Windsurfing is a common term for two similar water sports–sailsurfing and sailboarding. Both sports use a sailboard, which is a surfboard with a sail attached to a mast at the board’s center. A sailsurfer rides like a surfer. A sailboarder sprints across flat water like a sailor. Therefore, sailsurfing needs waves, and sailboarding needs wind.
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Most sailsurfing boards are no more than 7 feet (2.1 meters) long. A sailboard measures 10 to 12 feet (3.0 to 3.7 meters) long. The mast is attached to either kind of board by a universal joint. The universal joint allows the rider to turn the sail in any direction and thus steer the board. The sailboard was first patented in 1969.
