Why Sailing is so Danged Interesting? (To Sailors)

Answer: It’s both physical and mental, with a foundation of advanced technologies and a dose of invention and daring-do thrown in. Watching it on TV, however, won’t capture these two pillars of sailing’s attraction, only the RESULTS. There’s a lot more to it, say all.

Some “for-instances:”

The sailing waters venue (such as in this past one, the actual FICKLE waters of Valentia, Spain, not the predicted STEADY one’s) offered major variables to both Defender and Contender, that helped or confounded each skipper at any given time.

Second, naturally, above all else (even above the MONEY spent) there’s the WIND, though these America’s Cup boats have masts so tall, the winds at the top of the mast might actually vary somewhat from what the skipper and crew feel in their faces. Winds simultaneous inspire, humble, betray, lie (when they suddenly shift or take a header), shock (when predictions turn to smoke), terrorize (mostly when spinnakers take a blast), and did I mention humble sailors world-wide?

Then, there’s the tide (up and down) and current (back and forth) in constant churn before, during and after the race. Weather services offer guidance and mathematicians make predictions based on un-measurable moon and sun forces. Gravity and global warming shake up the mix.

Heading out to the staring line, one skipper might be silently singing “happy songs” to the Wind Gods for providing the anticipated light or heavier winds on cue. Tacking around the upwind mark, however, these same friendly winds (because that’s the way they set the boat up at the dock) might come to a grinding halt (an incredibly unpleasant, nauseating curse) then blow with nature’s hidden fury in a matter of minutes. Or do both in the same race. Either way, sailors take what comes and figure that the other boat also has to contend with similar conditions—so it’s a matter of “outsmarting” them by anticipating the conditions slightly and reacting to them faster, quicker, better. Winners concentrate, react; losers drift off or react just a tad slower.

Overlay fickle weather conditions on top of hundreds of other variables and the very real possibility of what could be called “SAILING OVERTHINK” takes hold. It’s actually possible for these naturally triggered events to “freeze” the thinking of the tactician or strategist, causing a sort of second-stage hypothermia. The net-net, they become BLIND or unresponsive to actual sailing conditions, and call for wrong tacks or wrong sails at the wrong times…immediate death in sailing…to just stare into the distance, calculating the odds the other boat will break a halyard.
Sailing OVER-THINK: Bet on it most of the time!