SAILING

Summary of the event. What actually happens?

Well sailing is pretty straight forward. The basics are that you have to go a certain distance and then come back. You cannot start ahead before the horn to start. Also the people outside cannot help in any matter. The first time sailing was put into the Olympics was 1900. It next appeared in 1908 and has been on every summer Olympic program since that year. The number of people on a sail boat at the Olympics is usually 10-12 sailors. Each sailor had a different job to do like one would be that captain the other would be his crew. There would be people hoisting the sails and keeping the ship tide. There are also medical people on board. Sailing hasn’t always been that name. In the early day people use to call it yachting.

What does it feel like to participate?

One sailor (No name available) said it is like a swinging ship ride at an amusement park. The ride can be easy depending on the wind and the waves. If the waves are big it is hard to steer and the chances of you getting wet is great. If there is no wind it is hard to go fast. Women are also aloud to compete at these events. They were actually aloud to compete with men but in 1984, separate sailing events for women were made. It would be a good honor participating at an event at the Olympics representing your country. Also it would be a great experience as you would get to meet new people from different countries and learn about there countries. You also get to go to different countries and explore. I think riding on a sail boat at the Olympics would be the greatest thing in your life bedsides being born.

What kind of training is involved?

Well you need strong arms to steer in tough waves so you will need a lot of arm strength. Core strength is another big one as you will need to stand up and keep you ground so you need to do a lot of squats and lunges. But the biggest one of them all is mental training. You have to be to come over sea sick. Also you have to know what to do so you might have to read a lot of books. You will need to sit in a classroom and get taught how the sails work and how they are set up. You will need to learn where everything is on the boat. You will also have to prepare yourself for what ever comes. So you have to organize your boat. A clean ship is a happy ship so you will have to keep your ship clean tidy. So you probably want to keep a mop and broom on board. A kid that wants to be involved has to train super hard from a kid and has to go through a try out and get a nod to go to the Olympics.

What equipment do you need?

What you need is a boat and a bunch of life jackets depending on how many people on board. You will need paddles just in case you have a broken boat. Also you will need flares if you get lost. You need an anchor just in case you decide you want to stay in one spot say for fishing. If you were to fish you would need fishing poles. You also need a trailer for the boat as you need to take the boat out of the water as well as putting it in the water. You will also need a bucket or a water compressor to get the water out of the boat just incase you get water in the boat. You will need rope because surely you will need to tie stuff like tying rope to a safety tube. Another thing is a safety tube because if you fall out and there is no safety tube you are pretty much dead. You also need an engine because paddling won’t help that much if waves are going against you. A life raft is what you want as well. If you boat gets wrecked you will want an inflatable raft. Sails are another thing, without them you won’t be sailing at all.

When and where is the event being held during the upcoming Olympics in Beijing?

The sailing event of the 29th Olympic Games will be held at Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center from August 9-21, 2008.