Sailing Along with the Wind and Waves !National Sailing Championships 2007

　A great city is usually established along a river. A beautiful river is always decorated with sailboats. After years of promotion, sailing has become a hot sport in the Maritime Capital. Sailboats scatter on Love River. It makes the already beautiful river scenery even more glamorous. Not only does it leave a lovely impression on visitors, but it also becomes a pride of local residents.

　This summer, Love River experienced excitement with sailing. The Education Bureau of Kaohsiung City Government sponsored the "National Sailing Championships 2007", which was held on August 4-5 on Love River between Kaohsiung Bridge, Jhongjheng Bridge, Cisian Bridge, and Jianguo Bridge. Eighteen racing teams from all over the island, with 225 racers in total, came to participate in the race. This was the biggest sailboat race line-up in the history of Kaohsiung sailboat races. Water, wind, sailboats, plus beautiful flowers off the shore were woven into an exhilarating sight.

 

　This year the race included the following categories: optimist (men/women), laser standard (men), laser radical (women), mistral sailboard (men/women), and canoe match racing (elementary/junior high/open). There were 225 sailors from Kaohsiung City, Tainan City, Pingtung County, Changhua County, Yilan County and Taipei County participating in the championships. Among all of the races, canoe match racing had the largest number of participating sailors.

　Jheng-Fong Jhan was the oldest sailor in this year's race. He is also the Chairman of Kaohsiung Sailing Boat Committee. After more than 30 years dedicated to promoting the sailing sport, Jhan is very happy to see more and more young people getting involved in sailing. This year, he registered in the canoe match racing event. Bing-Sian Li from Sanmin Elementary School is only eight years old, the youngest in this year's championships. He participated in the men's optimist group.

　Only trained sailors can manage optimist sailboats, laser sailboats, and mistral sailboards. On the contrary, canoe match racing is manageable for both old and young. Anyone who is not afraid of water and knows how to balance strength of his/her right and left arms when paddling can compete on a team. This is the reason why canoe match racing is one of the racing items this year - to let everyone experience the joy of rowing along the waves.

　During the time of racing, white sailboats moved along with the waves of Love River as if they were dancing fairies chasing each other. It adds to the beauty and attraction of Love River. The National Sailing Championships 2007 came to a successfully end. We hope sailors will continue to improve their sailing skills to a higher level and join a sailing race on Love River next year!

乘風逐浪揚風帆：2007海洋首都全國瘋帆大賽

◎文／晴川　◎攝影／鮑忠暉

　　一座偉大的城市必得有一條河，一條美麗的河流必得有飄移的風帆。經過這幾年來的推廣，風帆運動已儼然成為海洋首都的當紅運動，愛河上經常風帆點點，為綺麗美景憑添無限風光，成為外地人對海洋城市的美好印象，也成為高雄人的驕傲。

　　今年暑假，愛河帆影再加溫，由高雄市政府教育局主辦「2007海洋首都全國"瘋"帆大賽」，於8月4、5日兩天在高雄橋、中正橋、七賢橋、建國橋之間的愛河水域分區舉行，共有來自全國18支代表隊伍的225位選手參賽，是高雄市歷年帆船比賽陣容最盛大的一次。水上風帆鼓浪，岸邊鳳凰花開，妝點出令人陶醉的景色。

　　今年比賽船型項目及組別為：樂觀型帆船男子組及女子組、雷射型帆船男子標準組及女子幅射組、指定型風浪板男子組及女子組，以及獨木舟團體接力賽國小組、國中組和開放組，共有高雄市、台南市、屏東縣、彰化縣、宜蘭縣及台北縣選手225人報名參賽，其中以獨木舟團體接力賽報名人數最多。

　　選手中年齡最長者為66歲的詹正峰先生，他同時也是高雄市帆船委員會總幹事，推廣帆船運動逾30載，看到越來越多輕年人加入帆船一族，他感到很欣慰，此次他也報名參加獨木舟團體接力賽；年紀最小的是目前就讀高雄市三民國小的李柄賢小朋友年僅8歲，為樂觀型帆船男子組選手。

　　樂觀型帆船、雷射型帆船及指定型風浪板競賽需經過訓練方能駕馭，門檻較高；而獨木舟團體接力則只要不怕水，划槳時懂得左右使力對稱，就能組隊報名，是一項老少咸宜的運動。此次，特別將獨木舟團體接力賽列入比賽，讓一般民眾也能體驗玩水逐浪的樂趣。

　　比賽期間，只見每位馭帆選手乘風破浪，在愛河上揚起片片白帆，映著波光粼粼的河水前行，像在愛河上跳曼波的精靈，追逐嬉戲，更襯托出愛河之美。今年的海洋首都全國『瘋』帆大賽已圓滿落幕，期許每位馭帆高手能精進技術，明年齊集愛河舞台再「尬」風帆。