retail action sports genre action sports and outdoor gear founded 2006 founders brothers nick & billy smith headquarters ventura ca united states area served worldwide website www.sporting sails.com sporting sails is an outdoor product company specializing in downhill and downwind innovations for skateboarding skiing snowboarding and surfing . the equipment lines are catered towards skateboarders mountaineers skiers longboarders snowboarders surfers and endurance athletes . the company sponsors professional athletes from the worlds of long distance skateboarding surfing skiing snowboarding and longboarding including adam colton and long treks on skate decks . contents 1 history 2 patents & trademarks 3 environment 4 awards 5 press 6 references 7 external links history edit spring 2006 mill valley california born brothers nick and billy smith were looking for fireworks and schnapps in the attic of their grandfather s bill smith jr. home in vail colorado when they discovered his ski klipper invention from the late 1960s . 1 nick and billy smith tested the drogue parachute wingsuit flying like device on skis before attempting to try on a skateboard in the hills surrounding the marin headlands and san francisco california . on a skateboard creating drag at will by deploying the sporting sail during the descent enabled nick and billy smith to control their speed and stability on steeper terrain . today sporting sails is based in ventura california close by to patagonia clothing hq where billy smith currently works full time as their wetsuit developer . 2 patents & trademarks edit the sporting sail logo was designed by california graphic designer connor bondlow in 2010 and resembles an image of a flying squirrel and the american flag april 6 2010 the patent us us d613 360 s titled multi purpose body sail with swallow tail was issued by the uspto to the family inventors of what is now referred to as the sporting sail bill smith jr. billy smith iv and nick smith . the trademarked phrase reinvent the descent expresses the company s pursuit for inspiration and innovation . 3 environment edit the company is a member of one percent for the planet international organization founded by yvon chouinard . at least one percent of sales are donated to non profit non governmental social welfare programs such as surfrider foundation and save the waves coalition . awards edit december 2010 sporting sails won grand prize at the lloyd greif center for entrepreneurial studies new venture seed competition at the usc marshall school of business . 4 5 nick smith usc alumni class of 2011 pitched the sporting sail business concept to top investors in the greater los angeles california area and was awarded 12 500 to fund the idea . press edit sporting sails has been featured in time the new york times legalzoom bear naked granola patagonia san francisco chronicle patch mill valley psfk los angeles times fox news los angeles discovery channel mercedes benz marin independent journal cbs interactive business network kairos society & nyse santa barbara independent santa barbara news press . references edit wallace amy may 14 2011 . innovation gliding across generations . the new york times . sporting sails a downhill family tradition . patagonia clothing . first1 missing last1 in authors list help donnelly sean . the sporting sail speed wind and skateboards . time magazine . university of southern california http stevens.usc.edu read release.php press id 88 los angeles times http articles.latimes.com 2010 dec 27 business la fi smallbiz students 20101227 external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title sporting sails & oldid 600619879 categories retail companies of the united stateshidden categories cs1 errors missing author or editorpages using infobox company with unsupported parametersarticles created via the article wizard navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 21 march 2014 at 17 14 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view