Sailing

📖 In short

Sailing is a fun sport where we steer a boat pushed by the wind. People sail small boats on lakes and big yachts across oceans. Sailing needs an understanding of wind and water and skill in handling the sail.

🤩 Did you know?

A sailboat can sail to within about 45 degrees of the wind's direction.
Small sailboats rarely go faster than 32 kilometers an hour.
There are round-the-world sailing races that last months.
Arab sailors' dhows sailed with beautiful triangular sails.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Sail and wind

A sail is a big piece of strong cloth. When the wind fills it, it pushes the boat. The sailor adjusts the sail with ropes to set it at the right angle to the wind.

🔍 Against the wind!

The amazing thing is that a sailboat can move toward where the wind is coming from, not straight but zigzagging left and right, because the sail works like an airplane wing.

💡 The rudder

At the back of the boat is a rudder the sailor moves with a wooden arm called a tiller, steering the boat left or right.

🎯 Safety at sea

Everyone on the boat wears a life jacket, learns to swim well, listens to the weather forecast before setting off, and children only sail with an instructor.