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Windsurfing facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Hood river windsurfers 20060701 0759
Windsurfing on Columbia River, Oregon.

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.


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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Windsurf para niños

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