Surfing

Surfing is a surface water sport in which a person (the surfer) rides a board (the surfboard) on the crest of a wave as it carries the surfer towards the shore. A variation, bodysurfing, entails the use of no board and is considered by some the purest form of surfing (see separate entry for Bodysurfing).

Two major subdivisions within stand-up surfing are longboarding and shortboarding, reflecting differences in surfboard design, including surfboard length and riding style. In tow-in surfing (most often, but not exclusively, associated with big wave surfing), a motorized water vehicle, such as a personal watercraft, tows the surfer into the wave front, helping the surfer match a large wave's higher speed, a speed that is generally, but not exclusively, a speed that a self-propelled surfer cannot match.
Source: Wikipedia