Gameplan: Hobie Cat Sailing in Danjugan Island

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Gameplan: Hobie Cat Sailing in Danjugan Island
Gameplan's Amanda Fernandez takes on the Hobie challenge

DANJUGAN ISLAND, Philippines – In sports and in different aspects of life, we always like to believe that size does not matter. But in Hobie Cat sailing, Gameplan host Amanda Fernandez learned that standing 5’1” and weighing only a hundred pounds could be a disadvantage.

The Hobie Cat is a type of boat with twin hulls in parallel, and is designed for racing. Because of its light body and huge sail, a Hobie Cat can run as fast as 40 kilometers per hour. Maneuvering this boat requires serious training because miscalculating the wind can flip the boat over. “It’s not like wakeboarding where the boat can just come around and pull you. Or, like with snowboarding, you’re taken up via lift and then you just go all the way down. It was such a thrill to be able to read where the wind was coming from,” said Amanda.

Amanda was taught how to pull the ropes used to control the sail, and when to slip to the other side of the boat to keep its balance, depending on the wind direction. Her small built was a disadvantage because she had to exert so much effort to balance the boat against the wind to keep it from toppling over. “You have to be smart with your movement. You don’t have the liberty of stepping down on the sand to get back on the actual Hobie Cat to pull it around. You need to be fit, you have to be strong,” she said.

“The irony of Hobie Cat sailing is that, people consider it an extreme sport given the fact that people die and people get hurt. But when you’re out there, there’s a strong sense of tranquillity that you get and, at that point, nothing else matters,” she shared. – Rappler.com

 

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