Contact Sailing

April 12th, 2008

There’s many sports that attract more of Australia’s youth than sailing. Rugby Union, Aussie Rules and Rugby League all have huge followings of teenagers, many times larger than that of sailing. It could be said that this is purely because your adolescent teens just like to beat the living daylights out of each other all in the name of sport… and if this is so, why can’t sailing come to the party?

Team Racing is without a doubt one of the most popular kinds of sailing at a teenage level. 2 teams of 3 boats competing for the best results as a team across the line, whilst using the rules to their advantage whilst outsailing their opponents.

But what if we made that into a contact sport?

Solid plastic boats with bumper pads around the outside. All sailors must wear a helmet, knee and elbow pads and other protective clothing. The rules follow the blue book to the letter, except those pesky rules about “avoiding collisions” and “time and opportunity” have been removed.

Someone tries to sneak inside you at a mark? Close the gate and physically push him over the top of the mark! Port tacker on the start line? You and your team mate next to you can show him the error of his ways, a quick collision sends his boat capsizing into the drink.

Dangerous? Perhaps, but so is rugby. Fun? For sure!

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