Is golf more exciting than sailing?

[lustyd]

Well, if like me you've ever played various forms of sport and appreciate the skills that are involved, you probably might take some pleasure out of watching others who excel at it.

However,if you preferred say, "painting by numbers" in your youth, I think I can see where your coming from.

I do various sports which is what keeps me too busy to sit around watching it

 

[Tomahawk]

There fixed that for you. Sport is not supposed to be watched, it's supposed to be done. Golf, sailing, football etc are all great to go out and do but for the life of me I can't work out why millions of people tune in the idiot box to watch others exercise!

I take it you will not be glued to the idiot box screaming as people run about in their lycra undies or boxer shorts? So sorry the Olympic games are supposed to be exciting.....

The other day I heard it called the greatest show on earth... Why then do we call it sport and not simply call it entertainment or show business?

As to sailboat racing.. I confess I have retired from competition ..

 

[Modulation]

You have it the wrong way round. Sorry to say but you are actually far too old to play golf. Properly, that is.

Old men hacking round a badly kept field is not golf.

To play the game well you need to start young. If you do there is nothing to beat it.

It's a great sport. In my opinion the best there is. Very difficult, not expensive, teaches honesty, self reliance, perseverance and so on. Ever changing scenery, understood all round the world. A great social leveller, fantastic spectator sport. One of the few where a numpty can effectively compete with a superstar, or just have fun on the same course at the same time.

If you want to understand it, watch The Legend of Bagger Vance.

And even though I don't play golf I think it makes MUCH better TV than sailing. Competetive sailing on TV is dreadful, unwatchable and unbelievably boring. Sailing works only when you're doing it!!

 

[Neil]

There fixed that for you. Sport is not supposed to be watched, it's supposed to be done. Golf, sailing, football etc are all great to go out and do but for the life of me I can't work out why millions of people tune in the idiot box to watch others exercise!

This is my view - watching sport is like watching someone else eating an ice cream.

As an ex-golfer I understand the appeal of golf, and also the frustration! I sold my share in the golf club and bought my first (fishing) boat, and now, with this weather, I've learned another type of frustration!

However, I always remember a cartoon (probably on this forum!) of two sailers beating against horizontal rain, passing two boat fishermen, huddled with their backs against said horizontal rain, with the one think-bubble going to both boats, "I don't know what they see in it........"

 

[AMCD300]

Brilliant video. Loved it.

Win or swim...classic

 

[rotrax]

I believe it was Mark Twain who said a round of Golf spoils a good walk................

 

[Lakesailor]

Competetive sailing on TV is dreadful, unwatchable and unbelievably boring.

My brother in Oz sent me some dvds of the Rolex Cup Race Series. It's edited and they use computer overlays to show each boat's path.
It's totally confusing and unwatchable.

Binned 'em

 

[Tomahawk]

I do wonder what TV coverage of Golf or Tennis may look like if they used the same TV editing as they use for sailing..

Cut away from player to course
Cut away to cross shot of bll moving
Cut away to ball hitting racket/club
Zoom in on the racket/club zoom out
cut away part way through a stroke
cut away to audience
Zoom to follow ball across the court
zoom to ball being hit by club/racket each way so you cannot see where the ball is landing

 

[Whiskey Bravo]

Both equally as good. Wouldn't want to give up either sailing or golf. I've been to Turkey twice this year, a weeks golf and 2 weeks sailing. Both fabulous holidays with perfect weather/food/drink/scenery etc.

 

[Seajet]

I must admit I find sailing on TV pretty unwatcheable, the odd short burst of something like 18' Skiffs is OK.

The only time I've really enjoyed watching sailing was during the Americas Cup at Freemantle ( around 1989 ? ) with the Kiwi's giving Dennis Connor a run for his money...

I grew up being dragged around golf courses with my Dad, but have never taken it up myself; I managed to wean him off golf and into sailing, he's quite civilised now.

 

[Austerby]

I think there's a question of time - both Sailing and Golf take up lots of time so it's difficult to do both, so there is an element of either/or rather than both, unless one isn't working a 50hr week (the new 35).

I should really have been a golfer as my father played and introduced me to the game in my youth. For some unknown reason, without any family history around boating whatsoever, I found sailing was much more to my interest.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I think there's a question of time - both Sailing and Golf take up lots of time so it's difficult to do both, so there is an element of either/or rather than both, unless one isn't working a 50hr week (the new 35).

I should really have been a golfer as my father played and introduced me to the game in my youth. For some unknown reason, without any family history around boating whatsoever, I found sailing was much more to my interest.

I gave up golf when we 1st bought a boat getting on for 20 years or so ago I played of 6 and between late April and October nearly every weekend and at least 1 night a week. It was not possible to do justice to both.

 

[trapezeartist]

My brother in Oz sent me some dvds of the Rolex Cup Race Series. It's edited and they use computer overlays to show each boat's path.
It's totally confusing and unwatchable.

The America's Cup from NZ (approx 2003) was a brilliant presentation. The medal races from Quingdao were pretty good too; amateurish, but all the better for that. Sailing needs lots of helicopter cameras, because that's the only way you can really keep track of who's doing what. Also the Olympic boats had huge national flags on their sails, which made them easy to keep track of.

 

[onesea]

The America's Cup from NZ (approx 2003) was a brilliant presentation. The medal races from Quingdao were pretty good too; amateurish, but all the better for that. Sailing needs lots of helicopter cameras, because that's the only way you can really keep track of who's doing what. Also the Olympic boats had huge national flags on their sails, which made them easy to keep track of.

http://www.wksc.net/wilsontrophy/index.asp

Could change that one, if you are there and understand team racing this can make a good spectator sport,

Racing right under your nose and some quality racing in evenly? matched boats. NO camera just sailing and the occasional drink...

 

[ProDave]

I switched the telly on today and the golf happened to be on.
There was a shot of a skiff sailing in not much wind and the commentator said "that's not very exciting, is it?"

I suppose it isn't, not compared to watching guys hit balls with sticks.
I think I may have seen some of the grass growing!

I take it you are talking about the Scottish Open from Castle Stuart?

If so what were these "skiff's sailing"

Castle Stuart is just across the Moray Firth from where my boat lives. You might have seen dinghy sailing or some cruisers going by in the background.

Last year when this was on, there was a club sail in company event. We needed to be out of the harbour before it dries so went out earlier in the morning and sailed around for a couple of hours. another club member was doing the same in his cruiser. During a dull bit in the golf, the camera zoomed in on our boats, and the comentator said something like "they must be lost as they are just sailing round in circles"