Why do you sail? What is it that drives you to pursue this hobby. Just a general question.
For me I like the tweaking. The little adjustments in sheeting, weight placement, and setup that can give you just that little bit of speed over someone else. It appeals to my anal-retentive, obsessive compulsive nature.
Because I can! <img src=
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Clayton
Recreation. In the literal sense. Sometimes when flying a hull on the H-16, I would loose awareness of where my feet stopped and the boat began! <img src=
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Now, I have that seem sense of renewal, minus the beer, and the challenge of improving my own skill level.
Nice people too, mostly.
It's easier than rowing.
Number 5...
Because in 1981 the Hobie 16 was a chick magnet, really.
Number 4...
Satisfies primal thrist for oneness with the elements.
Number 3...
Got a great deal on the Y membership, the lessons came with it.
Number 2...
Love the water, but I'm a cheap bastard and wont pay $4/gal for gas.
and the Number 1 answer for why I sail...
I got bored having sex all the time <img src=
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Damn, must be rough to be you <img src=
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Damn, must be rough to be you <img src=
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Credit to my wife for that line, it's a running joke around our house.
The people. That is only reason, really.
First big regatta was Hobie 16 NAs in Wildwood NJ in 1993 - there were this really friendly couple of guys that helped my 250 lb. soon-to-be brother-in-law Josh and I set up the yellow 87179 - H16 racing had hooked Josh so hard, he'd gotten a VA vanity tag for his car - FRST RND A. Anyway, these two guys were funny, relaxed, and very helpful. One was named Wally and the other was named Mark.
The parties that week were incredible. I had a regatta fling with a college cheerleader that was on vacation, saw the boats and wanted to know what was going on. She had the cutest freckles...
After that event, I started crewing on anything I could beg my way onto, just so I could keep hanging out with the fun people. Soon after that, I moved to Pensacola Beach - I found a killer beach bar with good pool tables. Some skinny dude laid his quarters down and we started talking - he said he was a sailor too, and I dropped Wally's name. The guy laughed at me little for acting like such a noob, but he started taking me sailing and hooked me up with some other really cool people. His name was Kirk.
Definitley the people. All other aspects of sailing I can get in other pursuits, but nowhere else do I get the social experience of a regatta. Is it the salty air? Beer and rum? Sandy feet? Lots of skin? Dunno, don't care. <img src=
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I sail to get away from reality. One of my early sailboats was named Escape. Things are much more peaceful out on the water.
Now racing, that's a whole different ball game! <img src=
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I would definetly say that people is what made racing fun for me. Sailors tend to be some of the greatest people. I haven't met one that I disliked, or couldn't tolerate. Round home I've been on the water once with a another cat so the sailing community around home is non-existant. Teaching people how to sail, and altering their often times very wrong impression of what sailing is can be a great experience as well.
John- life sure is rough <img src=
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Why sail? To paraphrase from a movie line (guess):
To conquer
To have my enemies crushed before me
And to hear the lamentation of the women
(he's one big dude -and it's an old movie)
I think that was part of his campaign slogan, too. <img src=
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I'd give you some swag, but I don't have any.
Besides, we're not worthy Alter Man
Why Sail? the wind is God's Gas Pedal. over 25 years of sailing and I still get a rush when I pull in the main sheet and harness that power into speed.
Why Race? The competition and the ever changing conditions makes it challenging. The people make it DAMN FUN. Don't think I'll ever out grow it.
I do it for the adrenaline rush, also there is some feeling that I can't get anywhere else. When that hull pops up and I am just flying along with no one controlling what I do except me.... It just doesn't get better than that.
Now racing, that's a whole different ball game! <img src=
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I agree. It's two different things. It is possible to love to sail but hate to race, or love to race but not be particularly interested in just going sailing for the sake of sailing. And some people like both.
To conquer
To have my enemies crushed before me
And to hear the lamentation of the women
(he's one big dude -and it's an old movie)
John wayne-
The Conqueror
?
I'd use the words of 15th century Portuguese poet/writer Luiz de Camoes, who wrote about the great sailors and navigations of that time.
Navegar é preciso, viver nao é preciso
It translates both as
To navigate is a need. To live is not a need
and
Navigation is precise, life is not precise
For the joy of no motor fumes and noise <img src=
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For the competition. <img src=
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AND most of all for the sure least of any stress. That is why I named my boat
Stress Free
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Doug Snell
Luiz, wasnt that from Plutarch, way before the 15th century?
Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse
Started out as:
B**bs, Beer and BBQ
Then: The people associated with the above.
Have added rum since.
B**bs, Beer and BBQ
Then: The people associated with the above.
Have added rum since.
There's a joke in there about man-boobs, but I'm not going to touch it - especially since your wife is crewing for me in 2 weeks. <img src=
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Freedom.
To conquer
To have my enemies crushed before me
And to hear the lamentation of the women
(he's one big dude -and it's an old movie)
John wayne-
The Conqueror
?
Close Pete - think of another big dude who just happens to be Governor of a state in the West.
Movie name rhyhms with
Ronan
Negative ions -- addictive.
Navigare necesse est, vivere non est necesse
Now that you mention it, I remember someone pointed this to me once. You are right.
But Camoes significantly improved the original expression. He could have used the Portuguese word
necessario
which is exactly the same as
necesse
and
necessary
.
Instead, he cleverly translated
necesse
as
preciso
, meaning both
necessary
and
precise
. This gave the expression a second meaning, and both of them are interesting reflexions on sailing and life:
The need to sail surpassing the need to live and the mathematic precision of navigation as opposed to life's uncertaintys.
Beyond philosophy, the second meaning praises the sailors whose stories he wrote about. The Portuguese and Spanish excelled in navigation and at that time they were the only Europeans who could say navigation is
precise
.
Camoes expression is far more interesting and meaningfull than the original. I stick to him.
Cheers,
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Never mind; please don't repeat it.
My reasons (not in order)
1, The fun ; You cannot beat sailing down wind with the kite up, on the wire in a cloud of spray
2, The adrenaline rush; sailing in big winds is really something else
3, The people; sailors are the bet people on the planet (a close second comes skiiers)
4, The challenge; I truly believe we do the hardest sport in genearal terms; we have to be fit (ish), we need to understand the conditions (ish) and we need to understand the technology.
Yes, doing triathlons is harder physically
Yes, Surfers can read the waves better than we can
Yes, F1 is more technical.
5, The challenge of always knowing you could have done better. I don't believe anyone, ever will have a perfect race.
6, The people, did I mention that ? I still know people I met 28 years ago when I started sailing, we've shared the good times, the great times and the bad times and the sad times.
7, Just being out on the water, be it racing or taking people out for a blast.
8, Did I mention the people ?
My son says
Why Not?
To Sail or Not to Sail... what a dumb question!
Clayton/John
For some it's not a matter of
drive.
It's a matter of NEED to get away from land and all the responsibilities attached to it. As somebody else said, sailing is ESCAPE.