Robby Naish

Robby Naish at Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2006
Robby Naish at Windsurf World Cup Sylt 2009

Robert Staunton Naish (born April 23, 1963 in La Jolla, San Diego, California) is one of the first athletes to have gained long-lasting international fame in the sport of windsurfing. At a young age, his father, competitive surfer and surfboard shaper Rick Naish, moved the family from California to Kailua, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. It was there, at the age of 11, that Robby took up the fledgling new sport of windsurfing. Shortly thereafter, in 1976, he won his first overall World Championship title, at the age of 13.[1]

Competing as an amateur, he went on to win successive World Championship titles from 1977 to 1979. After the emergence of the Professional Boardsailors' Association (PBA) — later to become the Professional Windsurfing Association (PWA) — Naish won the Overall World Champion title from 1983 to 1987, and the PWA World Champion title in 1988, 1989, and 1991.[2] He was renowned for his 'Table Top'[3] and 'Forward Loop' moves. Adding to his fame was his 'Longboard Loop', where he forward looped the 3.72m long Mistral Equipe.

In the nineties, branching out into new pursuits, Naish became a noted competitor in the emerging sport of kitesurfing. In 1998, he won the kiteboarding slalom world title. In 1999, he won kiteboarding world titles in both slalom and jumping.

As an international sports celebrity, Naish has been featured in numerous films, videos, news reports, and articles. As of 2006, thirty years after his first World Champion title, popular lines of sailboards, sails, and kitesurfing equipment are marketed worldwide under the Naish name.

References

  1. ↑ Simon Bornhoft (2001). Windsurfing. Stackpole Books. p. 74.
  2. ↑ "Robby Naish". Professional Windsurfers Association. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  3. ↑ "Robby Naish, Jim Drake and Hoyle Schweitzer are voted into the PWA Hall of Fame". Professional Windsurfers Association. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
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