It's All in the Wind

From the beginning of time, humans have responded to the pull of the sea. Not only has water satisfied our literal thirst, but also our yearning to explore and travel, and the desire to trade for exotic goods from distant shores. Egyptian artifacts dating back to 3500 B.C. depict sailboats, proving that some of the world’s earliest civilizations used this resource in much the same way as we do. Today, sailing remains a prime form of adventure and relaxation.

 

“When you’re on the water,” relayed Norm Meyn, sailor and longtime member of the Illinois Valley Yacht and Canoe Club (IVY Club), “it seems like you’re in a different world…The smell of the water, the bobbing, the movement through the water, it kind of reminds you of other places that you’ve sailed. You can close your eyes and imagine you’re anyplace…”

In the Minds of Sailors
Cruising a sailboat is quite a different experience from racing. According to Dave Monroe, a member of the IVY Club since 1975, this difference is mostly “in the mindset.” Cruising is done more for pure pleasure—sailors can kick back, have a few drinks and enjoy the company of friends and family. Racing, however, is a competitive sport and requires the astute attention of everyone on board. Monroe likened the difference to shooting some hoops versus competing for the NBA championship. In the latter situation, you wouldn’t just go out onto the court and throw the ball around—you’d work as a team, implementing plays and strategies, making every shot count. “Everybody wants to win…[and] exert as much skill as they have,” he added.

Other differences between cruising and racing include the type of vessel and how it’s prepared—how it’s rigged, the way things operate, and the quality of the sails and lines.

Choosing the right sailboat is based on one’s skill level and objectives. When first learning to sail, children are often taught in boats called prams, which, because of their small size, are used exclusively for that purpose. After getting a better grasp on the sport, students advance to more technical boats, which require greater skill to operate.

The most common sailboats are 22 feet long, but it’s not unusual to see 27-foot sailboats on the Illinois River. The bigger the boat, the more populous the crew. A 22-foot boat is usually crewed by four people, but it can be sailed by three or five. On a 27-footer, the crew would consist of a minimum of four people, but would more commonly have five. According to Monroe, most Olympic boats have crews of one to three people, determined by the class rules of each race.

Wings on the Water
The hull, or body, of the sailboat is an important factor in racing. Cruisers, although usually well taken care of, aren’t perfectly manicured. But according to Monroe, “racing sailboats are perfectly done. The keel is perfect, everything’s smooth, there’s no drag at all under there. Preparation of the boat is a big part of it. Likewise, if you look at the deck layouts…all the lines are very efficiently laid out and tend to be very high-tech.” The America’s Cup, the most prestigious sailing regatta and match race, is well known for testing boat and sail designs.

There are two types of hulls: displacement hulls and planing hulls. Displacement hulls displace the water and create greater resistance—clearly not the optimal choice for sailboats, which have planing hulls. Planing hulls make boats come out of the water and plane on top of it, allowing them to go faster. The speed at which a sailboat can travel is largely determined by the length of its hull. Longer-hulled boats can go faster because the stern wave can spread out under the entire length of the boat.

Most sailboats have keels attached to their hulls to provide stability and keep them from capsizing or drifting sideways. According to Monroe, keels are like underwater airplane wings and sails are like above-water wings. “The same forces that make airplanes fly are what make sailboats go,” he said. The shapes of the hull and keel are used to provide lateral resistance under the water and prevent the boat from just drifting downwind.

The sail itself greatly influences a boat’s racing performance, and there is strong competition in the industry to produce the best sails. Racing sails are made of high-tech materials like Kevlar, carbon fiber and mylar with specialty fibers, while cruising sails are made out of dacron, which last a long time but do stretch and begin to lose their shape the day they’re affixed to a boat. Racing boats generally need new sails every three to five years, because even the slightest bit of stretch can make a tremendous difference in a race setting, while the sails on cruising sailboats are replaced only every 10 to 15 years.

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