there is an unmatched beauty of when it all works, when it's easy, when dolphin surface to look at me.... when I am on the water and the sun is setting and it looks like heavan all around me.

Also it's a great workout. . .i would weigh 600 lbs if i dint do this every weekend.

Lastly, I am better with sails ... than i am with people.. and i aint that great at sails

because I had a co-worker that was nice enough to teach me everything I needed to know about sailing a Hobie 16 (including how to get safely around a race course)I was young, so a major criteria was something fast, and they were cool looking

visual definition of cool for that era

On Brass Poles, at least...

Give me the exact same course, boat, and weather conditions, and I'll guarantee you will never have two identical races. That's the challenge...

And I'm more likely to survive a crash in sailing than motorsports.

The racing makes me a better sailor so the few times I'm cruising to a destination I don't get in trouble

Why do I sail? Something about the effect of wind and water on my brain. Other than I'm a Pisces, I can't explain it.

Why cats? Started by accident (cheapest boat I could find at the time was a cat). Hooked on the speed and freedom that brings (able to do some serious cruising around the bay in a few hours, would take at least all day on a monohull).

Why do I race? Challenge, intellectual, physical, etc. as mentioned above. Camaraderie before and after racing is also a major key.

Only problem with racing is that I tend to get so focused on the racing, that I don't pay as much attention to my wind and water thing...

Mike

It was the party at the 1993 Hobie 16s in Wildwood that hooked me on regattas. There was this cheerleader from U of Missouri...

The Key Team taught me to be a better racer and how to really love being on the water...

It was chairing the Alter Cup that made me want to be a race officer...

It was chairing the Multihull Council that made me want to volunteer internationally...

It was serving on the US Sailing Nominations Committee that made me want to try and fix things...

It was serving on an ISAF committee that made me want to race internationally...

It was racing at the PanAm Games that made me want to go to the Olympics...

Slow, steady progression...

Ditto

Plus I like the Quite ride without the motor makina racket and a stink.

My dad was always talking about how great sailing was and how he'd dumped the boat after we were born. I later found out that it had simply rotted out from under him and replacing it was not on his agenda.

So I nagged him about wanting to sail (I had proven to be a water lover in Kayaks by then) and we rented a Hobie 14 (I think) in New Zealand where we then lived. I loved it and later in life I discovered wind surfing and caught myself thinking how a boat would do a much better job of holding up a much bigger sail..
So I took lessons and got hooked. BUt that was on monohulls and I noticed how I hated not being able to go faster so I switched to cats and haven't regretted it.

These days I don't race much. Sailing to me is mostly about being a part of nature (life, the universe and everything), (can you tell my boat is stored in parking space # 42?)

I like to be out on the edge sometimes and experience the feeling that I'm just a small piece of the puzzle. This is not a religious forum so I'll spare you the spiritual haziness that is tied to sailing for me, but its a big deal to me.

I do it because I enjoy it. There are more good days than bad days and if you can learn from the bad days you will soon have some more good days.
I think that racing has more enjoyment when you sail for a whole season and can experience genuine improvement. It certainly works that way for me. I often say to beginners that it is a significant challenge to race for a whole season and to finish most of the races. At first they are a bit offended as they think that finishing is easy and that they want results. As the season goes on they realise that it is hard (for a beginner) and that they are improving and they enjoy this improvement.
I too have seen people spend lots of money, get poor results and drop out. If you set the right goals you get improvement and enjoyment. If you set the wrong goals you get frustrated and drop out.