Amateurs go yachting

"俱乐部"杯帆船赛是中国帆船俱乐部里的最高荣誉. 在上月结束的第一届中国俱乐部杯帆船挑战赛中, 厦门顽石航海俱乐部的顽石号帆船, 经过三轮的角逐, 以熟练的技术和密切的配合下, 赢得了中国第一个航海俱乐部帆船比赛的流动奖杯. 按照"俱乐部"杯帆船赛章程, 下届比赛将在本届的胜者所在地厦门举办. 关注健康、热爱运动的您对帆船运动了解多少? 在厦门哪里可以进行这项运动呢?

Ironrock wins championship

After a three days' contest, the first China Club Challenge Match ended in Xiamen on April 9. Owing to skillful performances and good cooperation, the Yacht Ironrock won the first championship. According to the rules of the China Club Challenge Match, the next match will be held in the city where the championship yacht was located, so the next match will be held in Xiamen, too.

This challenging match was greatly supported by the China Yachting Association. The match attracted amateur athletes from all walks of society, although their skills were lower than that of professional athletes, their stalwart spirit and serious attitudes showed that there was a bright future for the yachting sport in China.

What is yachting

Yacht racing is the sport of competitive sailing. There is a broad variety of races and sailboats used for racing. Much racing is done around buoys or similar markers in protected waters, while some longer offshore races cross open water.

These days, yacht racing and dinghy racing are common participant sports around the developed world, particularly where favourable wind conditions and access to reasonably sized bodies of water are available. Most yachting is conducted in salt water, but smaller craft can be - and are - raced on lakes and even large rivers. Whilst there are many different types of racing vessels, they can generally be separated into the larger yachts, which are larger and contain facilities for extended voyages, and smaller harbour racing craft such as dinghies and skiffs.

Useful terms in yachting
比赛航程 race range course
比赛航标 race mark
风向角 angle of direction wind
主帆 mainsail
主桅 mainmast
左舷 port
右舷 starboard
平桨 oars
吃水 draft, draught
迎风折驶 come about
搁浅 run aground
寻 fathom

 

 

History of America's Cup
Edited by Shenyang

美洲杯帆船赛与奥运会、世界杯足球赛和 F1场地赛车一起, 被誉为"世界范围内影响最大的四大传统体育赛事", 也是世界上赞助金额最高的比赛. The America's Cup has it all, in a long and distinguished history. The oldest trophy in sport, it has an incredible scope of technological innovation, legendary figures from the world of sailing and international rivalry across the globe.

For 132 years that rivalry was dominated by the United States. America's
run of success from 1851 is the longest in sport and their hold on the "Auld Mug" was total. Their dominance on the high seas was rarely seriously challenged until 1983 when Australia finally broke the stranglehold.

New Zealand has since followed the lead of their antipodean neighbors in becoming only the third country to hold the Cup following their victory in 1995. And their successful defense in 2000 came in the only America's Cup meeting never to feature the United States.

The America's Cup is the most famous trophy in the sport of yachting, and the oldest active trophy in sports. The cup, a silver ewer, is awarded to the winner of a match of up to nine races between two yachts from different countries, one representing the yacht club which holds the Cup and the other boat fielded by a yacht club challenging for the trophy.




The race originated on August 22, 1851 when the 30.86 m schooner-yacht America raced 15 yachts representing the Royal Yacht Squadron around the Isle of Wight. The trophy is held in trust as a 'challenge' trophy to promote friendly competition between nations.

In the wake of the 1988 challenge, the International America's Cup Class (IACC) of yachts was introduced. These replaced the 12-meter class that had been used since 1958. First raced in 1992, the IACC yachts are the ones used today.

In 1995, New Zealand Yacht Squadron syndicate Team New Zealand, first won the challenger series in NZL 32, dubbed Black Magic because of its black hull and uncanny speed, then defeated Young America.

In 1997, someone entered the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's clubrooms and damaged the America's Cup with a sledgehammer. The attacker claimed the attack was politically motivated, though that did not stop him from going to jail. The damage caused was so severe that it was feared that the cup was irreparable. London's Garrards silversmiths, who had originally manufactured the cup in 1848, painstakingly repaired the trophy to its original condition over three months.

At Auckland in 1999-2000, Team New Zealand, defeated Challenger Italy's Prada Challenge from the Yacht Club Punta Ala. The Italians had previously beaten the America One syndicate from the St Francis Yacht Club in the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals.

 

 

Health garden

18 million Chinese adults now obese
中国1800万成人肥胖
China now has some 18 million obese adults, and 64 million adults may be at risk of cardiovascular disease because of poor dietary habits and lack of exercise.



French fries may cause cancer
薯条可致癌
Academic research has shown that, just like smoking, prolonged intake of fried or barbecued food, can be harmful to health, it is even more dangerous than the infamous Sudan I. Snacks, such as French fries and some traditional Chinese snacks, contain high levels of acryl amide, a chemical which has the potential to cause cancer.



No link between cell phone use and brain tumor
用手机与得脑瘤无关
A new study into the dangers of mobile phones has found no connection between the use of cell phones and increased risk of brain tumors.



Plants may cause cancer
巴豆、凤仙花可致癌
Crotons and touch-me-nots, two plants popular with Guangzhou residents, have the potential to cause nasal cancer.



Luxurious decoration may lead to children's leukemia?
豪华装修可能致儿童白血病
Survey shows that 90% of children with leukemia lived in luxuriously decorated rooms. Experts say children usually spend more time indoors, have weak immune systems and breathe 50 percent more than adults, so they are more harmed by the poisonous gases emitted from newly decorated houses.



Vocabulary
croton 巴豆
dinghy 小艇
stranglehold 压制自由
uncanny 超人的
leukemia 白血病
antipodean 地球上正相反面的
sledgehammer 大锤