WINDSURFING

noun Also written wind surfing (Lifestyle and Leisure) The sport of sailing on a board similar to a surfboard, but using wind in a small sail rather than waves for its power. Etymology: Formed by compounding: surfing in which it is the wind in the sail, rather than the waves, that supplies the power. History and Usage: The special board used in windsurfing (known by the trade mark Windsurfer) came on to the US market in 1969 and caused a craze on the West coast of the US in the seventies. By the beginning of the eighties the sport was well-known outside the US; it first featured as a demonstration sport in the Olympic games of 1984. By that time, though, it had been decided that it should be known officially as boardsailing. Despite this fact, windsurfing remains the name by which most people know the sport and the one which crops up most frequently in printed sources. The agent noun windsurfer and verb windsurf also remain frequent. It combines lifestyle and adventure with wind surfing to make it more than just a sports magazine. He takes his cameras and windsurfers to exotic locations. Auckland Metro Feb. 1986, p. 18 It is the event in the Windsurfing calendar with a spectacular display of the latest in watersports equipment...and fashion from jetskis and paraskis for the active enthusiast to dayglo surf shorts for those who just want to don the look. Woman's Journal Mar. 1990, p. xiv