Newman Darby
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Newman Darby is an American inventor best know as the inventor of the sailboard.
He grew up in Pennsylvania and began building boats when he was 12. His first boat sank, but he fished it out of the Susquehanna River, near his home, and made it into a home for snakes.
He first conceived of a hand-operated sail attached to a catamaran in 1948, when he was 20. He did not patent it or any of his subsequent models attached to surfboards, and the Californians Jim Drake (a sailor) and Hoyle Schweitzer (a surfer) took out the first patent on their Windsurfer in 1968. They acknowledged Darby as the inventor.
Darby had taught himself to sail a 12-foot model on lakes in high wind between 1959 and 1962. He and his wife, Naomi, organized Darby Industries, Inc. in 1964. However, the Darbys had phased out the production of sailboards by the late 1960s because sales were not going very well.
In the 1980s, Darby received a design patent for a one-person sailboat, the Darby 8 SS sidestep hull. His latest project is called the Windspear, a combination kayak, canoe, and surfboard, with a paddle and fin combination.
He and his wife make their home in Jacksonville, Florida.
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