The story of Jim Drake s first Wing rig
February 15, 2021 |
Windsurfing
The idea of the first Wing rig came up in August 1981 when Jim Drake visited me in the surf editorial office in Munich. It was precursor of modern wing surfing.
Jim and I had been friends since 1977 when Surf-Magazin was founded, and my article about the true inventor of windsurfing was published.
So in August 1981, over dinner, we discussed our experiences that we had made over a year earlier at the PanAm Cup in Hawaii - the development of funboards and the first really high jumps over the waves.
In the meantime, during our surf tests on Gran Canaria, I had repeatedly observed flying fish that shot out of the water next to our boards and then often sailed dozens of meters next to us.