Windsurfing is a recreational sport, most popular at flat water locations around the world that offer safety and accessibility for beginner and intermediate participants. Windsurfing is a surface water sport that is a combination of surfing and sailing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the early 1970s from the surf culture of California. Windsurfing had gained a following across North America by the late 1970 and had achieved significant global popularity by the 1980s.