Newman Darby
| Newman Darby | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Sidney Newman Darby January 31, 1928 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania |
| Died | December 3, 2016 (aged 88) St. Johns, Florida |
| Spouse(s) | Naomi Albrecht |
| Children | 2 |
Sidney Newman Darby Jr. (January 31, 1928 – December 3, 2016) was an American inventor best known as the inventor of the sailboard.
He was born in 1928 and grew up in Wilkes-Barre, 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.
Darby and his wife made their home in Saint Johns, Florida, where he died on December 3, 2016 at the age of 88.
Darby first conceived of a hand-operated square sail attached to a catamaran in 1948, when he was 20. In the mid-1960s, Darby conceived the "Darby Sailboard": a hand-held square rigged "kite" sail on a floating platform for recreational use.
Darby had taught himself to sail a 10-foot model on lakes in high wind between 1964 and 1965. He published his design in August 1965 Popular Science magazine, and although it did not show any connection between the rig and the board (i.e., a universal joint; the mast simply rested in a depression on the board) it did refer to a "more complex swivel step for advanced riders not shown."
Darby and his wife Naomi organized Darby Industries, Inc. in 1964, with his brother, Kenneth, was also active in the company. However, the sailboard design never gained popularity, and Darby's company ceased operations by the end of the 1960s.
Darby did not patent his design 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 Drake's Windsurfer design in 1968. The universal sail system with pivotal mast was already in public use from Darby's invention at that time.
Developed commercially through company Windsurfing International Inc., after Hoyle bought Drake out of his half of the patent for $36,000, he quickly expanded the company thorough licensing the patent internationally. However, Europe was now the largest growing market for windsurfers, and the sub-licensed companies - Tabur (later Bic Sport), F2, Mistral - wanted to find a way to remove or reduce their royalty payments to Windsurfing International.
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