Welcome to my blog. As this is my first post I will attempt to define what this place will be.
I am going to write about sailing and everything associated with racing boats. After many hours of browsing I could only find a handful of blogs about sailing that were worth reading. Most of those I discarded were tedious examinations of a cruising log, or clique RYA-Ben Ainslie-Team GBR fan blogs. The desire to write a blog came from discovering the lack of interesting information. Therefore, it only seems right to begin with what this blog will not be:
- The aim of this blog is not didactic. I am not going to try to become (or make you) a better sailor. There will be no how-to guides.
- I do not want to write a blog detailing my sailing experiences in forensic detail. Those blogs do not engage me. A blog is already a self-absorbed endeavour without also making yourself the content.
- I do not want to write about cruising, about the pros and cons of different anchor shapes, or the latest advancements in sail furling technology. There will be no photos of ugly, badly set up, unseamanlike cruising boats.
I am interested in racing and the ideas associated with racing. I want to look at history, culture and themes. This will involve writing about:
- Those great sailors who have pushed the sport forward. Elvstrom, Curry, Fox, Connors...
- Racing at specific clubs and specific locations, both the history of racing at these places for its own sake, and to try to judge where is the sport is now and where it is going.
- Individual boats and classes, their stories and what they tell us about the sport.
- Anything else which I think will add to my understanding of the sport, and which I consider interesting enough to share.
The danger in this broad approach is that this could become a wide, unmanageable space. However, I hope that a common view will tie all this together, that sport cannot be understood through the over analysis of news, the study of celebrity, or the celebration of mediocrity. I want to understanding sailing better, and writing here seems the best way to do it.
