Mohamed Abdu Ali / CIK / H00247650
Introduction
The sport of sailing is a well-known
sport played all over the world. Nowadays, some countries are putting it in the
first place of the list of sports. Also, it is now a well-organized sport in
some competitions and it has a lot of classifications of boats and different
types of races. In this research, I will talk about the history of this sport
and its development during the recent years. Also, how the UAE trying to bring
this sport to the country and the competition they are holding.
History
Sport of sailing or yachting is used
before as a way of transport. The word yacht comes from a Dutch word jaght" or "jaght
schip," and it means a light, fast naval craft as it is originated from
Netherlands.
The sport of sailing was first
brought to England by King Charles II in 1660 when he was exiled to Netherlands.
At that time, sailors where sitting together every day at certain place and
they’ve called it yacht club. The first and oldest club was founded in 1702 in
Ireland. However, the oldest still exciting club was found in New York in 1844
and it is called New York Yacht Club (NYYC). After that in 1851 they made the
first race against the British and it was around England. The Americans have
won that race and since that they have called it “American‘s cup”. This cup
used to be held between 1851 and 1983 until Australia won it in the 80’s and
since that, some rules came out and some changes in the boats designs. In the
1900’s, the sailing sport made it first debut’s in Olympic games and appeared
in the games since 1908. The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union
(IYRU) in 1907 was the first step in spreading the sport worldwide. In 1996 the
IYRU changed it's name to the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and
'yachting' at the Olympic Games became 'sailing'. Nowadays there are a lot of
competitions and big cups competitions all over the world. Also, there are a
lot of types of boats which will be explained in the next paragraph.
Types of boats- Optimist
This
type of boat is made specifically for the children who are under the age of 15.
This is the best type for the beginners from the youth. Because it is simple
and it doesn’t need heavy weight sailors. It was first designed in 1947 by a
gentleman named Clark Mills. It was made by wood, but nowadays it is made out
of fiberglass.
- Topper
The
topper boat is an 11 foot boat designed by United Kingdom. It is made mainly
made for the purpose of training before getting upgraded into more professional
sailboats.
- Laser picco
While
this boat is different from other as it has a main sail and small jip and it
can carry two people. It is mainly designed in Europe and then transforms it to
USA. It is now widely used in the US schools for the purpose of training and a
one step before the laser pro boats as it has nearly the same system.
- Laser
Now
we will talk about the more professional boats under the name of laser. There
are three main types for laser and they all share the same boat design and size
but different sails. They also called cat-rigged and it means that they have
one sail only. The first one is called 4.7 and it has a sail size of 4.06 meter
square. The other one is standard and it has a sail size of 7.06 meter square
and the last one is radial which has smaller sail than Standard which is 5.7
meter square.
- Others
There
are other types of sail boats which is meant for more than one sailors. One of
the most famous one is called catamaran and Hobie Cat boats. There also many
types of boats but they are not different however only the size.
Types of Sailing Races
- Match RaceIn this race it is meant for individuals only. One sailor should be in one point and they make a race between a lot of sailors and the one who finishes first get one point. The points will be added from at the end of the race and the boat who has the most points wins the cup. However, it seems very easy for us but there are a lot of tactics and strategies in sailors in order to give themselves advantage over the other competitors. This match race will last around 20 minutes.
- Team race
This type of race usually happened between two teams or more.
And each team should have at least two boats to four boats depending on the
competitions rules. This race is not the same as match race, when the first
boat arrives it will gain one point and the second two points and so on. At the
end of the race, the team who has the lowest point will win. This race is
shorter than match race which is 10 minutes.
- Fleet race
Fleet race is totally different from the previous two races
as it has a lot of types of boat racing in one race. As an example the slow
boats classes will start first and then the faster will start later. This race
does not have duration like the other races as it has around 10 races and the
top 10 boats with lowest scores will then compete for the medal race.
Sailing in UAE
Nowadays, UAE is trying to bring this
sport to the people by building sailing schools. The famous sailing school that
began this sport is Emirates Heritage club in Abu Dhabi and they are trying
from years to teach and attract the youth to this sport. They have really done
a great job as they are now a lot of Emiraties sailor who are competitors in
all over the world. There is also a recent opened school also for attracting
the youth to learn about sailing with a modern way and coaches from all over
the world.
Also another thing that UAE is trying
to make competitions cups here in Abu Dhabi and all over the UAE. And the most
recent one that UAE has held is the ISAF sailing WorldCup and it was well
organized and so many sailors participated from different countries here in Abu
Dhabi.
Volvo ocean race
This is the biggest race event which a race
that starts from Spain and pass through the entire world and the final country
station is Abu Dhabi. This is big step for the country as this race is watched
by the world and there is an Emirati boat who is participating and we with an
honor saying that they are now in the first place representing the UAE.
