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77-579: Merimbula / m ə ˈ r ɪ m b j ə l ə / is a town on the Merimbula Lake, located on the Far South Coast or Sapphire Coast of New South Wales , Australia. At the 2021 census , the population was 3,821. The population within 10 km of the Merimbula Post office is over 18,000 people. The satellite town of Tura Beach lies within the 10 km population radius. Merimbula Point

154-581: 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

231-577: 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

308-420: 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

385-656: 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

462-477: 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

539-549: A day and 500 mm (20 inches) in two days may occur. For example, in May 1925 the region received an averages of as much as 860 millimetres (33 inches) of rain, with some places receiving as much as 1,270 mm (50 inches) for the month. However, in dry years the region can receive as little as 400mm (16 inches) for an entire year. Furthermore, Bega received 380 mm (15 inches) in May 1944 and over 400mm (16 inches) in two days during April 1945 - but only around 200 mm (8 inches) in

616-444: 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

693-416: 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

770-476: A mild, warm temperate climate. Maximum temperatures range from around 30 °C (86 °F) in summer to approximately 17 °C (62 °F) in winter. However, rainfall tends toward erratic as falls can occur in heavy, but often irregular, storms. These storms may occur at any time of year, but are most frequent in late autumn and early winter. When a strong anticyclone is located to the south of these low-pressure systems, rainfalls of up to 350mm (14 inches) in

847-423: A one-hour drive from Merimbula, including Pambula Merimbula GC, Tura Beach Country Club, Eden Gardens Country Club and Bermagui Country Club. Merimbula has an oceanic climate ( Cfb ) with mild to warm summers and cool, windy, drier winters. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 44.2 °C (111.6 °F) to −2.0 °C (28.4 °F) and the average annual rainfall is 770.0 millimetres (30.3 in). Typical of

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924-459: 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

1001-425: 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

1078-616: A range of activities from standup paddleboarding and kayaking , to some of the best surfing on the Far South Coast . Magic Mountain , Merimbula's own theme park has a roller coaster and one of the best toboggan slopes in New South Wales . The Merimbula Wharf offers its own aquarium full of some of the common sea creatures on the Sapphire Coast . It is also a popular restaurant for tourists as well as locals. The Aquarium

1155-583: 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

1232-756: A rocky coastline, interspersed by numerous beaches and lakes. The South Coast includes Shoalhaven district in the north and the Bega Valley in the more remote south as well as the Eurobodalla Shire and the Commonwealth Jervis Bay Territory which is adjacent to the City of Shoalhaven Local Government Area. Some definitions of the region include the Illawarra , but it is often seen as a separate and distinct region of New South Wales . The region has

1309-427: 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

1386-503: 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

1463-404: 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

1540-450: 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

1617-407: 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 ,

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1694-524: 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

1771-543: 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

1848-510: Is a has a wide variety of marine life, 'from sharks to shrimp , octopus to tropical fish , it's all in the living theatre of the deep!’, according to TripAdvisor . It has 25 tanks of aquatic life. There are many restaurants and eateries in Merimbula, including one small bar. 10 kilometres to the west of Merimbula along the Princes Highway towards Bega, Potoroo Palace Wildlife Sanctuary

1925-480: Is a wide range of holiday accommodation in the area including motels, self-contained units and holiday houses for rent. Merimbula is known for its good beaches and locally produced oysters. Merimbula has six main beaches —Main Beach (or Merimbula Beach), Mitchies Jetty, Bar Beach, Spencer Park Beach, Middle Beach and Short Point. Main Beach and Short Point are considered to be the best beaches for surfing , whilst Bar Beach

2002-634: Is an area of palaeontological significance, regularly studied by the School of Earth Sciences at the Australian National University . Several previously unknown species have been found in the ancient sedimentary rocks there, including Merimbulaspis and Pambulaspis . Merimbula has one primary school; Merimbula Public School. However, the town does not have a high school. Children from Merimbula have to travel to either Bega or Eden to attend public high school, or attend private schools in

2079-466: Is close to Bournda National Park , South East Forest National Park and the northern end of Beowa National Park . A coastal walk running through Bournda National Park from Tathra to Tura Beach just north of Merimbula takes in coastal scenery. Southern right whales (less frequent) and humpback whales are big feature in the areas. It is also a short drive to other scenic places in the area such as Tathra , Eden and Bermagui . Merimbula offers

2156-572: Is held in the Merimbula-Imlay Bowling Club around the beginning of November each year. The Pambula Merimbula Golf Club hosts one of the country's bigger Weeks of Golf attracting over 900 golfers during October. Merimbula has a windsurfing and kiteboarding festival, the Merimbula Classic. This is held in late November each year. Merimbula is largely a tourist town, with the bulk of the town's earnings coming from tourism . There

2233-456: Is located. This nature park has a collection of native species with some hands on opportunities for the children. It also cares for injured or orphaned animals. Merimbula has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: South Coast (New South Wales) The South Coast refers to the narrow coastal belt from the Shoalhaven district in the north to the state border with Victoria in

2310-447: Is nearly the same distance to both Sydney and Melbourne , with both trips taking between five and seven hours to drive. It is approximately three hours drive to Australia's capital Canberra . Merimbula is serviced by many interstate and intrastate road coach services, and connects with rail services at many interchanges. Local commuter passenger bus services operate six days per week to all urban areas and some regional centres within

2387-618: 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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2464-461: Is the southernmost zone in the state of New South Wales that features a subtropical rainforest . The Illawarra Steam Navigation Company serviced the South Coast and Illawarra by ship transporting passengers and goods from the 1850s to the 1950s. The NSW TrainLink Illawarra railway line services Berry before it terminates at Bomaderry , situated approximately 123 km south of Sydney on

2541-505: Is used for snorkeling . Other activities include whale watching , fishing , kitesurfing and boating . Middle Beach is more suited to fishing , and whale watching in season. With a decent percentage of the population being retirees, golf and lawn bowls are popular as well. Merimbula has scuba diving , with the sponge gardens at Yellow Rock and the Empire Gladstone wreck off nearby Haycock Point's popular dives. Merimbula

2618-663: The Group 16 Rugby League Premiership. Merimbula's soccer club is the Merimbula Grasshoppers which hosts men, women and junior sides. The Merimbula Knights Cricket Club are a club in the Far South Coast Cricket Association. Other sporting clubs include the Merimbula Basket Ball Club, Merimbula Big Game and Lakes Angling Club, and Merimbula Netball Association. There are five golf courses within

2695-451: 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

2772-454: 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

2849-406: 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

2926-734: The New South Wales coastline, the relatively dry winters and springs are attributed to the foehn effect . Its relatively low annual rainfall owes to its south-western location, which in turn exposes it to cold southerly airmasses off the Bass Strait that rarely affect areas further north on the coast; as shown by its extreme minimum temperatures in the summer, most notably a reading of 3.9 °C (39.0 °F) in December 2019. Its climate more closely resembles those in East Gippsland than elsewhere on

3003-711: The New South Wales coastline, with its distinctly cooler summers and lower dew points. Merimbula hosts two annual Orchid Shows, both held in Twyfold Hall opposite the Tourist Information Centre. The winter Orchid Show is in late August, and the Australian Native Orchid Show is in early November. The annual Jazz Festival is held on the Queen's Birthday weekend early in June. A much smaller Country Music Festival

3080-532: 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

3157-472: 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,

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3234-681: 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

3311-568: 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

3388-602: The council area. Merimbula has a green oval and two soccer fields on the Berrambool Oval. The oval is used, depending on the time of year, for cricket (summer period) and Australian Football (winter period). The Merimbula Diggers compete in AFL Sapphire Coast and are one of the competition's most successful clubs. There are additional sporting facilities located within the Merimbula urban area. The Merimbula-Pambula Bulldogs are based in nearby Pambula and compete in

3465-510: 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

3542-546: 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

3619-433: 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

3696-482: 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

3773-491: 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,

3850-592: The northern side of the Shoalhaven River. Bus services operate to locations south of Nowra. The South Coast region is traversed by the Princes Highway which links Sydney and Melbourne by the coast, but is longer than Hume Highway which is the direct route between the two cities. The region is a reached from Canberra to the west by the Kings Highway . Road linkages north to Sydney were only completed in

3927-514: 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

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4004-410: 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

4081-421: 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

4158-461: 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

4235-646: The second half of the twentieth century when the Clyde River was bridged at Batemans Bay in 1956. Before that a punt was used to cross the river. The bridge at Narooma had been completed in 1931 and was the first major bridge constructed on the Princes Highway by the Main Roads Board as part of its efforts to develop the Princes Highway which had been opened in 1920. Major towns on the South Coast include: Windsurfing Newer variants include windfoiling , kiteboarding and wingfoiling . Hydrofoil fins under

4312-649: 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

4389-596: 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

4466-560: 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

4543-605: The south in the south-eastern part of the State of New South Wales , Australia . It is bordered to the west by the coastal escarpment of the Southern Tablelands , and is largely covered by a series of national parks, namely Jervis Bay National Park , Eurobodalla National Park , and Beowa National Park . To the east is the coastline of the Pacific Ocean , which is characterised by rolling farmlands, small towns and villages along

4620-509: 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

4697-519: The surrounding areas, including Pambula Beach , Eden and Bega. Merimbula is one of only a few towns on the South Coast of NSW to have its own airport, Merimbula Airport . There are daily flights services by QantasLink and Rex Airlines , from Sydney and Melbourne to Merimbula. Flights from Sydney often stop in Moruya . Situated just off the national highway 1 , the Princes Highway , Merimbula

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4774-502: The ten months in between. A 2011 report by the Climate Commission highlighted the risks of the effects of climate change in the South Coast and Illawarra areas. These risks included a higher likelihood of large fires , coastal flooding , changing rainfall patterns , and more intense storms , all impacting the biodiversity in the region. Although the region experiences a temperate oceanic climate , Gulaga National Park

4851-601: 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

4928-419: 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

5005-474: 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

5082-514: 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

5159-521: 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

5236-437: 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

5313-481: 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

5390-470: 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

5467-406: 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

5544-501: 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

5621-558: 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

5698-423: 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

5775-404: 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

5852-586: 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

5929-480: 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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