Sheer Sailing Pleasure o/b Americas Cup Racing Yacht

It has always been my childhood dream to sail on big boats. I was raised near the longest river in Peninsular Malaysia. I would often sneaked out from my strict home to catch a glimpse of the boat or "sampan" as they called it in Malay. This sampan ply the trade between my hometown and the town or I would rather say Village across the river. The current can be pretty strong at times, especially during the rainy season between November to March. This chance to view the sampan "cross-river" operations only occurs on my way back from prayer at a nearby mosque.

I was astonished by the good seamanship of the coxswain who steered and manoeuvred the boat each time prior coming alongside the small jetty. I noticed that the bow of the boat is always pointing at a fix point, although bodily the boat had drifted closer to shore and thus eventually landed on the jetty with minimal impact. Thus, were the complex and yet (later I was made known how scientific it was) taken for granted by the local folks as a "norm" that the boatman or coxswain should know what to do.

Recently I was onboard a huge sailing yacht in Auckland, New Zealand. This exact boat once used to compete in the "Americas Cup" which is a prestigious match race between two two sailing clubs : the defender and the challenger whereby Royal NZ Yacht Squadron won the Cup ! To know more about the Americas Cup , do check it out at the link below:
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America's_Cup

As we proceeded out of Auckland harbour, we were made as "crew" and being given a quick lesson about trimming the sail and steering the boat. Most of the people that join the boat were non-mariners. We were lucky as the weather was great. Clear visibility and very little low lying clouds. The view of the city of Auckland from the boat was magnificent.

There were a lot of beautiful bungalows and mansions stretching along both sides of the bay. The boat that we were on must be cruising at least 15 knots (about 28kph). The single-hull boat was cutting through the wave with great ease. The billowing wind catching on to our big sails and with the perfect weather......this is the dream that I have always dreamnt when I was a young boy. Now,  I definitely believe the saying "Life is Good" bearing it's real meaning !

will continue ......