French Lakes Sailing
Sailing is the art of controlling a boat with large (usually fabric) foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to change the direction and speed of a boat.
Mastery of the skill requires experience in varying wind and sea conditions, as well as knowledge concerning sailboats themselves.
Most of the time, sailing is enjoyed as a recreational activity nowadays. This recreational sailing can be mainly divided into two parts, yacht racing and cruising, although crusing is quite reduced on French Lake because of their reduced size, in which case it could just be considered as a sailing excursion.
Yacht Racing
Yacht racing is the sport of competitive yachting. There is a broad variety of kinds of races and sailboats used for racing. All kinds of boats are used for racing, including small dinghies, catamarans, boats designed primarily for cruising, and purpose-built raceboats. The Racing Rules of Sailing govern the conduct of yacht racing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, model boat racing, dinghy racing and virtually any other form of racing around a course with more than one vessel while powered by the wind.
In the context of water skiing, slalom means to use only one ski. Slalom skiing is considerably more difficult, and so one usually learns on two skis before switching to one. Once one is comfortable on two skis, learning to slalom ski is accomplished by setting the binding loose on one ski so that it may be dropped. Once the skier is out of the water, he or she will step out of the loose ski and slip the foot into the toe plate binding in the slalom ski.
Even though it is more developed in the sea than in fresh water, you can still find and practice yacht racing in some lakes. The Lake Geneva thanks to its size, has several sailing centres that will provide you any kind of service that you may require, from beginners to veterans.
Sailing Regulations
Depending on the country or continental union, boating on coastal waters and inland waters may require a license. Usually, boating on coastal waters almost always requires a license, while boating on coastal waters only requires a license when a certain boat size is exceeded (e.g., a length of 20 meters), or when passenger ships, ferries or tugboats are steered.
Boating on international waters does not require any license, due to the absence of any laws or restrictions in this area. Europe's continental union, the EU, issues the International Certificate of Competence.