Water Sports in Goa

Para-sailing

Parasailing, also known as parascending, is a recreational activity where a person is towed behind a vehicle (usually a boat) while attached to a specially designed parachute, known as a parasail. The boat then drives off, carrying the parascender into the air. If the boat is powerful enough, two or three people can parasail behind it at the same time. The parascender has little or no control over the parachute.

There are six parts of a parasail. The harness attaches the pilot to the parasail, which is connected to the boat, or other speeding vehicle, by the tow rope. The activity is primarily an amusement ride, not to be confused with the sport of paragliding. There are parasailing locations all over the world.

Land based parasailing has also been formed into competition sport in Northern Europe and especially in Finland. In land based parasailing, the parasail is towed behind a car or a snowmobile. In accuracy competitions the tow-vehicle controls the speed and height, and the parascender controls the lateral movement of the parasail. The competitions consist of two parts: dropping or throwing a streamer to a target, and accuracy landing. The sport was developed at the end of the 1990s in growing rapidly. The first international competitions were held in 2004.

The first Parasails were developed by Pierre-Marcel Lemoigne in 1961. Lemoigne is a well known developer of ParaCommander-type of parachutes known as "ParaCommander" or PC-canopies. The date of the first towing of a parasail is not known, but one of the first mentions is a flight by Colonel Michel Tournier from France flying behind a tractor in the same year - 1961. In 1963 Jacques-André Istel from Pioneer Parachute Company bought a licence from Lemoigne to manufacture and sell the invention with a name "parasail".

Wind Surfing

Windsurfing is a surface water sport using a windsurf board, also commonly called a sailboard, usually two to five meters long and powered by wind pushing a single sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating flexible joint called the Universal Joint (U-Joint). Unlike a rudder-steered sailboat, a windsurfer is steered by the tilting and rotating of the mast and sail as well as tilting and carving the board.

The sport combines aspects of both sailing and surfing, along with certain athletic aspects shared with other board sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, waterskiing, and wakeboarding. Although it might be considered a minimalistic version of a sailboat, a windsurfer offers experiences that are outside the scope of any other sailing craft design. A windsurfer holds the world speed record for sailing craft (see below); and, windsurfers can perform jumps, inverted loops, spinning maneuvers, and other "freestyle" moves that cannot be matched by any sailboat. Windsurfers were the first to ride the world's largest waves, such as Jaws on the island of Maui, and, with very few exceptions, it was not until the advent of tow-in surfing that waves of that size became accessible to surfers.

Windsurfing includes speed sailing, slalom, course racing, wave sailing, superX, and freestyle as distinct disciplines.

Though windsurfing is possible in winds from near 0 to 50 knots, the ideal planing conditions for most recreational sailors is 15-25 knots, with lighter winds resulting in displacement mode sailing.

Lessons can be taken with a school. With coaching and favorable conditions, the basic skills of sailing, steering, and turning can be learned within a few hours. Competence in the sport and mastery of more advanced maneuvers such as planing, carve gybing (turning downwind at speed), water starting, jumping, and more advanced moves can require lengthy practice.

Training DVDs exist which are useful in a sport where it is difficult for a coach to be close to a pupil particularly when learning the more advanced manuvers.

Water Sinking

Water skiing is a sport where an individual (or more than one individual) is pulled behind a motor boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water wearing one or more skis. The surface area of the ski (or skis) keeps the person skimming on the surface of the water allowing the skier to stand upright while holding the tow rope.

Technique
Water skiing usually begins with a "deep water start." The skier crouches down in the water (knees bent/arms straight), with the ski tips pointing up and the ski rope between the skis. When the skier is ready, the driver gives the boat the required amount of force to pull the skier out of the water. The key to getting up is patiently staying in the croched position, letting the boat create enough force against the ski to pull you out of the water. Common mistakes are trying to stand up to early and breaking the chair, straight backed, bent knees position.

In addition to the driver and the skier, a third person known as the spotter/observer must be present. The spotter's job is to watch the skier, and inform the driver if the skier falls. Communication between the skier and the occupants of the boat is done with hand signals. It is also the spotter's job to watch the skier's hand signals and pass on the messages to the driver. Speeds and length of the rope will vary with skill and competition events.

For example: Thumbs up means go faster, Thumbs down means slow down.