Peter Chilvers was an

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and promoter of

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 cou ...

and

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 aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

. 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 Hayling Island is an island off the south coast of England, in the borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, east of Portsmouth. History An Iron Age shrine in the north of Hayling Island was later developed into a Roman temple in the 1st c ...

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 Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

venture to promote

and

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

to regenerate the area and recognise it as the place where Windsurfing was invented and where he grew up.

Claim of previous invention in windsurfing patent case

Chilvers came into the public eye in the 1980s as the result of patent infringement

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

brought by Windsurfing International, Inc. against Tabur Marine, a competing manufacturer. Tabur disputed the validity of the patent, and presented to the courts evidence of a creation by Chilvers, who, in 1958, on Hayling Island, assembled a board powered by a freesail system 10 years before Windsurfing International filed for its patent for the Windsurfer. Although the Chilvers Sailboard differed in some respects from the Windsurfer it had all the elements of a modern Windsurfer. The court ruled for Tabur. This case set important precedents for

patent law A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

in the United Kingdom, originating the well-known Windsurfer Test regarding the steps of inventiveness and non-obviousness. The case, Chilvers, Hayling, and a replica of Chilvers' original board, were featured on an episode of ''

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilvers, Peter English inventors English windsurfers English philanthropists 2015 deaths Year of birth missing

Life

Claim of previous invention in windsurfing patent case

See also

References