Windsurfing facts for kids
Windsurfing is a water sport invented in the U.K. by Peter Chilvers in 1958 on Hayling Island, Hampshire. It is performed on a board with a sail. The sail both empowers the board and helps the board change directions. The sport is a combination of surfing and sailing. Windsurfers can travel on either flat or rough water, as long as there is wind. Windsurfing is done mostly in the summer and spring.
Windsurfing competitions can be freestyle or racing around buoys and it features in the Olympics.
Windsurfing sails come in many different sizes. The larger the sails are, the more human strength is needed to control them, but the more power is given to go faster. The different sizes of board affect the speed. Again, the thinner the board, the faster you will go. The range of thickness depends on the materials used.
Another sport similar to windsurfing is kite surfing. All these sports have boards that range in size and price, but all need much practice to be done well. There are many sporting places around the world that people travel to just to go surfing. Some of the best places are in the west coast of the United States, Hawaii, Australia, and Indonesia.
Images for kids
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Antoine Martin performs an aerial 360 manoeuvre at Ho'okipa, Hawaii. Martin is a rider.
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Illustration from US Patent 3,487,800, filed by inventors Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer on March 27, 1968
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Ideal sail size (m²) for different wind speeds and rider weights (recreational level). The red values indicate sail sizes that are unpractical or not available.
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Formula racer in San Francisco Bay.
See also
In Spanish: Windsurf para niños
