Water Sports – Surfing
June 30th, 2010 | 
Author: Surfing is a kind of water sports where the surfer is carried along by a breaking wave towards the shore. Apart from surfboards body boards, kneeboards, surf skis and kayaks can be also used to surf. Various sports involving surfing are sea kayaking, paddle boarding, kite surfing and windsurfing.
Initially the sport began when people used to lie down on hard wood boards and surf in Hawaii. The latest technology in surfboards now is the epoxy or carbon fiber surfboard. To surf in colder regions, its advisable to wear wetsuits, boots, gloves and hood to protect from cold-water temperatures, which can sometimes lead to hypothermia.
There are different styles of boards like egg or the long board style short board, fish or short and wide board with a split tail and gun with a long pointed board meant for big waves. Swell is important for surfing.
When the wind blows over a huge area of water, called the wind’s fetch, the water wave rises, called the swell. A moderate strength offshore wind can form a perfect wave without small breaks. The topography of the seabed beneath the wave also affects the wave formed.
The sign of a good surfer is that he is able to catch the wave before other surfers can. Once the wave is caught, the surfer can stand on the surfboard and stay in front of the curl of the wave, also known as the white water.
The wave carries the surfer and takes him in a forward direction. Some tricks practiced by experienced surfers are floater, cutback, air and off the lip. Surfing has dangers like any other water sport, the major being drowning. The nose or fins of the surfboard cause nearly sixty six percent of injuries to surfers.
Surf forecasting is done to aid surfers and help them enjoy their experience. It involves information technology involving mathematical modeling to represent the wave in a graphical manner.
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