mistral One Design, or the Olympic RS:X class race boards.

There are many attempts to bridge a gap between two of these categories, such as freerace, freestyle-wave, freeformula, and so on.

The original Windsurfer board had a body made out of polyethylene filled with PVC foam. Later, hollow glass-reinforced epoxy designs were used. Most boards produced today have an expanded polystyrene foam core reinforced with a composite sandwich shell, that can include carbon fiber, kevlar, or fiberglass in a matrix of epoxy and sometimes plywood and thermoplastics. Racing and wave boards are usually very light (5 to 7 kg), and are made out of carbon sandwich. Such boards are very brittle, and veneer is sometimes used to make them more shock-resistant. Boards aimed at the beginners are heavier (8 to 15 kg) and more robust, contain more fiberglass, or even have an indestructible molded plastic shell. For more information on construction, see.^[11]

[edit] Sails

A windsurfing sail is made of monofilm (clear polyester film), dacron (woven polyester) and mylar. Sensitive parts are reinforced with kevlar mesh.

Two designs of a sail are predominant: camber induced and rotational. Cambered sails have 1-5 camber inducers, plastic devices at the ends of battens which cup against the mast. They help to hold a rigid aerofoil shape in the sail, better for speed and stability, but at the cost of maneuverability and generally how light and easy to use the sail feels. The trend is that racier sails have camber inducers while wave sails and most recreational sails do not. The rigidity of the sail is also determined by a number of battens.

Beginners' sails often do not have battens, so they are lighter and easier to use in light winds. However, as the sailor improves, a battened sail will provide greater stability in stronger winds.

The windsurfer in the foreground is using a camber induced sail and is fully planing using the footstraps, while the other is using a rotational sail and is not planing.

Rotational sails have battens which protrude beyond the back aspect of the mast. They have to flip to the other side of the mast when tacking or jibing, hence the rotation in the name. Rotational sails have aerofoil shape on the leeward side only when filled with wind. They can be absolutely flat and depowered when sheeted out.

In comparison with cambered sails, rotational designs offer less power and stability when sailing straight, but are easier to handle when maneuvering. Also, rotational sails are much easier to rig.

The leading edge of a sail is called the luff. The mast is in the luff tube. The rear edge is called the leech. The front bottom corner of the sail, where the mast foot protrudes, is called the tack, and the rear corner, to which the boom is attached, is called the clew. The bottom edge, between the clew and the tack, is called the foot.

A windsurfing sail is tensioned at two points: at the tack (by downhaul), and at the clew (by outhaul). There is a set of pulleys for downhauling at the tack and there's a grommet at the clew. Most shape is given to the sail by a very strong downhaul, bending the mast in the luff tube. The outhaul tension is relatively weak, mostly to provide leverage for controlling the sail's angle of attack.

The sail is tuned by adjusting the downhaul and the outhaul. Generally, the sail has to be trimmed more for stronger winds. More downhaul tension loosens the upper part of the leech, "spilling" the wind at the gusts and shifting the center of effort of the sail down. Releasing the downhaul tension shifts the center of effort up. More outhaul lowers the camber/draft, making the sail flatter and easier to control, but less powerful, and less outhaul brings more overall depth to the sail, more low-end power, shifts the center of effort upward and to the front, and may limit speed by increasing aerodynamic resistance.

Different sails are used for various disciplines of windsurfing: wave, freestyle, freeride, race. Wave sails are reinforced to survive the surf, and are absolutely flat when depowered to allow riding the waves like surfers do. Freestyle sails are also flat when depowered, and have high low-end power to allow quick accelerations. Freeride sails are all-rounders that are comfortable to use and are meant for recreational windsurfing. Racing sails, obviously, provide speed at the expense of qualities like comfort or maneuverability.

The size of the sail is measured in square meters and can be from 3 m² to 5.5 m² for wave sails and from 6 m² to 13 m² for racing sails, with ranges for freestyle and freeride sails spanning somewhere between these extremes. Learning sails for children can be as small as 0.7 m² and racing sails being up to 13 m² large.

[edit] Indoor windsurfing

Indoor windsurfing competitions are also held, especially in Europe during winter.

One of the more well-known, the PWA/UWKA World Indoor Windsurfing Championships are held during the annual London Boat Show at the ExCeL Exhibition Centre in London in January.^[12] Each year a massive indoor pool is constructed and housed in a marquee. Powerful fans propel the boards along the pool. The competitions held include slalom style races, jumping competitions and more.^[13][14]

Permanent indoor windsurfing facilities are being constructed around the globe including Germany.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Additional equipment

• Harness
• Harness lines
• Joint
• Wet/dry suit
• Footwear
• Helmet
• Personal flotation device
• Fin/Skeg
• Travel Gear - Sail Bags, Board Bags, Car Racks

[edit] Competitions

Slalom at the 2005 national championship at the Columbia River Gorge.

In windsurfing competitions, there are the following disciplines:

• Olympic Windsurfing Class
• Formula Windsurfing Class
• Slalom
• Super X
• Speed Racing
• Freestyle
• Wavesailing

Freestyle and Wave are judged competitions, the sailor with best technique and diversity wins. Olympic Boardsailing, Formula windsurfing, Slalom and SuperX are races where many sailors compete on a course, and Speed Racing is a race where sailors compete on a straight 500 m course in turns.

[edit] Olympic class

In Olympic Windsurfing 'One Design' boards are used. All sailors use the same boards, daggerboards, fins and sails. The equipment is chosen to allow racing in a wide range of sailing conditions. This is important for the Olympic Games, as events have to take place regardless of whether there is enough wind for planing.

The Neil Pryde RS:X is the current Olympic class which was used for the first time in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

[edit] Formula class

Formula racer in San Francisco Bay.

Formula windsurfing has developed over the last 15 years in order to facilitate high performance competition in light and moderate winds. Formula is now a class of windsurfing boards controlled by the International Sailing Federation that have the principal characteristic of a maximum 1m width. They have a single fin, with a maximum length of 70cm and carry sails up to 12.5 m². Class rules allow sailors to choose boards of different designs produced by multiple manufacturers, as long as they are certified as Formula boards and registered with ISAF, and use fins and sails of different sizes. With the different sail, fin and board choices, the equipment is able to be tailored to suit sailors of all body shapes and formula windsurfing presents one of the fastest course-racing sailing craft on the water. Formula windsurf is especially popular in the Miami, South Florida area with sailors such as Fernando Martinez, Alex Morales, Ron Kern, and juniors such as Alex Stankie, and Sergio Cremisini as well as in Sydney, Australia, with professional sailors Sean O'Brien and Allison Shreeve.

Large sails in combination with the 'wide-style' design allow planing in very low wind conditions as well as control and usability in high winds and bigger sea conditions. Non-planing sailing is very difficult with this design and raising is only conducted with a strict 7 knot wind minimum in place. Formula boards are used on "flat water" as opposed to coastal surf; but racing is still held in windy conditions involving swell and chop. In 2008, a Formula Windsurfing Grand-Prix World Tour began, with events in Europe and South America complementing the single-event World Championships as a professional tour for the Formula class.

Formula boards have excellent upwind and downwind ability, but are not as comfortable on a beam reach unless fin sizes are reduced. This explains why the course is usually a box with longer upwind and downwind legs, or just a simple upwind-downwind return course.

• International Race Calendar Formula Windsurfing including results, equipment list, reports, photos and videos
• Official Formula Class Website

[edit] Slalom

Slalom is a high speed race in a course shaped like a figure of eight. Most of the course goes on a beam reach with floating marks that have to be jibed around. Slalom boards are small and narrow, and require high winds. Funboard class racing rules require the wind of 9-35 knots for the slalom event to take place!

• International Event Calendar Slalom Racing with results, reports, photos and videos

[edit] Super X

This is a new discipline in windsurfing competitions, a cross between freestyle and slalom. The competing sailors are racing on a short downwind slalom course, have to use duck jibes on all turns, and are required to perform several tricks along the way, such as jump over an obstacle, spock or even front loop. The competitors are required to wear protective equipment.

SuperX discipline disappears at the end of 2006

[edit] Speed sailing

Speed sailing takes several forms. The ISA (International Speedsurfing Association) organizes (under the umbrella of the ISAF) competitions in various locations around the world known for conditions suitable for good speeds. The events are made up of heats sailed on a 500m course. The average of each sailors best 2 speeds on the 500m course which is typically open for 2 hrs/heat is their speed for that heat. As such it is possible for the sailor with the outright fastest time not to win the heat if his second best time pulls his average down. Points are given for the placings in the heats and overall event winner is the sailor with the best point score (again not necessarily the fastest sailor). Likewise points are given for places in the events and at the last event a World Speedsurfing Champion is crowned.

On record attempts controlled by the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC) competitors complete timed runs on a 500m or 1 nautical mile (1,852m) course. The current record is held by French windsurfer Antoine Albeau, ratified at 49.09 knots (90.91 km/h - 56.49 mph) on a 500 meter course on the Saintes Maries de la Mer Canal in March 2008.^[15]

With the advent of cheap and small GPS units sailors have been able to organise impromptu competitions amongst themselves as well as more formal competitions such as the European Speed Meetings and Speedweeks/fortnights in Australia.^[16] With over 2000 sailors registered it is possible for windsurfers all over the world to compare speeds.

[edit] Freestyle

Freestyle is a timed event which is judged. The competitor who has the greatest repertoire, or manages to complete most stunts, wins. Freestyle is about show and competitors are judged on their creativity. Both the difficulty and the number of tricks make up the final score. Sailors who perform tricks on both tacks (port and starboard), and perform the tricks fully planing score higher marks. High scoring moves include; Shaka, Burner (funnel ponch), Double Forward Loops, the Funnell (invented by freestyle champion Ricardo Campello in memory of Andy Funnell), the Chachoo and the Clew First Puneta (switch stance Spock (windsurfing)), Eslider, Flaka.

For novice windsurfers, low wind freestyle tricks are an appropriate start; such as sailing backwards with the fin out of the water, or transitioning from a sailing stance to sitting on the board while continuing to sail.

[edit] Wave

Wave jumping wipeout. While attempting a forward loop in storm conditions off the coast of Cantabria, Spain, a windsurfer gets catapulted into a high double flip.

Similar to freestyle (though wavesailing preceded freestyle) except that the stunts are generally performed in surf and points are awarded for how well the waves are ridden. A typical wave contest will score two jumps going out and two wave rides coming in. A good heat would consist of a clean forward rotating jump, a backward rotating jump, a long slashy wave ride and a trick on the face of the waves such as a goiter or wave 360.

Wave sailing at Ho'okipa Beach Park, North Shore Maui, Hawaii, a location for international wave competitions.

[edit] International stars

• Robby Naish: one of the first windsurfing champions to gain long-lasting international fame, he dominated the early years of competition in the 1970s and 1980s. Pre-PWA World Champion from 1976 to 1979, PWA Overall World Champion from 1983 to 1987, and PWA Wave World Champion in 1988, 1989, and 1991.
• Bjorn Dunkerbeck: the successor to Naish, he dominated competition for many years in the late 1980s and 1990s. Twelve time PWA Overall World Champion.
• Stephan van den Berg, world champion 1980-1983, winner first Olympic windsurfing contest in 1984.
• Antoine Albeau: 13 times world champions in various disciplines : Formula windsurfing, Super X, Freestyle, Slalom, Race, Speed, Overall. Current holder of the windsurf speed record.
• Josh Stone: freestyle pioneer, inventor of spock, PWA Freestyle World Champion in 1999, 2000
• Ricardo Campello: a freestyle innovator, he created many new difficult moves, PWA Freestyle World Champion in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
• Kauli Seadi: Pioneered freestyle maneuvers in wave competition. Ranked first in PWA Wave competition in 2005.
• Karin Jaggi: Multiple PWA World Champion in freestyle, wave, speed competition, 1990s and 2000s.
• Natalie Lelievre: Overall World Champion, 1984, 1985.
• Daida Moreno: PWA Wave World Champion, 2000-2005, Freestyle World Champion 2003-2006.
• Iballa Moreno: PWA Wave World Champion, 2006. Twin sister of Daida Moreno.
• Jason Polakow: PWA Wave World Champion, 1997, 1998.
• Kevin Pritchard: PWA Wave World Champion, 2006, PWA 1st overall ranking, 2000.
• Nik Baker: Three-time PWA Wave World Vice-Champion, six-time Indoor World Champion.
• Elton (Taty Frans)
• Kiri Thode: Youngest PWA world champion ever

[edit] Youth windsurfing

A child practices uphauling a lightweight rig in a swimming pool

Children as young as 4 can start windsurfing using a lightweight rig, with smaller diameter mast and boom. The Bic Techno 293 (T293) class for juniors (under 15) compete using a 6.8m sail, while youths (under 17) use a 7.8m sail. Both classes compete on the Techno 293 board, typically in winds from 5 - 25 knots.^[17]

[edit] See also

[edit] Similar sports

• Land sailing
• Land windsurfing
• Surfing
• Wakeboarding
• Water skiing
• Kite surfing

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Look up windsurfing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Windsurfing