What IS a sailing dingy anyway?! I know you have probably sat there wondering before, about something you've heard of and wanted to know more about.
What is it? What does it mean? What does it do? This happens to a lot of people.
For me, in particular just recently it was the phrase sailing dinghy.
That's dinghy with an h.
I always thought it was dingy myself.
I'm always enjoying learning new things, and sharing it with other people.
The sailing dinghy came about as a way to shuffle goods from larger ships to shore back in the day.
Deep docks weren't commonplace things, so the large transport vessels had to park out in deeper water while these smaller boats carried the loads in.
These little sail boats turned out to be quick and really maneuverable and the idea of racing them came into being.
They are generally manned by a single person, or what's called a two plus crew depending on the size.
Some boats can have a sailing crew up of up to eight people.
There are few different classes and types of dinghies.
Skiffs are the fastest, with their flat bottoms and narrow hulls.
Depending on the size it can take one to three people to sail one.
Cruising dinghies are for the more laid back sailor.
They tend to be a bit more stable in the water and have a smaller sail.
I was surprised to find out that a catamaran is a dinghy as well.
They have two hulls and a flat surface that lends to their speed in the water.
Even the Olympics have dinghy racing.
There are quite a few classes in Olympic dinghy racing for both men and women.
The sailing dinghy works by keeping the boat balanced.
To do this, the crew uses its body weight against the force of the sails.
They are built to capsize and you can usually upright one without any assistance.
Your best bet in learning how to sail one of these boats is to join a local sailing club or find a sailing school.
All ages can enjoy sailing and even racing these boats.
There are even some schools that have dinghy racing teams.
It's not too expensive of a sport because you can usually find excellent quality used boats for sale.
Learning all this about the term sailing dinghy has made me interested in trying it out.
Some things I have learned about it are that most of these boats go fast.
The risk of capsizing is there and if you have a fear of getting wet it might not be the sort of thing you want to do.
If you do roll your boat it's pretty easy to get it back up all by yourself.
Sailing one of these is something you can do alone, or with another person or two.
It's important to learn how to sail correctly, not only for your own safety but the safety of those around you.
And that this is a sport everyone in the family can enjoy if they want to.