Word: sailing
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...object of all this enthusiasm is a 40-lb. slab of foam-filled polyethylene, 12 ft. long and shaped like a surfboard, but with a sail attached. Such a wind-surfing board will support up to 400 Ibs. The craft was invented twelve years ago when two young Californians, Hoyle Schweitzer, a surfer, and Jim Drake, a sailor, one day began arguing the merits and problems of their respective passions. Surfing, Schweitzer complained, was too dependent on wave conditions; sailing, Drake sighed, was tied to wind conditions and required a time-consuming ritual of rigging the boat. So they retired...
Like waterskiing, wind-surfing requires balance and agility, as well as a sailor's feel for the wind. The German and Dutch Olympic sailing teams require their athletes to train on wind-surfing boards in order to improve their coordination and hone their sail-trimming skills. Standing on the board, a windsurfer grasps the wishbone-shaped boom and steers his craft by tilting the sail: when the boom is pushed forward, the boat heads off-wind; when pulled aft, it heads into the wind. Since the sail is mounted on a universal joint, it is free to move...
...sail fills with wind, the windsurfer arches backward in the breeze and hangs suspended over the waves. "In light winds, the fun is in feeling the mellowness of smooth water," exults Ken Winner, 24, a champion windsurfer who once sailed his rig 100 miles from Hobe Sound, Fla., to Miami in six hours and 49 minutes. "But then you also have the gut thrills of a roller coaster when you get high winds and big waves...
...more accurate to call it wind-swimming." Adds Robby Naish of Hawaii, who last year won a world championship: "The reason I became such a good windsurfer is that I liked falling in the water." A certain amount of upper-body strength is needed to hold the sail aloft, but more experienced wind-surfers are less dependent on muscle power, having learned to use their bodies for leverage. With practice one can reach speeds of 30 m.p.h. Speeds vary according to the weight of the rider: heavier sailors fare better in strong winds, lighter ones in soft breezes...
Some enthusiasts opt for style over speed, combining tail dips and pirouettes in a kind of elegant water ballet. In Hawaii, super wind-surfers specialize in "wave jumps": they sail directly into a wave, up the crest and over, becoming airborne for a few seconds as they shoot through the foam into calm water beyond. Indeed, wind-surfers can do anything surfers or sailors can on their vessels, almost. Says Craig Roberton of Clearwater: "This sport has only one flaw. There's no way to hold onto a beer on a sailboat like that...