Sailing
First learning to sail at the age of 12, I have sailed boats RS Quba, RS Fiva, FE23, J70.
For me, sailing provides me with one of the shortest distances with nature. Instead of harnessing it, I need to work with the wind and water.
Sailing also gives me a great level of freedom and excitement most of the time, as the boat, along with me, travels through the air and water.
Most of the time I sail, I am in the FE23 as the helmsman and captain. I am chosen to be on these positions because of my calm personality, rational mind, and sensitivity to the water and wind.
Previously, I always practiced alone, as I did not have constant teammates. Therefore, I got to be familiar with every part and role of the boat, how to set things up, how to pack things back, all done by myself.
However, through lots of failure because of inadequate practice and thus poor cooperation between members, I learned that we should always devote time to practicing together.
Therefore, in the last race, the 2020 China Cup, we sailed really well. As the captain, I sincerely thanked my members for always supporting my decisions and me as a person and being optimistic and active all the time. I know we will always be friends.
I would like to say that sailing is not a popular sport in China, so the community is relatively small. Yet, within that small community, we share our love to the ocean and freedom, which brings us together. Thus, no matter who they are, my teammates or rivals, I wish them all the best!
Spinnaker Sailing
Spinnaker is the big triangle sail at the front of the boat, which can only be used when the vessel reaches downwind. Spinnaker Sailing is thus a special technique which can help the vessel reach a much higher speed. Meanwhile, it requires high level of teamwork between crew members, especially the cooperation between the helmsman and spinnaker trimmer, both of whom should pay high level of attention and be highly sensitive to the wind.
This video (2019 Oct.) shows the time when we practiced spinnaker sailing. The wind is not strong, so the tack corner of the spinnaker is trimmed farther. We eventually cooperated smoothly in the 2020 China Cup after tons of practice.
A Tacking
This video (2020 Oct.) shows a tacking, which is to change the direction of sailing when sailing upwind. Our FE23 is the right one.
It shows that our boat is adjusted to utilize the wind better and can thus catch up the front one quickly in the same angle to the direction of the wind as the front one.
Also, it is better not to lose speed after tacking, which we do quite good in the video.
Flying on RS Fiva
RS Fiva, unlike FE23 shown above, is a dinghy, which can have three sails, including the mainsail, headsail, and spinnaker. In the video, we do not open the spinnaker since we are sailing upwind. In this case, two members are required to perform all the jobs, and I am the headsail trimmer.
The wind is relatively strong in the video, so we need to throw our points of gravity outside of the hull, in order to balance the vessel in case it capsizes.
Taking the Oath in 2020 China Cup
On the open ceremony of 2020 China Cup Youth Regatta, I represented all sailors (athletes) to take the oath to conform to the rules and principles. This video is exact this scene (2020 Dec.)