The Kite and Windsurfing Guide


Book Description

Europe's first comprehensive spot-guide for kitesurfing. 15 countries,more than 35,000km of coastline and over 1500 spots. includes select local knowledge of wind and waves,plus conditions on the water as well as onshore. 400 pages,1000 breathtaking photos and detailed maps of every region. The Guide also offers travel information on each country and its peolple as well as insights into each area's kite scene. It features a comprehensive introduction to Europe's meteorology and oceanography, explaining the most important weather patterns and wind systems complete with local wind stats and temperature charts. Europe uncovered - relevant to kiters and windsurfers alike.




San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide


Book Description

“The San Francisco Bay Shoreline Guide takes us on a walking and cycling journey around San Francisco Bay, unfolding the wonder, drama and beauty of one of the great estuaries of the world.”--Robert Redford "From the bustling waterfronts of our cities and towns, to our wild, windswept, and thankfully, protected natural wetlands, this is our fantastic guide to all of the magnificence of the San Francisco Bay Shoreline. Grab it and go on world-class journeys in our own backyard. I'll see you along the trail!"--Doug McConnell, Television Producer and Reporter “This guide helps to create an awareness and appreciation of San Francisco Bay.”--Sylvia McLaughlin, co-founder of Save the Bay Praise from the previous edition "There are absorbing stories here for the armchair reader and detailed guides for the active explorer. Read, enjoy, and cultivate your roots in the region."—Harold Gilliam "Comprehensive and copiously illustrated, this Guide is a treasure-house of user-friendly information. It reveals the equivalent of a national park hitherto unknown in our midst."—Margot Patterson Doss "This book is a complete guide to the Bay Area. All that's missing are the smells, so perhaps the next edition should be scratch and sniff."—Robin Williams




Tricktionary 2


Book Description

Tricktionary is extensive knowledge, along with tips and tricks to learn and enhance manoeuvre techniques. Experienced, professional athletes and coaches demonstrate simple to highly complex movements in a precise and stylish manner. The Windsurfing Tricktionary contains theoretical knowledge, as well as pretty much all the existing topics, tips and tricks for beginners, intermediates and even advanced riders. --




Windsurfing


Book Description

Combine the thrill, freedom and exhilaration of surfing, skiing and sailing, and you have an understanding of the attraction of windsurfing. This book is the ultimate guide to windsurfing; packed full of information and with photographs by John Carter, it offers a full explanation of equipment, a detailed description of the basic as well as intermediate and advanced techniques, and has specific chapters on planing, sailing smaller boards, gybing, wave sailing and much more. With over 200 great photographs, informative diagrams, a glossary and list of useful addresses, this is the complete guide to the sport.




Democratizing Innovation


Book Description

The process of user-centered innovation: how it can benefit both users and manufacturers and how its emergence will bring changes in business models and in public policy. Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users—both individuals and firms—often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all.The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products—most notably in the free and open-source software movement—but also in physical products. Von Hippel's many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive. Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses—the custom semiconductor industry is one example—that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.




The Kiteboarding Manual


Book Description

The Kiteboarding Manual is your complete practical guide to this fast-paced and addictive sport. It'll get you started with the kite and take you throughto flying it on the water, jumping, tricks and racing, as well as covering weather, wind and tide theory and helping you select the right kit. Sections cover: The origins of kiteboarding and massive rise in popularity in recent years How a kite flies and basic weather principles as well as background on tides and currents, waves, and wind vs tide Getting started on land – LEIrigging, assembly, launching and flying, body-dragging How to master your board skills –turns, stopping, rules of the road Going upwind, riding toeside, turning and transition Moving fast and riding waves; learning to tack and gybe Details on all kiteboarding disciplines from speed kiting to kiting on land How to improve your performance and enjoy incredible airtime! Packed with step-by step photo sequences explaining the basic moves all the way through to more advanced tricks, and including information on competitions and becoming an instructor, this is a book no kiter will want to be without.




Texas Aquatic Science


Book Description

This classroom resource provides clear, concise scientific information in an understandable and enjoyable way about water and aquatic life. Spanning the hydrologic cycle from rain to watersheds, aquifers to springs, rivers to estuaries, ample illustrations promote understanding of important concepts and clarify major ideas. Aquatic science is covered comprehensively, with relevant principles of chemistry, physics, geology, geography, ecology, and biology included throughout the text. Emphasizing water sustainability and conservation, the book tells us what we can do personally to conserve for the future and presents job and volunteer opportunities in the hope that some students will pursue careers in aquatic science. Texas Aquatic Science, originally developed as part of a multi-faceted education project for middle and high school students, can also be used at the college level for non-science majors, in the home-school environment, and by anyone who educates kids about nature and water. To learn more about The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, sponsors of this book's series, please click here.




The Stormrider Surf Guide Europe


Book Description

Stormrider Guides are the ultimate surf travel guide books, providing essential surfing information from around the world. Generally acknowledged as the finest surf travel books available, they are often referred to as The Surfers Bible. Now in one book, the Stormrider Surf Guide to Europe is the most comprehensive guide to where to surf in Europe available. All the heavyweight European countries are covered as well as the North Atlantic island chain plus Scandinavia. Containing detailed seasonal water temperatures and wetsuit recommendations, wave type, and wind and tide information, as well as tourist and cultural information, this book will be appreciated by surfers and non-surfers alike. Includes France, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Italy, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland, Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands.