Sail sport)

The sailing is a nautical sport that consists of controlling the dynamics of a boat propelled solely by the wind in its sails. Sailing, as a sport, can be recreational or competitive. The sailing competitions are called regattas, and the boats are sailboats.

History

Recorded published in Harper's Weekly, representing a sailboat race in 1872.

Pleasure or sport boating was born in the Netherlands in the 17th century, but it was King Charles II of England who made it a competitive sport in his country, after his return from exile in the Netherlands. The first recorded regatta took place on the River Thames, between Greenwich and Gravesend, with the ships of Charles II and his brother the Duke of York competing.

In the United States it had a great impact, and in 1851 the New York Yacht Club sent a schooner called America to compete against British boats in the Queen's Cup. The America won against 14 rivals and took the cup, giving rise to the oldest competition in the sport today, the Copa América. With the advent of the steam engine, the sail lost its importance as a means of transport and its playful and sporting aspect increased.

The evolution in materials has also caused very important changes during the XX century in the construction of yachts, and The use of carbon fiber and aluminum has given the boats much greater speed.

Dinghy sailing and cruising sails

Light sailing boats are considered to be those of smaller length, which must be grounded on land before and after sailing. They are usually models with identical measurements, weights and rigs, which regulate the bodies that govern the different classes. They usually have small or collapsible rudders and daggerboards.

Cruising boats are those others, usually of greater length, that stay afloat all the time, since their daggerboard and rudder are not removable. They can belong to a class or be unique designs. There are many cruising boats that are used only for competitions, or regattas and that require special maintenance in clean and protected slipways.

Competitions

Yachting competition at the port of Sydney, Australia, in 2004.

Until 1868, sailing competitions were governed by particular rules developed by each yacht club, which represented many arbitration and interpretation problems when several clubs wanted to compete with each other. On July 1, 1868, a congress sponsored by the "Royal Victoria Yacht Club" British in order to create rules that could be accepted by all. In 1906 the metric system was accepted in the measurement rules, and in 1907 an international body was founded that regulates all sailing competition. It is currently called the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), and is the entity in charge of publishing the Sailing Regatta Regulations. ISAF runs both dinghy, Olympic and cruising sailing, although some cruiser regattas in particular use an International Measurement System (IMS) which is regulated by the Offshore Racing Council (ORC).

Without a doubt the most important competition is the Copa América. Other competitions that follow it in media coverage and professionalization are some transoceanic regattas such as the Volvo Ocean Race, the Vendée Globe, the Barcelona World Race or the Mini Transat 6.50.

In recent decades, regatta circuits made up of several events in different locations that score for a single one-design yacht competition have gained prominence. In this category are the Audi MedCup Circuit, the Copa América World Series, the Extreme Sailing Series, the GC32 Racing Tour, the Star Sailors League and the SailGP.

As for traditional dinghy sailing, the most important competitions are the world championships of each class (Snipe, Optimist, Vaurien, Sunfish, etc.), and the Olympic Games. Sailing has been an Olympic sport since the 1896 Athens Olympic Games, but bad weather conditions prevented the regattas from being held that year, so the first medals were awarded at the 1900 Paris Olympic Games. to classes and categories. The great figure of Olympic sailing has been the Danish Paul Bert Elvstrøm, who won four gold medals between 1948 and 1960. Later he came to compete with his daughter, without much luck. Britain's Frances Rivett-Carnac was the first woman to win a gold medal, winning it with her husband in 1908 in the seven-meter category.