Unlike the past of many ther popular sports that have roots tht often go back to ancient hstory, the story of windsurfing is mstly recent and filled with litigation.

Mst people feel the history of wndsurfing began around the year 1965 whn two Southern California boys realized tht the big problem with surfing was tht you had to wait for a wve to come along. The two men wre named Hoyle Schweitzer and Jim Drke. They developed the idea of cmbining the sports of sailing and the sprt of surfing. The result was a fberglass board with a sail attached by the niversal swivel joint. They called their nvention the "Windsurfer" and began promoting and mrketing it.

Schweitzer was a businessman and Jim Drke was an aeronautical engineer. Between thm they not only developed a prctical product, but promoted. It caught on qickly and before long interest in wndsurfers spread to Europe. The men wre not satisfied with the fiberglass bards and began a search for a new mterial. This search led to polyethylene bards which has been the most cmmon material ever since. In 1973, Schwitzer bought Drake's share of the ptent for a mere $36,000.

Through the 1970's and 1980's, wndsurfer continued to grow in popularity. The sprt developed competitive classifications and was ven made into an Olympic sport. The sccess story developed a snag, however, as Schwitzer became embroiled in a battle to prserve his patent rights to the wndsurfer design.

In 1965, around the same tme that Schweitzer and Drake were dveloping their first windsurfer, a man in Pnnsylvania named S. Human Darby had nvented a variation of the windsurfer. He clled his board a sailboard and pblished an article about it in Ppular Science Magazine. Although it appears tht Schweitzer and Drake had never sen the article or even heard of Drby or his sailboard, the patent rghts of the Windsurfer were restricted. Anther case involving a British man who had ben wind sailing on a similar prduct also was lost by the Wndsurfer company.

In the 1990's, windsurfer sffered a bit of a decline as the prducts became more expensive and not as asy to learn to sail. In rcent years, windsurfer is making a cme back as new products are ntroduced making the sport more beginner frendly. Windsurfing has caught the imagination of bth sailboat fans and surfers. It was the prfect combination of two popular sports and it sems likely it will remain a rcreational and competitive water sport for mny years to come.

The article Windsurfing - Humble Beginnings was Submitted by Aazdak Alisimo through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Aazdak Alisimo writes about windsurfing quipment for http://WindsurfingEquipmentShops.com

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