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Sports: Sailing

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[ Background | Equipment | Where ]

Background of the Sport

Moored sailboats at marina

Sailing uses the wind to power the boat's motion. It's not as much by pushing the sail (as is the case when sailing downwind) but by creating forward-pulling lift using airfoil-shaped sails (when sailing across or into the wind). The joy of sailing combines the joy of being on the water, the power you feel in harnessing natural forces, and with the thrill of going fast without significant energy on your part.

Sailing dates back to the ancient Phoenician traders, though the technology of sailboats has improved dramatically over the years. Innovations in the past 50 years include fibreglass hulls, metal masts and booms, synthetic sails, computer controlled laser cut and sewn sails, and computer aided design for boat hulls have made sail boats faster, safer, cheaper, and easier to maintain.

Small sailboats under 20 feet in length come in two main configurations: either single hull or multi-hull (like a catamaran). They typically have one mast, one mainsail (the big one), and a jib (the small triangular at the front, to direct the wind around the mainsail), and sometimes a spinnaker (the large round-shaped one for going downwind). Small boats are designed for a limited number of people to crew, with them either sitting in or around the cockpit (which may be a tightly stretched tarp between the catamaran hulls), or supported from a trapeze rig over the edge of the boat (in high winds). Smaller boats with centreboards include modles like Albacores and Lasers.

In coastal waters and in larger lakes, boats can get larger (with fixed keels), more sophisticated (and much more expensive), and can handle larger numbers of people. Some such boats even have multiple masts, and complex sail configurations. Such larger yachts are suitable for a sailing on open water for significant distances, and provide sleeping, kitchen, communications equipment, even entertainment facilities.

Equipment
Yachts with gear at a marina

To go sailing, you'll need a boat, and lifejackets.

Where

Sault is the connecting point for three of the great lakes: Superior, Michigan, and Huron. You can head west and north to cruise Superior's North Shore. Just north of the Sault are a number of protected bays. Goulais Bay at the mouth of the Goulet River has two government docks. Further north is Batchwanan Bay, with a w\twin-peaked island in the middle of it, and just to the north Chippewa Falls which marks the east-west midpoint of the Trans-Canada Highway. At the northwest end of the bay is Batchwana Bay Provincial Park. You pass the scenic Algoma Mountains to reach Wawa, known as a major stopover for the Canada geese migration route. Take a side-trip to the gorgeous High Falls on the Magpie River. For more details see http://www.superiorboaring.com or http://www.nosta.on.ca

Heading east from the Sault, you pass Sugar Island, in the middle of the St mary River, which forms the international boundary. At the mouth of Lake Huron, your first stop is St Joseph island with two harbours, one at Hilton Beach and Richards Landing and a 1796 fur-trading fort. You now pass through the North Channel, nestled between Manitoulin Island (the largest island in a Freshwater lake in the world) and the north shore of Lake Huron.. On the north shore are the towns of Blind River with its marine park and Spanish with its renowned farmers' market, and along the shore of Manitoulin you pass the towns of Meldrum Bay at the west end and Little Current (with its rotating railway bridge) and Wikwemikong on the east. At the northern end of Georgian Bay, at the mouth of the French River you'll find the town of Killarney and Killarney Provincial Park.

To get involved, contact the Algoma Sailing Club.

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