Skimboarding is basically like any other sport where you ride a board: you get some speed, hop on the board, and ride. Unlike most boards, a skimboard doesn't have any wheels, just a smooth surface where you ride the wet sand on the beach.

Now, usually you don't get too far (especially if you're not good at it), unless you're going downhill. Simplest way to fix this would be attaching a sail to the board. Ride the shore for as long as the wind lasts.

[see link]
-- ghillie, Jan 08 2005

Skimboarding http://www.skimonline.com/introduction/
A good introduction to skimboarding. [ghillie, Jan 08 2005]

I am amazed that I have never seen this. Maybe it is because skimboards are small and sails must be big. I have never seen a skateboard with a sail either. But still, +.
-- bungston, Jan 08 2005


a small power kite maybe? I think power kiters do this, without the board. I don't know why.
-- tiromancer, Jan 08 2005


How about a hoop made of 3/4 inch black plastic water pipe with attached contour bed bottom sheet to make a handheld circular sail? I have tried this on a small boat for wind assist.
-- mensmaximus, Jan 09 2005


I don't think this will work. Boards that sail, like catamarans and skateboards and sailboards, have something (wheels, centerboard, fin, skeg) that allow the board to move freely in just one direction. The board resists the wind's push in the other direction, and that creates the squeeze that pushes the board foreward. The bottom of the skimboard is smooth, so it can slide equally well in any direction. The wind can't get a handle on it.
-- robinism, Jan 09 2005


It would work, but you could only go exactly the same diection as the wind.
-- bungston, Jan 09 2005


[bungston], that makes sense. The skimboard could only "run."

It seems like whenever I visit the beach, the wind is blowing from sea to land, not along the shore.
-- robinism, Jan 09 2005


/sea to land/ I thought exactly the same thing. I cannot think of a way that a keel or skeg could be attached to a skimboard. You could, however, attach a wind keel to the rider. The rider would wear a large sailfin which would be held parallel with the board. The sailfin would resist lateral movement in the same way a keel does, permitting the rider to sail the skimboard at an angle to the wind.

The sailfin would be designed to resemble the fin of a sailfish.
-- bungston, Jan 09 2005


I'm way out of my depth here but...
A keel is stabilized by the water because the water is not moving at exactly the same speed and direction as the air. (?)
The above-water keel that you describe would be subject to air that is moving the same speed and direction as the air that hits the sail. No differential. So how do you get the squeeze?
-- robinism, Jan 09 2005


Can't you just put grooves on the bottom of the board?
-- tiromancer, Jan 09 2005



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