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Windsurfer
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 aerospace and surf culture of California. 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. Newer variants include windfoiling, kiteboarding and wingfoiling. Hydrofoil fins under the board allow the boards to safely lift out of the water and fly silently and smoothly above the surface even in lighter winds. Windsurfing is a recreational, family friendly sport, most popular at flat water locations around the world that offer safety and accessibility for beginner and intermediate participants. Technique and equipment have evolved over the years Major competitive disciplines include slalom, wave and freestyle. Increasingly, "foiling" is replacing tradi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windsurfing Illustration
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 aerospace and surf culture of California. 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. Newer variants include windfoiling, kiteboarding and wingfoiling. Hydrofoil fins under the board allow the boards to safely lift out of the water and fly silently and smoothly above the surface even in lighter winds. Windsurfing is a recreational, family friendly sport, most popular at flat water locations around the world that offer safety and accessibility for beginner and intermediate participants. Technique and equipment have evolved over the years Major competitive disciplines include slalom, wave and freestyle. Increasingly, "foiling" is replacing tradi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Drake (engineer)
Jim Drake (1929 – 2012) was an American aeronautical engineer who is credited with inventing windsurfing. He patented the windsurfer in 1968. Drake perfected the overall concept of board and rig layout and started the sport's first company, Windsurfing International. He went on to produce multiple award-winning windsurfing designs, created the first "wing" sail, and became an altruistic figure head for the sport over the course of his lifetime. Aeronautics career Drake earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with an option in aeronautics from Stanford university in 1951. He began his aeronautical engineering career at North American Aviation in his hometown of Los Angeles, California. There he worked in the advanced design group as a principal engineer on a number of top secret record breaking experimental aircraft. Notable among his aircraft designs at North American were the X-15 rocket plane, which broke altitude and speed records for manned flight, and the B- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kiteboarding
Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wakeboarding. Kiteboarding is among the less expensive and the more convenient sailing sports. After some concepts emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s and some designs were successfully tested, the sport received a wider audience in the late 1990s and became mainstream at the turn of the century. It has freestyle, wave-riding, and racing competitions. The sport held the speed sailing record, reaching before being eclipsed by the Vestas Sailrocket. Worldwide, there are 1.5 million kitesurfers, while the industry sells around 100,000 to 150,000 kites per year. Most power kites are leading edge inflatable kites or foil kites attached by about of flying lines to a control bar and a harness. The kitesurfer rides on either a bidire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newman Darby
Sidney Newman Darby Jr. (January 31, 1928 – December 3, 2016) was an American inventor best known as the inventor of the sailboard. Biography He was born in 1928 and grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and began building boats when he was 12. His first boat sank, but he fished it out of the Susquehanna River, near his home, and made it into a home for snakes. Darby and his wife made their home in Saint Johns, Florida, where he died on December 3, 2016 at the age of 88. Sailboard Darby is known and recognized by some as the “Father of Windsurfing”. While he was decided against seeking a patent due to the related expense (and drama), he developed the first craft and marketed it nationally, selling a few hundred boards. Darby first conceived of a hand-operated square sail attached to a catamaran in 1948, when he was 20. In the mid-1960s, Darby conceived the "Darby Sailboard": a hand-held square rigged "kite" sail on a floating platform for recreational use. The craft, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sailing
Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen course, which is often part of a larger plan of navigation. From prehistory until the second half of the 19th century, sailing craft were the primary means of maritime trade and transportation; exploration across the seas and oceans was reliant on sail for anything other than the shortest distances. Naval power in this period used sail to varying degrees depending on the current technology, culminating in the gun-armed sailing warships of the Age of Sail. Sail was slowly replaced by steam as the method of propulsion for ships over the latter part of the 19th century – seeing a gradual improvement in the technology of steam through a number of stepwise developments. Steam allowed scheduled services that ran at higher average speeds than sail ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wing Foiling
Wing foiling or wing surfing or winging is a wind propelled water sport that developed from kitesurfing, windsurfing and surfing. The sailor, standing on a board, holds directly onto a wing. It generates both upward force and sideways propulsion and thus moves the board across the water. The recent development of foilboards, which plane very early on a hydrofoil fin and thereby lift off the water producing low friction, represent the ideal complementary hydrodynamic platform for wings. This young sport is poised to become wildly popular. History Precursors The history of wing foiling begins with the invention of wing surfing dating back to 1981, when aeronautical engineer Jim Drake, the inventor of windsurfing, and Uli Stanciu, European windsurfing pioneer, together invented the first wing. Their patented concept was based on the symmetrical shape of the flying fish. Unlike windsurfing, their wing was hand held and not fixed to the board via a mast. About the same time ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boom (windsurfing)
A boom, in the context of windsurfing, is a piece of equipment that attaches to the mast, providing structural support for the sail. It completely encircles the sail, and is designed to be gripped, allowing the sailor to control the sail for normal sailing, and also for almost any type of maneuver (such as gybing, tacking, and waterstarting). Early pre RAF/Cambered booms (often called a "''wishbone boom''" due to their symmetrical shape) were tied on to the mast using rope, but newer booms use a clamp mechanism for attachment. Application A windsurfer uses the boom to hold and maneuver the rigged sail, either directly gripping it in their hands, or through the use of harness lines. The boom mast attachment is the inhaul, the boom sail attachment (at the opposite end) is the outhaul and there is usually a connection at the boom head to attach an uphaul which is secured to the mast base with an elastic bungee cord allowing the rider the ability to lift the sail out of the water. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Chilvers
Peter Chilvers was an inventor, engineer and promoter of sailing and windsurfing. He is credited with an early version of a sail powered surfboard. He died from lung cancer on 26 February 2015. Life Chilvers had been an engineer for Lotus and founded a sailing and windsurfing centre in London. Chilvers is credited with creating a crude sailing craft propelled by a free-sail system while living on Hayling Island in 1958. His craft was recognized as prior art in later court cases in England regarding sailboard patents and royalties. The windsurfing centre in London's East End was founded by Chilvers as a philanthropic venture to promote sailing and windsurfing amongst underprivileged children of the East End in the 1970s. He created and maintained the centre for over 25 years. Chilvers headed the bid for a £40 million sailing and windsurfing centre on Hayling Island to regenerate the area and recognise it as the place where Windsurfing was invented and where he grew up. Clai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sail
A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may be made from a combination of woven materials—including canvas or polyester cloth, laminated membranes or bonded filaments—usually in a three- or four-sided shape. A sail provides propulsive force via a combination of lift and drag, depending on its angle of attack—its angle with respect to the apparent wind. Apparent wind is the air velocity experienced on the moving craft and is the combined effect of the true wind velocity with the velocity of the sailing craft. Angle of attack is often constrained by the sailing craft's orientation to the wind or point of sail. On points of sail where it is possible to align the leading edge of the sail with the apparent wind, the sail may act as an airfoil, generating propulsive force as air p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windfoiling
Windfoiling (or foil windsurfing) is a surface water sport that is the hydrofoiling evolution of windsurfing, as well as typical sailing boats and sailing hydrofoils. It uses similar equipment to windsurfing with a normal or slightly evolved rig on a normal or specialist foil board. Windfoiling allows the individual to zoom 90 cm above the water on a hydrofoil. Mechanics The board has a hydrofoil mounted in the fin box. The hydrofoil lifts the board off the water and enables the rider to achieve improved speeds in light winds due to the reduced drag. The foil transmits a hydrodynamic lift force to the board, capable of lifting it out of the water. The goal is to reduce drag and increase performance. Olympic event debut With respect to Olympic events, just as kiting then in 2012, windsurfing now is. As an advanced form of windsurfing, windfoiling is planned as a new Olympic event for 2024 (the fourth of 10 to use foiling equipment). It is being tested for safety, security, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Side
Windward () and leeward () are terms used to describe the direction of the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point of reference, i.e. along the direction towards which the wind is going. The side of a ship that is towards the leeward is its "lee side". If the vessel is heeling under the pressure of crosswind, the lee side will be the "lower side". During the Age of Sail, the term ''weather'' was used as a synonym for ''windward'' in some contexts, as in the ''weather gage''. Because it captures rain, the windward side of a mountain tends to be wet compared to the leeward it blocks. Origin The term "lee" comes from the middle-low German word // meaning "where the sea is not exposed to the wind" or "mild". The terms Luv and Lee (engl. Windward and Leeward) have been in use since the 17th century. Usage Windward and leeward directions (and the points o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daggerboard
A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, countering the leeward push of the sail. The theoretical centre of lateral resistance is on the trailing edge of the daggerboard. General A daggerboard is a removable vertical keel that is inserted through a "trunk" in the center of a vessel's hull, usually amidships. Daggerboards are usually found in small sailing craft such as day sailers, which are easily handled by a single person. Daggerboards are not usually ballasted but are locked in place by a clip or pin. Unlike a centreboard, which can be set at different angles to the hull of the boat, daggerboards are generally limited to a single perpendicular position relative to the hull. If a daggerboard is located off center, it is called a leeboard or a bilgeboard. The characteristic whi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
