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Woody Brown

Aquatic Sports

Woodbridge Parker Brown, known as Woody Brown, was an American surfer and watercraft designer born in New York City on 5 January 1912 and died on 16 April 2008. He took up gliding in California as a young man and in 1939 set a world record for altitude, distance and time aloft by flying his glider Thunderbird 263 miles from Texas to Kansas. In 1936 he built a hollow plywood surfboard using glider construction techniques and later added a small keel to improve control. After moving to Hawaii he became one of its first big wave surfers and board designers, nicknamed Spider, and joined the Hot Curl surfers. In 1947 he designed the Manu Kai, regarded as the first modern ocean-going catamaran, and a surfing spot at Lahaina is nicknamed Woody's after him.

Facts
Birth Year
1912 1
Connections

Plays

Gliding, Sports
Source Woody Brown (Wikipedia)
Surfing, Sports
Source Woody Brown (Wikipedia)
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Source Woody Brown (Wikipedia)Lead, nationality
Quote, Lead, nationality
was an American surfer and watercraft designer best known for inventing the modern catamaran.
Sources
1. Woody Brown (Wikipedia)
  • Early life
    Woodbridge Brown was born into a wealthy family of Wall Street brokers on January 5, 1912, in New York City.
  • Lead, nationality
    was an American surfer and watercraft designer best known for inventing the modern catamaran.
  • Plays: Surfing, Lead
    was an American surfer and watercraft designer best known for inventing the modern catamaran.
  • Plays: Gliding, Aviation
    Brown was the first to launch a glider off the cliffs at La Jolla and in 1939 set a new world record for altitude, distance, and time aloft
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