So you are sailing on a small, 7.5 meter dinghy. You do not have enough space for everyone on the ship (or rather, boat) but you still try to go fast enough to get there first. Everyone is occupied with something else. As I try hard to steer the boat towards the direction of the island, Ozan tries to collect the sheet. Derin Abi is at the front trying to figure out what to do. I can see the ships behind us all trying hard to pass us. So eventually we get to the island. It is only the three of us on the boat and the boat is tippin like crazy. The wind gets stronger as we pass the promontory; it is now double the strength. To get to where we want to go, I steer the ship in a running position (running is a technical term for sailing straight downwind). Ozan lets go of the sheet as Derin Abi pulls the derrick to the side and we start riding the waves. "Bring out the spinnaker" he says.
Ozan brings a blue bag out onto the deck. Derin Abi takes it to the front and attaches to the stout pole of the spinnaker. He tosses the sheets of the spinnaker to us. "Pull" he screams. So I let go of the rudder and pull. Then up comes the huge, thin sheet of blue fabric. With it I feel the pull it has on the boat. The rest is a hazy dream. You feel the pull of this huge thing on your body even though you are on a boat. You hear the sound of water, you feel the water hit you hit your face every time you hit a wave. You are terrified when you see the front of the boat dip into the water and salty water floods the deck. You know you are going to catch a cold tonight but it does not matter, you have to go on. Then comes the new wave from behind the boat, and you fly. The front of the boat does not even touch the water, it is just the spinnaker and the wind working in harmony to propel you forward in time and place.
(Note: Spinnaker is a huge -about 128 meter squared in our case- sail that can only be used for "running".)
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