Sailing. Sailing in Russia

Thanks to the vast territory on which the Russian Federation is located, the country's population has an excellent opportunity to develop all possible sports. Mountaineers improve their skills thanks to the mountains of Altai, the Urals, Yakutia, Astrakhan and other formidable hills. The presence of a large number of rivers and seas allows you to master various types of rowing, surfing, sailing and others. The last category will be discussed in this article.

Dutch origins

Sailing has a long history of its existence. Its development began with the inception of shipping and shipbuilding. Six thousand years ago, when the best way to travel was the sea and river routes, the role of the sail was already great. With the release of ships into the open ocean, its significance only increased.

Initially, sailing began to develop in those countries whose population, due to the geographical location of the area, moved from one settlement to another predominantly by water. The first state on whose territory yachting was born was Holland. After a while, the English adopted this sport. In the seventeenth century, sailing races were held for the first time in history. After a while, the first yacht clubs appeared on the territory of Europe. After several centuries, sailing became popular in America. And then he moved to Russia. The origin of the word "yacht" has Dutch roots. Translated from the national language of the country of windmills and tulips, it means "motor, sailing-motor or simply sailing means for traveling on water". This word is well established in many other states.

Innovations of Peter I

Sailing in Russia has a three-hundred-year history of development. The initiator of this kind of activity is the reformer and innovator Peter I. As is known, the tsar of all Russia loved all novelties and innovations. So, in the eighteenth century, traveling through the territory of Holland, Peter I noticed that on weekends and holidays a huge number of people entertained, going to sea on small ships with a sail. Upon his return to Russia, the Tsar erects St. Petersburg. In the same place, he forms a fleet and puts the beginning to the shipbuilding industry. 1718 is considered to be the year of the first sailing club in Russia . He was under the command of the Nevsky Fleet, consisting of one hundred and forty yachts. The children of the nobility were forcibly sent to learn yachting skills. They studied the marine business, sailed, participated in various competitions, etc.

Forgotten and Restored

After the death of the emperor, the Nevsky Fleet created from under the cane was dissolved. From that time until the middle of the nineteenth century, sailing in Russia was in a state of embryo and did not develop at all. In 1846, Nicholas I decided to revive yachting and issued a decree on the creation of the St. Petersburg yacht club. The first competitions were held a year later. The venue of the event was the Gulf of Finland. On the track with a length of twelve kilometers came out 7 yachts of various types and displacements. The crew of each vessel was comprised of servicemen of the Baltic Fleet. The weight of the smallest yacht was 51 tons, and the largest - 257. The victory in this competition won "Varyag".

Growing popularity

Since that time, such competitions have been held several times a year. At the end of the nineteenth century, many yacht clubs were officially registered on the territory of the country. At that time, their number exceeded a hundred. Moscow, Warsaw, St. Petersburg, Kiev and many other populated centers enthusiastically developed sailing. Photos of competitions and trainings, as well as various articles on this subject, were issued by many yacht clubs. Periodicals were published monthly and enjoyed a frenzied popularity among fans of these sports.

Participation in international competitions

In the spring of 1912 a significant event occurred. It was then that the Russian Sailing Race Union was created. Its first members were the selected yacht clubs of St. Petersburg. A few weeks later this organization was accepted into the International Union of Sailing Competitions. This membership allowed Russian yachtsmen to take part in the fifth Olympiad held in Stockholm. One of the five Russian teams won a bronze medal at the competitions.

Troubled time

The events that followed the First World War and the October Revolution became a kind of stopper for the development of yachting. Many members of the clubs went abroad, leaving their boats to the people. Those were nationalized and used to patrol coastal areas. There was a special Marine detachment. There, volunteers studied navigation, naval practice, signaling and so on. It should be noted that the Marine detachment is the first sailing school in the territory of the Soviet Union. In the turbulent wartime, to strengthen the military power of the yachts, machine guns were mounted on their decks, the crew was armed with rifles and rifles. Thanks to the coordinated actions of the members of the Naval Detachment, many English attacks were reflected. The crews of some ships were the youngsters of the Baltic and other fleets. Thanks to the excellent training methodology, the Naval Crew of the Petrogradsky District, created in 1921, successfully "forged" cadres for the Red Army. In addition, the detachments of the institution conducted various competitions, water festivals and other events.

"Iron curtain"

Yachtsmen had a huge help during the Great Patriotic War. After its termination sportsmen of the USSR had no opportunity to participate in competitions of the international class. Because of the Iron Curtain, the presence of the yachting teams of the Soviet Union at European competitions was also undesirable. However, this in no way prevented athletes from honing their skills on the water expanses of their native country. Onega, Ladoga, White and other lakes, as well as the seas of Russia allowed not only to train, but also to conduct various competitions.

With the change in the political system in the country, the attitude of other states to it also changed. Gradually, representatives of sailing from Russia became known abroad. Currently, at almost every international competition, you can meet our national team, whose trainer is the master of sports Vanin Sergey Nikolaevich.

Current state of affairs

The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by the appearance of the first international union of sailing. Under this name, the organization existed until 1996. Then it became known as the International Sailing Federation. During two years of intense activity, this institution united under its wing more than a hundred small similar agencies located in different countries.

At the moment, sailing is a kind of sport activity, in which participants compete with each other, using different equipment. This includes ships and boats, special sledges moving on snow and ice, carts that can move along a solid surface. All these means have a common common feature - the sail. Today this type of activity is spread all over the world. A huge number of competitions now and then are held in different parts of the world.

Winter kiting

There are several types of sailing. Races on yalah (yachts-singles), regattas, kiting, winter windsurfing, etc. are held in more than fifty countries of the world. The opinion that the best times of the year for a sailing sport are warm seasons, is mistaken. The time of frosts and snowfalls also contributes to kiting and windsurfing. The first category is the most progressive winter sailing. Kiting requires a kite. The second name is "kite". It has various sizes, which allows you to "catch" a wind of varying strength. It is worth noting that kiting is all-weather. Depending on the weather, only the equipment changes. In the snow it's skiing, snowboarding. Skates will be the best help on the ice, on the water using surfboards or twintype, and on the ground - rollers, buggies and mountboards.

Snowkiting is very popular in Russia. Anyone can try his hand at this sport. It does not matter whether the weight, the constitution, or the age of a person. Compared with other areas of sailing, kiting equipment is not characterized by high cost.