Most people think that sailing is a hobby and that people sail only for recreational or social purposes. The truth is that reality is somewhere in between.
Sailing as a sport is a significant part of athletics and especially recently has gained an important increase of attraction and success. According to recent research, sport sailing is the third dominant sport to water sport, after swimming and rowing. It is also an Olympic Sport.
What is sailing and what it includes?
Sailing is a sport that includes a vessel, which uses the wind and sails as its main force for its propulsion. It is stated that it was firstly appeared in the Netherlands. However, King Charles II made it well-known in United Kingdom at mid-1600s, after his exile.
Since that time, sailing became famous and large races have been held since 1851 to showcase the best sailors in the world.
Type of sailing races
More specifically about the sport, there are differ racing types and different kind of boats. The races are divided into fleet, which includes at least four boats, into match that is about competition between two boats for their speed and into team that includes two teams, each one of them has three boats.
Kinds of boats
There are plenty kinds of boats, while Greek teams have excelled in many of these categories.
For example, Nikos Kaklamanakis won the gold medal on Atlanta Olympics and the silver in Athens, and competed with Lechner A390. In addition, Sofia Mpekatorou and Aimilia Tsoulfa were world winners in the women category and gold medal on Athens Olympic Games, competing with 470 type of vessel. Among others, some kind of boats are the finn, star, soling, 420, lating and others.
Especially these past few years, sport sailing is a thriving sector in Greece, mostly because of geographical and meteorological conditions. Greece is one of the most dominant sailing forces in Europe.
