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The Story
In 1968 Hoyle and Diane Schweitzer founded the company Windsurfing International in Southern California to manufacture, promote and license a windsurfer design made from polyethylene. The jointly owned patent was wholly licensed to Windsurfing International. The ‘Windsurfer’ was the original mass-produced sailboard and instantly gained world-wide attention which quickly spawned the massive growth and popularity of the sport.
In 2017 the Windsurfer was relaunched in a global initiative to grow the sport of windsurfing. The original board was given an upgrade to embrace modern technologies, moving from polyethylene to lighter weight epoxy construction with enhanced volume to accommodate a wider range of athletes. The Windsurfer LT was born.
With the Windsurfer LT, the Windsurfer Class offers a return to the roots of windsurfing, and fair and friendly one design racing.The re-invigorated class is experiencing immense success around the globe with racers from the past rejoining the class and a new generation of windsurfers following them.
The International Windsurfer Class Association
The International Windsurfer Class Association (IWCA) was formed back in the early 1970’s to oversee the activities of the one design class which featured the original Windsurfer and later, the Windsurfer One-Design. In the decades since, the Windsurfer Class remained active in various areas around the globe and waned in others. With the development of the Windsurfer LT, the IWCA was re-formed to help guide the class into the future. The World Sailing organization once again awarded International class status to the IWCA in November of 2018.
The International Windsurfer Class Association is managed by an international committee elected by the members each year. The IWCA is supported by regional and national organizations who administer class activities and events in their region. National Class Associations recognized by the IWCA currently include Australia, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain, with still more pending.
The IWCA also works to create, administer and regularly update the class rules in the best interest of the global IWCA Community.
For more information about the IWCA go to: https://www.windsurferclass.org/
The United States Windsurfer Class Association (USWCA) was recently recognized and accepted as a National Member of the IWCA in November 2022
