Scrabble?! WINDSURFINGS

Definitions of WINDSURFINGS in various dictionaries:

Windsurfing is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually 2 to 2.5 metres (6 ft 7 in to 8 ft 2 in) long, with displacements typically between 45 and 150 litres (9.9 and 33.0 imp gal; 12 and 40 US gal), powered by wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and consists of a mast, boom and sail. The sail area generally ranges from 1.5 to 12 square metres (16 to 129 sq ft) depending on the conditions, the skill of the sailor, the type of windsurfing being undertaken and the weight of the person windsurfing. The inventor of windsurfing and first recorded windsurfer is Alfred Seltz Jr. Seltz first pioneered windsurfing in the late 1950’s with a documented picture in May of 1961. While others used sailing surfboards, Seltz was the first to stand up on the board, making him one of the inventors. Seltz first began windsurfing on Lake Le Homme Dieu near Alexandria, Minnesota. Lewis A. Whinnery, an Ohio native, came to Alexandria to the Bellanca aircraft factory to make aircraft parts out of fiberglass. Whinnery then began making boats out of fiberglass. He called this creation "Sail King", and began providing sailing surfboards to Seltz. Whinnery helped to organize Viking Reinforced Plastics, in Elbow Lake, Minnesota, and hired Seltz as a sales manager. Seltz expanded distribution from the Dakotas to Michigan. The sailing surfboards gained popularity as sail surfing became a new sport. Seltz took on this new sport with enthusiasm, and began racing sailing surfboards. Seltz discovered that he could stand up on the board. This was revolutionary to windsurfing and changed the sport into what it is today. The new position changed the center of gravity on the boat, allowing the surfer to harness more of the wind power. Seltz began windsurfing in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The first documented recording of Seltz windsurfing was in May of 1961. The photo was used in an ad in the Minneapolis Sunday Tribune around June 1, 1961. Some credit S. Newman Darby with the origination of windsurfing by 1964 on the Susquehanna River, Pennsylvania, United States when he invented the "sailboard", which he did not patent. In 1964, Darby began selling his sailboards. A promotional article by Darby was published in the August 1965 edition of Popular Science magazine.While Darby's "sailboard" incorporated a pivoting rig, it was "square rigged" and was subject to the associated limitations. The sailboard was operated with the sailor's back to the lee side of a kite-shaped sail. Darby's article stated that "...you can learn to master a type of maneuvering that's been dead since the age of the picturesque square riggers" Windsurfing can be said to straddle both the laid-back culture of surf sports and the more rules-based environment of sailing. Although it might be considered a minimalistic version of a sailboat, windsurfing offers experiences that are outs...