On learning to Sail

I picked up sailing on a whim almost 2 years ago.

I had this image of windswept hair and rugged tanned bodies toiling away at ropes and winches, mostly garnered from watching shots of the Americas Cup. And I naturally thought - "Hmm, what better way to get legions of women looking adoringly in my direction?" Getting from that point to actually signing up for a course didn't take too long.

Three buddies of mine and I signed up at the Pasir Ris Sailing Centre and over a weekend, sat through classes, learnt about ropes and knots and winds and the rules of the sea. And at long last, we unloaded our 'Topper' class boats and sails, learned to rig them appropriately and headed out into the water. I must say it was one of the best experiences of my life.

It was also somewhat suicidal and foolhardy - I can't swim. I can't even float. So naturally, my life vest became my best friend as we went through the capsize drills and the three times that I capsized over the weekend.

Me sitting on my first boat (the Topper). As you can see, it's pretty small.

Of course, the realisation later that the 'Topper' class boat was made for 8-10 year olds did prick my ego somewhat. I dare say I picked it up pretty well (probably because I'm almost 3 times that age), and a few months later, the same buddies of mine and I attended a conversion course for the 'Laser' class.



The Laser is what is used in Olympic and competitive solo sailing, and we could see why. For a single mast boat, it was amazingly fast and I can't fully describe feeling of the wind and spray on your face and through your hair as you catch the wind and hike over the edge of the boat.

All this was 18 months ago, and since then a few things happened. I got married, and so did two of my buddies. And all of a sudden priorities changed. I still wanted to go sailing again, but didn't have the guts to go it alone (I can't swim, remember?).

But now, we will probably go sailing next Sunday again. And that was because of an mind-altering experience I had this weekend (and also because our memberships to the sailing club expire in August).

More on that in my next post.