Word: winded
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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...
...best waves, of course, are found in Hawaii. But experts contend that Florida in the wintertime approaches Hawaii in excellence and argue that San Francisco Bay is "the Aspen" of wind-surfing because of its challenging winds and strong waves. Other highly touted places include the mountain lakes of the Sierras, Buzzards Bay off Cape Cod, the Gulf Coast of Texas, the Great Lakes and the lakes of Minnesota...
...many windsurfer dealers offer to teach the sport in six hours (generally two three-hour sessions at $40 each), a beginner may find the initial experience a wet one. "The first few times out," says Boston's Rollin C. White, "it's 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...