Jim Drake (engineer)

Jim Drake (January 8, 1929 in Los Angeles – June 19, 2012 in Pfafftown) was an American aeronautics engineer who is credited as the inventor of windsurfing. Patent disputes uncovered earlier designs by Peter Chilvers and Newman Darby such that Drake accepted that he was the third inventor of the concept. He was the engineer who perfected the concepts of board and rig layout and the universal joint which is core to the sport.

Drake trained as an aeronautical engineer, although as most of his work was for the US Government, most of the details remain to this day top secret. What is known is that he worked for Rockwell and their division RAND Corporation, worked for North American Aviation, and was on secondment to The Pentagon for various periods of his career both directly and indirectly, part of which was associated with the development of improved Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles during the Cold War of the 1960s and 70's.

Drake, a Californian by birth, loved the water and sailing. In 1964, over a discussion on water sports over a brandy at his home in Southern California, Drake and his former Rockwell boss and now good friend Fred Payne, who worked at The Pentagon, discussed options for creating a wind-powered water-ski which would allow Payne to travel on the Potomac River. That night they developed the idea of a kite powered surfboard. On later reflection, Drake didn't like the integrity of the idea and dismissed it. There were already a number of sailboard designs available, and Drake also was concerned about the integrity of a design needing taut wire close to a human body to keep the sail upright.

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