What is competitive sailing?
People often tell me sailing isn't a sport, or at least that they don't understand it. The purpose of this blog is to explain it. There are 5 main disciplines of sailing which are known as Fleet racing, Handicap racing, Pursuit racing, Match racing and Team racing. The first, fleet racing, is the racing done competitively by many sailors and is the type of racing done at the Olympics. In this form of racing everyone races each other around a course in the same boat. Second, handicap, is the type of racing done at most local lakes - slightly less competitive generally. It is where boats of different speeds race each other and the time it takes them to finish the course is recorded and then put into a system that adjusts everyone's time so that faster boats are given a handicap. Eg. no matter how slow your boat you can still win the race if you sail well. Thirdly, pursuit racing, is where the slowest boat sets off first then at specific intervals other faster boats set off. ...