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Windsurfing
is a surface water sport using a windsurf board, also commonly
called a sailboard, usually two to five meters long and powered by a
single sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating
flexible joint called the Universal Joint (U-Joint)Unlike a rudder-steered
sailboat, a windsurfer is steered by the tilting and rotating of the
mast and sail as well as tilting and carving the board.
The sport combines aspects of both sailing and surfing, along with
certain athletic aspects shared with other board sports like
skateboarding, snowboarding, waterskiing, and wakeboarding. Although
it might be considered a minimalistic version of a sailboat, a
windsurfer offers experiences that are outside the scope of any
other sailing craft design. A windsurfer holds the world speed
record for sailing craft (see below); and, windsurfers can perform
jumps, inverted loops, spinning maneuvers, and other "freestyle"
moves that cannot be matched by any sailboat. Windsurfers were the
first to ride the world's largest waves, such as Jaws on the island
of Maui, and, with very few exceptions, it was not until the advent
of tow-in surfing that waves of that size became accessible to
surfers.
Windsurfing
includes speed sailing, slalom, course racing, wave sailing, superX,
and freestyle as distinct disciplines.. |
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