Smooth sailing

Its difficult to know where to begin, the polished with the glee of achievement faces of the children, the warm exultation of the parents, the electric buzz of excitement of something being accomplished at the closing ceremony of the Sailing Championship of the National Games held at the Marina Club Karachi.
Its hard to figure out from where to begin the round of accolades from the beaming with pride administration of the Sailing Club for their litany of achievements: their; success in bringing back sailing to the national games after an absence of six years: the introduction of the optimist class of boats which allowed youngsters from ages 7 to 15 years to participate; the grooming of youngsters providing them with coaching, physical fitness, and moral encouragement so that they were able too even compete in international events, the foundation of the youth committee to look after their future concerns so that even after they cross this age group their talents don't go to waste and they are absorbed into other sailing categories.
To the children for fighting valiantly against a range of weather conditions thrown against them from a lack of breeze which left them marooned in the midst of the waters to dangerous, cyclonic weather with gales. To the parents for their support, encouragement and constant attendance during the three days and the constant ferrying before for training. And that all in all everything seemed to fluidly fall into place, the children, the events, the planning for the present and the future, the only thing unpredictable was the weather which only helped the contestants to realise their strength and weaknesses, proving their mettle.
One would have thought that the events would have been postponed but the young contestants went ahead. Fierce winds, choppy waters not only made it hard to steer the boat interfering with the steering mechanism but the rain made sailing dangerous for a drenched sail made manoeuvring the boat difficult leave alone the lack of visibility, of bailing the water out and the rain-soaked numbness of shivering in the wind.
The national optimist champion Waleed Tobeh admitted that he at first felt 'freaked out' by the weather. "It was a hard battle to steer the sail and without gloves one's hands can be badly injured," he commented, recalling the time when he could not use them for the day and had another competition the next day.
"The wind was the most frightening element as it could tip the boat over or cause something to break. By the end of the races the children were worn out."
"Sailing is about catching the wind to steer the boat," he explains, "trying to maintain a balance against its force with one's own body so that the boat does not tilt or topple over" "Tiny mistakes cost the race, of catching the gust wrong, steering the boat too much to the left or the right so that the wind shifts to the competitor's advantage, not bumping into other boats during the race etc," he adds.
Waleed has been sailing for three years and training seriously for about one and a half to two years. Like many other kids he was hooked to the play station and had a lot of time on his hands. One fine day he chanced upon a flyer advertising sailing and went along. He wasn't too keen at first, found it a bit slow but because he had too much free time in the summer he returned. Obviously he got hooked preferring it to rowing which is his brother's forte. The coaches provided encouragement. Now Waleed's play station lies idle, covered with dust. You can tell by the bright spark in his eyes which grows more intense as he talks about sailing that he there is no return, the next competition usurping most of his thoughts and time, training at least three days of the week for four hours if not everyday.
He has achieved what many kids dream about to have gone abroad to Bahrain, Sri Lanka and Qatar to compete in international events on his own merit. Besides the exposure to different cultures, the events abroad provide valuable training experience in dealing with different alien waters and weather conditions as well as competing with a new set of participants, which can be both good and bad.
The Sri Lankans were generous enough to provide tips about techniques while the participants of another country ganged up in not too fair play. Besides the experience of meeting people from all over the world, a sense of team sprit and camaraderie is developed in these competitions. One of the basic rules of sailing Waleed relates is the sailor- in-distress rule where you can even get disqualified if you do not submit to it.
If some one tips over and is sinking it is the other sailor's duty to help him as he once had to save someone in a race pulling the sailor into his own boat leaving his for the rescuers to take care of. Besides it, one helps each other out in fixing the boats. Dealing with nature on one's own, the discipline of training, looking after the boat boosts the child's confidence. Then there is the added windfall of extra pocket money as prize, awards He is now training in India. With something to always look forward to life can never be boring.
Kiran Ikram has been sailing for two years. What she finds challenging is the fact that one has to use his brains and body to make the boat move in sync with the wind. She explains the different techniques of sailing, of catching the wind in a manner to allow it to go as fast as possible. "The better use you make of the wind:" she explains, "the better sailor you are. Speed is gained through experience as you learn the ways of harnessing the wind from different directions, whether from the front, back or the side." She found the rough weather conditions of the wind and the rain stimulating for it is in conditions like these that your determination and fitness is tested.
"You have to control the wind and not let it control you. You have to break the force of the wind through the angle of the boat, as the angle effects the speed and the wind you are able to catch." She loves the high winds because "you can reach high speeds, catching the waves, the vigorous action" Fitness helps as one has to keep the body in a certain posture to maintain the balance, especially in light winds.
"One has to sit in awkward positions for a long while to avoid stalling the boat or to prevent it from stopping. Hence light winds are just as challenging" she maintains. "On the first day of the championship there was barely any wind, 0 knots, it was just air and we had to rack our brains on finding ways to use the air to push the boat to the limit".
Kiran is only 12 but she is competing against 17 years olds in the Laser 4.7 category after competing in the Optimist for only three months. She has been to Qatar with gusts of 40 knots in February and Bahrain in June, besides the National Championship where she won the Bronze, although she had recently suffered an injury to her face when she had been struck by a sail. Going abroad gave her exposure to different weather conditions, peoples, cultures and different techniques of sailing of the other teams.
"After learning of the different techniques and approaches one develops their own style of sailing" she says. However, "we don't have the same facilities here such as wave catching because we don't really sail in the open sea. We need skilled coaches and equipment, the other competitors abroad have many sponsors behind them. Despite that we do well."
"Now, however there is more support and training," she continues as more people have joined the club so by training with each other we can train better and improve".
She trains three days a week for fitness. Sails on Saturday, Sunday for four hours and once or twice a week after school. "Demanding" parents would say "What about academics, don't they suffer?"
But one of the rules of the Youth Sailing Association is that the young competitor must have at least a B grade to compete or he is suspended. Kiran's next goal is the Dubai Junior Regatta 2005 ,
In the National Games the contestants were adopted by national teams who provided them with kits etc. Sabir was taken by WAPDA, Waleed by the Army, Kiran by NWFP. It gave children a sense of national pride as they bonded with their new friends.
The Sailing Association does not wish to stop here. It has ambitious plans for the future to take sailing to the children of all segments of society, to make it more affordable so that the less privileged can also participate, in the form of grants etc.
Healthy bodies translate into healthy minds and a healthy outlet such as sailing is what our recreation/ activity-starved children desperately need. Nothing like the cold sea air, mist, the salty spray of a lonely sea to awaken the mind, as the poet said, "For the call of the running tide is a wild call and a clear call which cannot be denied."