A competitor is sailing at the Rizhao Olympic Sailing Base in east China's Shandong Province on Saturday, October 17, 2009. The sailing and windsurfing competitions of the 11th National Games is held here on October 17-25. [Photo:CRIENGLISH.com]
By Sun Yang
"You will never understand the charm of sailing if you don't watch it from the sea."
These were the words a fellow sports journalist once told me. And I recently discovered he was right.
Saturday afternoon, I was lucky enough to be able to join a group of photographers on a media boat to grab some close-up snapshots of a sailing and windsurfing competition of the 11th National Games in Rizhao, east China's Shandong province.
The weather forecast predicted a fresh breeze, providing challenging conditions for sailors. But for spectators, it made for a fierce and exciting contest.
The seashore soon disappeared as our boat drifted towards the venues which were about 1-2 kilometres from the bank.
The wind was stronger than we expected and high waves bashed our boat. It was like an afternoon on the Splash Mountain ride in Disneyland.
Soon, we saw a group of small white sails as the windsurfers lined up to begin the race.
As soon as the starting flag was raised, the competitors used the wind to sail their boards as fast as they could towards the floating markers.
As we moved closer, we saw competitors manoeuvre their sails, boom at full tilt with their bodies hanging over the side of their boards. Windsurfers can normally travel faster than sailing boats because they are smaller and lighter.
Watching the competitors fighting against the elements from such a close distance is quite different from following the race on dry land, where it's usually only possible to discern a number of little white triangles floating on the sea.
That's the real charm of windsurfing. A sport full of strength and speed with the added challenge of competing against the ocean.
It was truly a wonderful experience to witness the competitors sailing against the background of a blue sky on the choppy sea.
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