サーフィン用語（５） ― takeoff

オーストラリアでサーフィン中の男性がサメに襲われ死亡するという痛ましい事故がありました。


An Australian surfer died after being mauled by a shark Tuesday, the first fatal attack by one of the marine predators in Australian waters in almost two years.

Fellow surfers dragged the man from the water of a Western Australian beach and administered first aid, but the 31-year-old victim never regained consciousness, witnesses told local media.

"We wrapped a jumper around his legs and used a leg rope as a torniquet," surfer Eddie Kilgallon told the Perth Now website after the attack close to the tourist town of Margaret River.

"I was holding what was left of his leg together. The bottom half of his thigh was exposed and ripped open. Half of his calf muscle was also torn to shreds."

Kilgallon said fellow surfers tried to resuscitate and kept talking to the gravely injured man, who had been surfing at South Point break close to Gracetown, some 270 kilometres (165 miles) south of Perth.

（中略）

Gracetown resident Rob Alder, who performed mouth-to-mouth on the victim, said conditions were perfect for surfing and he was watching the waves to decide which break to surf when he saw the man disappear under the water.

"The board was floating by itself in the take-off zone, it looked as if it had been snapped," he told ABC radio.
(Madeleine Coorey. Australian surfer killed by shark. MySinchew.com. August 17, 2010.)


"takeoff"とは、身近には飛行機の離陸ですが、サーフィン用語では、


To catch a breaking wave and start a ride. When combined with "spot"; it indicates the place in the lineup where the surfer drops in to begin a ride.
(Riptionary Surf Ling Lexiconより引用)


を意味するようです。

つまりは、サーフィンにおいて、波乗りのスタート地点、ということです。