Windsurfing debuts at the Olympics; Stephan van den Berg wins gold

Sixteen years after the patent, windsurfing sailed in the Olympic Games. The 1984 sailing regatta was held off the coast of Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, from 31 July to 8 August, with seven races per class on the Pacific.

The board was the Windglider, a one-design chosen so that every competitor sailed identical equipment. Stephan van den Berg of the Netherlands, already a multiple world champion, won the gold medal; Scott Steele of the United States took silver and Bruce Kendall of New Zealand bronze.

The map shows the Long Beach harbour with its long outer breakwater and the artificial oil islands inside it; the marker sits on the marina from which the fleet launched. Windsurfing has stayed on the Olympic programme ever since, on a succession of one-design boards, and since 2024 on a foil.