Sailing

Sailing is an enigma of a sport, probably the one where minor changes count the most. The tension and stress in a boat in a crucial moment is palpable. And a twist of a rudder by a centimeter can throw the entire race, or conversely, win it all. A minor slip-up can feel horribly punishing, or you might just get by unscathed. And other sports are like that, golf for instance, but at least then, you see the consequences quickly. In sailing, it’s a race to the finish where you don’t know if that mistake you made two minutes ago is what cost you until you finish fourth behind others who got away with what you could not. Sailing is also probably one of the most stressful sports, when it decides to be. Just putting together your boat can run the risk of losing a line that flies in the wind, needing a whole team to retrieve, to letting your partner drift to see as your boat is being rigged, to any other number of problems. And once you get onto the water, if winds run high, you’ll find yourself leaning half your body off the boat, relying on a strap of fabric to keep you in. And in a second, you have to drop it all, jump to the other side of the boat, and redirect yourself to match. And all of it is exhilarating. The adrenaline of pulling it all off is astounding. Nothing feels better than a coordinated team managing to get it all done. And that could be you, next spring, if you join the Norwell/NDA Sailing Team, welcome to all, experience or not.