History and Origins
Windsurfing began in 1948 when Newman Darby invented a floating platform with a sail. In 1964 he invented a universal joint that is still used today to allow the sail to pivot and control the board. It also had a fin at the back and a dagger board that made lateral resistance. This made sure that it went across the wind and was able to be controlled by the user and not just blown down wind by the wind. his sail was in the shape of a kite. He was able to sail around the Trailwood Lake in Pennsylvanian.
He and his brothers set up a company called Darby Industries and began to manufacture these boards.
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| http://bit.ly/1J1iLeU Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer
In the mid sixties Jim an aircraft engineer wanted to invent a ski of some sort that you could stand on that was powered by a kite. He asked his naber hoyle about the idea and he liked it so they began brainstorming and soon figured out that a kite would not work so they came up with a sail instead. they decided to test thier invention but soon found out that when the sail got wet it was very hard to get out of the water so they created the first uphaul this is a rope that is used to uphaul the sail and is still used today.
They named their new invention the skate. Then the Baja board and then finally the name it is known as today the windsurfer. They patented their invention and began to produce it but Jim didn't believe in it and sold the patent to Hoyle for $36,000. This was when Hoyle began to produce many boards and selling them they were a huge hit in Europe with 2 of 3 families having one. |
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