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83-538: Dahab can be divided into three major parts. Masbat, which includes the Bedouin village of Asalah, is in the north. South of Masbat is Mashraba, which is more touristic and has considerably more hotels. In the southwest is Medina which includes the Laguna area, famous for its excellent shallow-water kite- and windsurfing. The region of Asalah is quite developed and has many campsites and hostels. Most people who have visited Dahab in

166-581: A daggerboard , mast , mast foot, triangular sail and fin. Interestingly, because Drake always envisioned in his mind the sailor standing on the board with the sail in their hands, he originally forgot to include a rope, now called an uphaul, which allows the sailor to pull the sail from the water. His first day on the water was made more difficult without this essential item, but by the second day he had invented that part as well. On May 21, 1967, Jim Drake , along with his wife Wendy and daughter Stephanie, went to Marina del Rey 's Jamaica Bay to make history with

249-429: A discontinuity that may have a large influence on the mechanical behavior (strength, deformation, etc.) of rock masses in, for example, tunnel , foundation , or slope construction. A hazard may exist even in undisturbed terrain. On August 17, 1959, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake destabilized a mountain slope near Hebgen Lake , Montana, composed of schist. This caused a massive landslide that killed 26 people camping in

332-488: A hot desert climate ( Köppen : BWh) as the rest of Egypt. The weather on summer days is very hot and also quite hot at night. Winter days are warm and nights are mild. Dahab has a very dry climate and rain is rare, even during the winter months. The precipitation peaks in February. 28°29′35″N 34°30′17″E  /  28.49306°N 34.50472°E  / 28.49306; 34.50472 Windsurfing Windsurfing

415-553: A schistose metasandstone (if the protolith is known to have been a sandstone ). If all that is known is that the protolith was a sedimentary rock, the schist will be described as a paraschist , while if the protolith was an igneous rock, the schist will be described as an orthoschist . Mineral qualifiers are important when naming a schist. For example, a quartz-feldspar-biotite schist is a schist of uncertain protolith that contains biotite mica, feldspar , and quartz in order of apparent decreasing abundance. Lineated schist has

498-577: A "straight boom" that became curved in use. The courts found that the Schweitzer windsurfer boom was "merely an obvious extension". This court case set a 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. Schweitzer then sued the company in Canada, where

581-420: A businessman, Schweitzer imagined the profit potential and encouraged Drake to build a functional prototype for product testing. Later, when Drake's prototype worked, he helped Drake to patent the idea. From the outset, the two men were motivated by different forces. Drake conceptualized, engineered, built and tested the first windsurfer. Schweitzer, while not directly involved in the invention, helped by organizing

664-656: 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 stiff, 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, containing more fiberglass. Sails Modern windsurfing sails are often made of monofilm (clear polyester film), dacron (woven polyester ) and mylar . Areas under high load may be reinforced with kevlar . Two designs of

747-477: A conventional stayed sloop rig sail arrangement made it more stable than the one built in 1948. S. Newman Darby created his first product for a wider market in 1964 that he called the "Darby sailboard" on the Susquehanna River , Pennsylvania , United States. While Darby's "sailboard" incorporated a pivoting rig, it was " square rigged " or "kite rigged" and was subject to the associated limitations. Unlike

830-402: A great rush of water to surge down to the sea, dragging with it great amounts of sand. During this time, the town is cut in two by the flood, the bay is stirred up and the sands turn it a golden yellow. This typically lasts a few days, and has caused damage and loss of life in the past as people were unaware of the sudden onset and the force the water moves at. Today, locals are ready when they see

913-444: A host of predating windsurfer-like devices being presented to courts around the world by companies disputing Windsurfing International's rights to the invention. In 1979, Schweitzer licensed Brittany , France-based company Dufour Wing, which was later merged with Tabur Marine – the precursor of Bic Sport . Europe was now the largest growing market for windsurfers, and the sub-licensed companies – Tabur, F2, Mistral – wanted to find

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996-416: A marketable framework for the new sport. Drake and Schweitzer collaborated informally as friends rather than legally bound business partners, as no formal business partnership was ever signed between them. Unexpectedly, Drake was temporarily relocated 2000 miles away to design innovative rocket planes at The Pentagon . Around this same time, Schweitzer lost his job as a computer software salesman. While Drake

1079-459: A patent case: Windsurfing International Inc & Anor v Petit & Anor (also part reported in 3 IPR 449 or [1984] 2 NSWLR 196), which attributed the first legally accepted use of a split boom 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 in

1162-425: A person to steer by shifting his or her weight in order to tilt the sail fore and aft . Darby filed for a patent but lacked the funds to resubmit. However, he is widely recognized as its inventor as well as the first to conceive, design, and build a sailboard with a universal joint. In his own words, Darby experimented throughout much of the 1950s and 1960s and it was not until 1963 that an improved sailboard with

1245-416: A preferred direction in schist, often also forming very thin parallel layers. The ease with which the rock splits along the aligned grains accounts for the schistosity. Though not a defining characteristic, schists very often contain porphyroblasts (individual crystals of unusual size) of distinctive minerals, such as garnet , staurolite , kyanite , sillimanite , or cordierite . Because schists are

1328-583: A retractable daggerboard , and are optimized for lighter winds or course racing. Shortboards are less than 3 meters long and are designed for planing conditions. While windsurfing is possible under a wide range of wind conditions, most intermediate and advanced 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 kn (6 m/s) if rigged with an adequate, well-tuned sail in

1411-453: A road parallel to the coast road, which includes some small hotels, cafeterias and houses, The main neighborhood of the city starts with Al Fanar Street and then Masbat Bay. It includes a wide range of shops, diving clubs, cafes, camps, and hotels. It includes a large number of cafeterias and diving centers. It also includes the only impact there is Tel Mashraba. It is located in the old city of Dahab. The area of Wadi Qani, an area that represents

1494-427: 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 create a rigid aerofoil shape for faster speed and stability, but at the cost of maneuverability and how light the sail feels. The trend is that racier sails have camber inducers while wave sails and most recreational sails do not. The rigidity of

1577-503: A sitting position and not as a windsurfer standing up, near his home on the Swan River in Perth . The judge noted that, "Mr Eastaugh greatly exaggerated the capacity of his galvanised iron canoes to sail to windward" and that, "There is no corroboration of Mr Eastaugh's experiences by any other witness. Neither of his brothers or his father was called" . It is acknowledged in the courts that

1660-404: A small " Flipper " racing dingy rig. To gather the needed materials, Drake carefully instructed Schweitzer what raw materials to purchase such as an extra large foam blank to build the board and a hollow fiberglass mast for the sail. Drake completed construction of the prototype in his own garage during his spare time within a few months. Drake's question came down to simple operation of how

1743-450: A solid board with a vertical sail. In the early 19th century, people in logging communities around western Lake Michigan were purportedly fixing sails to logs as part of log float control and for recreation. In 1948, 20-year-old Newman Darby was the first to conceive the idea of using a handheld sail and rig mounted on a universal joint so that he could control his small catamaran —the first rudderless sailboard ever built that allowed

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1826-407: A standing person could control both the power of the sail as well as the direction of the craft without a rudder. Drake discovered that one's ability to rotate the sail's position relative to the board could allow control of both power and direction. Experimenting with a rotational design, he invented the concept for the universal joint . Drake completed his engineering concept with a wishbone boom ,

1909-412: A strong linear fabric in a rock which otherwise has well-developed schistosity. Schistosity is developed at elevated temperature when the rock is more strongly compressed in one direction than in other directions ( nonhydrostatic stress ). Nonhydrostatic stress is characteristic of regional metamorphism where mountain building is taking place (an orogenic belt ). The schistosity develops perpendicular to

1992-524: A triangular Bermuda rig . The custom board Drake engineered required a greater amount of displacement volume for floatation than was found in a traditional surfboard so an extra large custom built foam blank was constructed by Gordon "Grubby" Clark of Clark foam and shaped by Jim Drake and Gary Seaman at the Con Surfboard factory in Santa Monica, California. A repurposed hollow fiberglass mast was taken from

2075-408: A very large class of metamorphic rock, geologists will formally describe a rock as a schist only when the original type of the rock prior to metamorphism (the protolith ) is unknown and its mineral content is not yet determined. Otherwise, the modifier schistose will be applied to a more precise type name, such as schistose semipelite (when the rock is known to contain moderate amounts of mica) or

2158-543: A way to remove or reduce their royalty payments to Windsurfing International. Tabur lawyers found prior art, in a local English newspaper which had published a story with a picture about 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. This board used a universal joint, one of the key parts of the Windsurfing International's patent. They also found stories published about

2241-540: Is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens , oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes or plates. This texture reflects a high content of platy minerals, such as mica , talc , chlorite , or graphite . These are often interleaved with more granular minerals, such as feldspar or quartz . Schist typically forms during regional metamorphism accompanying

2324-494: Is a pressing issue that is causing some worry, sparking the need to regulate dive centers more thoroughly. Land-based activities include rock climbing, camel riding, horse riding, cycling , mountain biking trips, jeep and quad bike trips. Mount Sinai is a two-hour drive, with Saint Catherine's Monastery being a popular tourist destination. Historically, most visitors to Dahab have been backpackers traveling independently and staying in hostels, motels, or guesthouses in

2407-572: 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. Newer variants include windfoiling , kiteboarding and wingfoiling . Hydrofoil fins under

2490-518: Is discernible, the schist is usually given a name reflecting its protolith, such as schistose metasandstone . Otherwise, the names of the constituent minerals will be included in the rock name, such as quartz-felspar-biotite schist . Schist bedrock can pose a challenge for civil engineering because of its pronounced planes of weakness . The word schist is derived ultimately from the Greek word σχίζειν ( schízein ), meaning "to split", which refers to

2573-618: Is replacing traditional 'fin' racing events and the IQfoil class is the new Olympic windsurfing racing class for France in 2024. Jim Drake invented and co-patented windsurfing in California between 1967 and 1970. Alternative concepts by Englishman Peter Chilvers and American Newman Darby are recognized as earlier sailboards. Drake was educated and trained as an aeronautical engineer at Stanford University. He spent his early years surfing, sailing and skiing. He conceived windsurfing to combine

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2656-482: Is the orientation of grains in the surrounding medium-grained rock. The composition of the rock must permit formation of abundant platy minerals. For example, the clay minerals in mudstone are metamorphosed to mica, producing a mica schist. Early stages of metamorphism convert mudstone to a very fine-grained metamorphic rock called slate , which with further metamorphism becomes fine-grained phyllite . Further recrystallization produces medium-grained mica schist. If

2739-418: Is uncommon but can form from metamorphosis of sedimentary beds containing abundant organic carbon . This may be of algal origin. Graphite schist is known to have experienced greenschist facies metamorphism , for example in the northern Andes . Metamorphosis of felsic volcanic rock , such as tuff, can produce quartz- muscovite schist. In geotechnical engineering a schistosity plane often forms

2822-451: The "sailboard": a hand-held square rigged "kite" sail on a floating platform for recreational use. Eventually US courts recognized the Schweitzer windsurfer as an obvious step from Darby's prior art. 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. In 1984, Australian courts determined

2905-454: The 1948 invention of the sailboard by Newman Darby and his wife Naomi in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania . In Windsurfing International Inc. v Tabur Marine (GB) Ltd. 1985 RPC 59 with Tabur backed financially by French sailing fan Baron Marcel Bich , British courts recognized the prior art of Peter Chilvers. It did not incorporate the curved wishbone booms of the modern windsurfer, but rather

2988-406: The 2000s, the sport has seen a steady revival, first through the explosion of foiling., and more recently with global consolidation, restructuring, and an exciting new unified World Tour. Modern windsurfing, as a sport and recreational activity, did not emerge until the latter half of the 20th century. The earliest version of a sailboard design utilizing a freely articulating sail on top of a board

3071-526: The Masbat area. In recent years, the development of hotels in the Medina area has facilitated the arrival of a wider range of tourists, many of whom visit Dahab specifically to partake in surfing, windsurfing, diving, kite surfing, sailing, and other activities. The word Dahab is Arabic for gold and is possibly a reference to the geographic locality; gold washed down from the desert mountains may have accumulated on

3154-406: The alluvial flood plain where the town was built. The name may also be a reference to the color of the sands to the south of the town itself. Some locals attribute the name to the colour of the sky just after sunset. One local story concerning the town's name is that it stems from the floods that wash through the town every five or six years. Larger than average seasonal storms in the mountains cause

3237-532: 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 on unified World Tour include Slalom, Wave and Freestyle. Increasingly, new technology "foiling" with high speed foil racing

3320-472: The boards Drake had invented. Observers close to the situation believe it was always Schweitzer's plan to keep Drake uniformed of the large profit potential long enough to misrepresent and under value the real worth of the patent so that Schweitzer could buy out Drake's half of the patent for as little as possible. When Drake later discovered Schweitzer's unethical and dishonest actions he was deeply confused and angered. Drake, who trusted Schweitzer and his family,

3403-681: The business details of patenting, marketing and selling Drake's new craft. As a partnership, Drake came up with the original concept and Schweitzer marketed and sold it. Both men's names appear on the patent. Years later, in 2002, when the Professional Windsurfing Association (PWA) inducted both Drake and Schweitzer into the Windsurfing Hall of Fame, they called Drake "The Father of Windsurfing" for his role as inventor and egalitarian figure head throughout his lifetime, and called Schweitzer "the man who brought windsurfing to

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3486-470: The clouds over the mountains. According to the Bedouins of the area, however, the name "Dahab" has a different origin. When the Bedouin people came there they called it "Waqaat Thahaab" (وقت ذهب) which translates literally as "Time Goes". This name derived from the fact that one could easily lose track of time when there, as the days would begin to run together. The name was then shortened to "Thahaab" (ذهب), but

3569-568: The company Windsurfing International. 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 written and presented by him titled Windsurfing - A New Concept in Sailing ." Further details can be read in published interviews . Despite forty years of subsequent development, the design is still remarkably similar to today's windsurfing equipment, and

3652-510: The development of high quality lighter and stiffer planing short boards, introducing foot straps, harnesses and more stable sails. These innovations further expanded the sport by making it faster, more radical and more exciting for the top end, and significantly more accessible at the entry level with lighter easier equipment. Windsurfing shattered the world speed sailing record, entered the Olympics and became lauded as, "The fastest growing sport in

3735-456: The direction of greatest compression, also called the shortening direction, as platy minerals are rotated or recrystallized into parallel layers. While platy or elongated minerals are most obviously reoriented, even quartz or calcite may take up preferred orientations. At the microscopic level, schistosity is divided into internal schistosity , in which inclusions within porphyroblasts take a preferred orientation, and external schistosity , which

3818-425: The ease with which schists can be split along the plane in which the platy minerals lie. Before the mid-19th century, the terms slate , shale and schist were not sharply differentiated by those involved with mining. Geologists define schist as medium-grained metamorphic rock that shows well-developed schistosity. Schistosity is a thin layering of the rock produced by metamorphism (a foliation ) that permits

3901-546: The end of the 1970s it was the fastest growing sport in the world. Originally, all windsurfing boards were "long boards". This type of board went relatively slower through the water, but worked well in low wind conditions. Light air, long board windsurfing was enjoyed by a wide range of participants including families with young children. During the 1980s a global community consisting of equipment designers, manufacturers, athletes, travel professionals and journalists worked together to propel windsurfing forward. Innovation allowed for

3984-655: The future urban expansion of the city because it includes a wide range of hotels, service, and residential complexes, as well as the areas of Lighthouse and the Garden Garden and Oasis. Dahab comprises two gulfs, the Laguna or Ghazala, which is characterized by the city's only sandy beach and the city's cistern, as well as resorts along its shores that integrate with the surrounding nature with log-and-palm kiosks for tourists. Dahab contains many mineral deposits, including rutile, zircon, monazite, leucoxene, and gold. Many of these are Neoproterozoic rocks such as schist . Dahab has

4067-433: The invention, he was "probably no better than third," behind mid-west based Newman Darby and Englishman Peter Chilvers . The battle over the origin story of the sport would go on to cause much legal grief for the global sporting phenomenon for much of the 1980s. In 1983, Schweitzer sued. Swiss board manufacturer Mistral and lost. Mistral's defense hinged on the work of US inventor Newman Darby , who by 1965 conceived

4150-445: The lagoon inside the sand spit has been overtaken by kitesurfers , with two Russian-owned schools opening right on the beach. Scuba diving , free-diving and snorkelling are also popular activities with many reefs immediately adjacent to waterfront hotels. The nearby Blue Hole (nicknamed "The World's Most Dangerous Diving Site") and Canyon are internationally famous dive spots. The increasing destruction of coral by reckless divers

4233-482: The masses" based on his efforts to promote the Windsurfer brand's popularity. It was a brief but productive collaboration between a talented engineer and a motivated businessman that together created the modern sport of windsurfing. Drake has stated in various interviews that he recognizes Darby and Chilvers as early sailboard pioneers and sees himself as the sports "re-inventor". Drake is known historically as one of

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4316-527: The metamorphism proceeds further, the mica schist experiences dehydration reactions that convert platy minerals to granular minerals such as feldspars, decreasing schistosity and turning the rock into a gneiss. Other platy minerals found in schists include chlorite, talc, and graphite. Chlorite schist is typically formed by metamorphism of ultramafic igneous rocks, as is talc schist. Talc schist also forms from metamorphosis of talc-bearing carbonate rocks formed by hydrothermal alteration . Graphite schist

4399-491: 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 is a much less efficient and less dynamic sailing position and opposite of how a modern windsurfer is operated. Darby's article stated that "you can learn to master a type of maneuvering that's been dead since the age of the picturesque square riggers". He began selling his sailboards in 1964. The main focus of his company, Darby Industries,

4482-564: The most prominent attractions in Ras Abu Gallum, a nature reserve, and a diving area. It is one of the world's most famous dive spots. The Kanoun region is one of the best diving areas in Al-Asala, a region where about 75% of the population of the city is divided into three areas (Mubarak City, Zarnouk, Al-Asala), Coral Island, and the remains of a historic fortress built by the Crusaders, Al-Mellil,

4565-514: The opposition team again financially backed by Bic included Chilvers and Jim Drake, and Schweitzer lost again. After the cases, no longer obliged to pay Windsurfing International any royalty payments, the now renamed Bic Sport became one of the world's larger producers of windsurfing equipment, with an annual production of 15,000 boards. There is no evidence that Schweitzer or Drake had knowledge of any prior inventions similar to theirs. Drake accepted in retrospect that, although he can be credited with

4648-510: The other two divisions being gneiss , which has poorly developed schistosity and thicker layering, and granofels , which has no discernible schistosity. Schists are defined by their texture without reference to their composition, and while most are a result of medium-grade metamorphism, they can vary greatly in mineral makeup. However, schistosity normally develops only when the rock contains abundant platy minerals, such as mica or chlorite . Grains of these minerals are strongly oriented in

4731-491: The past are backpackers interested in diving and snorkeling in the Red Sea. The town of Dahab counts around 15,000 inhabitants. Dahab attracts large numbers of tourists. It is world-renowned for its windsurfing . Reliable winds provide superb flat-water conditions inside Dahab's sand spit. Further away from shore, wavy conditions couple with strong winds to provide formidable conditions for keen windsurfers. However, in recent years,

4814-400: The process of mountain building ( orogeny ) and usually reflects a medium grade of metamorphism. Schist can form from many different kinds of rocks, including sedimentary rocks such as mudstones and igneous rocks such as tuffs . Schist metamorphosed from mudstone is particularly common and is often very rich in mica (a mica schist ). Where the type of the original rock (the protolith )

4897-424: The rock to easily be split into flakes or slabs less than 5 to 10 millimeters (0.2 to 0.4 in) thick. The mineral grains in a schist are typically from 0.25 to 2 millimeters (0.01 to 0.08 in) in size and so are easily seen with a 10× hand lens . Typically, over half the mineral grains in a schist show a preferred orientation. Schists make up one of the three divisions of metamorphic rock by texture , with

4980-410: The rotation in the name. Rotational sails have an aerofoil shape on the leeward side when powered, but are nearly flat when sheeted out (unpowered). In comparison with cambered sails, rotational designs offer less power and stability when sailing straight, but are easier to handle when maneuvering. Rotational sails are usually lighter and easier to rig. A windsurfing sail is tensioned at two points: at

5063-421: 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. Rotational sails have battens which protrude beyond the back aspect of the mast. They flip or "rotate" to the other side of the mast when tacking or jibing, hence

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5146-461: The sailboard. Twelve-year-old Peter Chilvers is also cited for inventing a kind of sailboard in England in 1958. Stanford educated aeronautical engineer Jim Drake and fellow aeronautical engineer Fred Payne conceived and designed a sail powered surfboard in 1962. Their version differed from Darby's in many significant ways. The sailor stood upright on a large surfboard while holding directly onto

5229-649: The separate Eastaugh (1946–1949), Darby (1965) and Chilvers (1958) inventions pre-dated the Schweitzer/Drake patent (1968). By the late 1980s the sport was massive and in the midst of a full-blown marketing and legal battle between the original market in the US, and the exploding European markets. This epic legal battle laid the ground for a still running rivalry between the European and American hemispheres. Windsurfing International briefly claimed trademark rights with respect to

5312-596: The simplicity of skiing with the pleasures of sailing. Drake is known historically as "The Father of Windsurfing." Drake's patented invention was marketed and sold under the brand name "Windsurfer" for over 20 years by a company he cofounded with businessman Hoyle Schweitzer called Windsurfing International. Windsurfing's popularity saw explosive growth in the 1970s and 1980s. Initially in Europe, then in North America. The sport began to take off in popularity around 1972 and by

5395-560: The six to eight square meter range. The pursuit of planing in lower winds has driven the popularity of wider and shorter boards, with which planing is possible in wind as low as 8 kn (4 m/s), if sails in the 10 to 12 square meter range are used. Modern windsurfing boards can be classified into many categories: 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

5478-509: The sport was launched. Originally Drake and Schweitzer wanted to name their new sailboard concept "Skate" (SK8), however changed the name to "Baja Board" in early 1968. Schweitzer was marketing a prototype of the Baja Board in Seattle , when Bert Salisbury stopped his car to have a look, and commented: "Gee I have the perfect name for it! Windsurfing!" The name was soon changed to Windsurfer, sold by

5561-421: The tack (by downhaul ), and at the clew (by outhaul ). There is a set of pulleys for downhauling at the tack, and a grommet at the clew . Most shape is given to the sail by applying a very strong downhaul, which by design bends the mast. The outhaul tension is relatively weak, mostly providing leverage for controlling the sail's angle of attack. Schist Schist ( / ˈ ʃ ɪ s t / SHIST )

5644-601: The term "Windsurfer" as a trademark at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in 1970. Windsurfing International Inc. created a popular one-design racing class, which was influenced by the desire to provide a fleet of racers with a uniformly constructed "boat," so that rider skill, rather than equipment choice, would determine competitive results. The first Windsurfer Class World Championship regatta took place in San Diego, California in 1973. The Windsurfer Class fleet

5727-419: The windward side of a small triangular sail. Originally, they designed it to be propelled by a hand held wing rather than an attached, masted sail. Soon they decided a universal joint attaching a movable sail was more practical. After learning of Drake's revolutionary sailing concept , one of Drake's family friends, a businessman named Hoyle Schweitzer, became interested in marketing Drake's new invention. As

5810-474: The wishbone boom, daggerboard and mast foot from laminated strips of teak wood. He custom designed and built a wood press jig for shaping the curve into the wishbone boom. The universal joint was built by reconfiguring a commercially available sailboat swivel joint constructed from heavy duty marine stainless steel with additional teflon components. Drake engineered the custom sail, which was made from Dacron sail cloth and cut and sewn by sail maker Bob Broussard into

5893-514: The word "windsurfer" has become synonymous with the sport itself. Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer together started the sport's first company, Windsurfing International, in late 1968 out of Drake's Santa Monica, California home. Both men were employed full time outside of their startup windsurfing business and so windsurfing was little more than an experimental hobby for them at that time. Drake and his wife Wendy, along with Schweitzer and his wife Diane worked closely together in their spare time to create

5976-521: The word "windsurfer". While this was registered in the United States for some years, it was not accepted for registration in many jurisdictions as the word was considered too descriptive. Registration was ultimately lost in the United States for the same reason. Eventually the sport became known widely as either sailboarding or windsurfing. Windsurfers are often classified as either shortboards or longboards. Longboards are usually longer than 3 meters, with

6059-437: The world's first modern sailboard. Returning to Marina del Rey one week later, this time with the skeg and uphaul, Drake succeeded at sailing the board the way he designed it to be used. With his confidence buoyed from multiple days of practice in the protected bay, Drake next took his sailboard onto the open ocean at Will Rogers State Beach in Santa Monica, California. Drake subsequently taught Schweitzer how to windsurf and soon

6142-481: The world's top aeronautical engineers. He was also an expert craftsman in his spare time. He combined both skills to conceive and build the world's first windsurfer prototype. First, he carefully engineered a mathematical simulation of his concept based on the physics of windsurfing . He then crafted nearly all of the windsurfer prototype components by hand in his Santa Monica, California home garage in January 1967. He built

6225-470: The world." The radical growth curve had to level out eventually and Windsurfing's retail momentum plateaued with the arrival of newer action sports in 90's. Closely related action sports such as mountain biking, snowboarding, stand up paddle boarding (SUP) and kite boarding all directly competed for popularity with windsurfing. Many windsurfing schools closed, or switched to teaching kite boarding and currently teach mostly wing foiling. After some lean years in

6308-406: Was away for two years immersed in engineering work on the other side of the country, Schweitzer began manufacturing and selling Windsurfers, as well as incorporating the company Windsurfing International and collected licensing fees on over 100,000 boards in Europe without ever informing or including Drake. Schweitzer concealed from Drake the somewhat large profits he was beginning to make from selling

6391-501: Was based 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. On March 27, 1968, Jim Drake, an aeronautical engineer, and Hoyle Schweitzer, a businessman filed the very first windsurfing patent, which was granted by the USPTO in 1970. Through the seventies, and early eighties windsurfing

6474-558: Was created in 1962 by American Newman Darby. Independently, engineer Jim Drake invented and co-patented the version we all know today and called it Windsurfing- a new new concept in sailing . Long before this modern moment, there were small scale sailing craft that have used wind as the driving force, many of them sourced to the Polynesians who have been riding the wind and waves for centuries. Early accounts suggest island peoples were undertaking day trips over oceans standing upright on

6557-551: Was misunderstood by travelers who thought they were saying Dahab. Much of the coral in the reefs just offshore is slowly disappearing, due to inexperienced divers being taken out in large numbers. Another considerable problem is that in Masbat local restaurants are dumping sand and rock into the sea to extend the shoreline, again causing disruption to local coral reefs. Local Bedouin children, sometimes encouraged by their families, come to beach cafes and restaurants to sell items such as woven bracelets to tourists. The city has many of

6640-423: Was shocked that his friend would deceive him in this unkind way. Drake originally was not interested in forfeiting his half of the patent. However, Schweitzer and his attorneys would continue for 5 years to aggressively pressure Drake to sell his half of the patent to Windsurfing International in order for Schweitzer to secure a lucrative monopoly on all future royalties. Windsurfing International registered

6723-404: Was the fastest growing sport on earth. Schweitzer aggressively protected his patent around the world through Sub-licensing the rights to anyone who wanted to manufacture and sell sailboards. Windsurfing International's usurious royalty fee charges, which its competitors were forced to pay, were so high that many observers felt it needlessly limited the growth of the sport. Mr. Schweitzer claimed this

6806-586: Was to promote his brand and the Windsurfer One Design racing class, but most believed it was so he could maximize his own profits. [1] The sport underwent very rapid growth however, particularly in Europe after the sale of a sub-license sold to Ten Cate Sports in the Netherlands. In 1975 Ten Cate Sports sold 45,000 boards in Europe. At the same time, Schweitzer also sought to defend his patent rights vigorously against unauthorized manufacturers. This led to

6889-480: Was to sell plans such that any school-age child could build one for under $ 50. Rather than building personal wealth, his focus was to introduce youth to the sport of sailing in even very shallow water. A promotional article by Darby was published in the August 1965 edition of Popular Science magazine. Darby died in 2016 reportedly feeling pleased with the recognition he received for having created an early version of

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