When an interest becomes an obsession …

The adrenaline is pumping through my veins, as that familiar rush I have grown to love so much
engulfs me once again. I notice that the ripples alongside me in the water begin to swell just as my
helm screams ‘Gust!’ and I lower myself carefully down on the wire. I feel the icy-cold sea spray and
splash against my legs. We have to win this one, we simply have to. It is the final race of the
afternoon, and from our results so far – our first and second placings over the past few days – we
need it to ensure our winning title. We bear around the windward mark and I am back inside the
boat in a flash, forcing the spinnaker pole out as my helm hoists the sail. By the time the third sail
fills we are truly flying! Now I am in my element ...

It is said that a person never forgets their first real experience of sailing alone in a boat and I can
personally vouch for this. I was introduced to the water from a young age as my family always opted
for sailing holidays in either Ireland or France, and consequently I have always thought of myself as a
‘sailor’. So when my father finally agreed, after persistent nagging, to let me join our local sailing
club on my tenth birthday, I couldn’t wait to get started. But my excitement quickly waned as having
been used to one-on-one training with my dad, I found this to be very different. I was in a fleet of
‘Oppies’, small boats for mostly beginners. I am almost ashamed now to admit how much I hated it
at first. There were times out there on that wild, freezing sea that I felt a profound sense of terror
and wanted to be anywhere but alone in a boat in those conditions. But I persevered, and as I
became a more confident sailor everything changed. I remember well the year I got my second
Oppy, only this time it was fiberglass, not wooden. It was white with a pale blue rim and had the
word ‘Oops!’ written in bubbly red writing along the side. It was a magnificent vessel and it wasn’t
long until losing became a thing of the past for me. I can’t remember how many times I passed the
finish line to be greeted by someone singing Britney Spears’: ‘Oops I did it again’. I think that it was
around this time that my addiction started.

It is true that once you really become passionate about any sport or hobby, it becomes a kind of
addiction. You crave it and find it hard to think of little else. There have been so many times on
returning to school after an entire summer of non-stop sailing, that I have little else to talk about.
My friends have learned not to bring up the topic unless they’re prepared to listen to me rambling
on endlessly, recalling my numerous maritime adventures. To be fair, they usually listen patiently,
although I know that either half the time they have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about or else
they try to understand but it’s me that gives up trying to explain it to them. Those Septembers are
always the worst. All of us sailors seem to cling together in the hope of a sailing date at the
weekend, making promises to ourselves that we’ll bring our boats back down to the club as soon as
we can for the autumn season, but it is only the dedicated diehards who survive the winter. It is
often a whole year before I see some of them again as there are always those who only want to sail
in the fair-weather summer months. Although admittedly winter sailing isn’t as pleasant, with the
bitterly cold seas of February and the icy winds blowing in your face, the upside to it are the warm
dinners and hot chocolates waiting to be consumed back in the club. Another positive is that the
inclement weather during these winter months greatly improves people’s boat-handling skills, so
that when those summer sailors return in June, it is clear whose confidence has grown and whose
has not.

Sailing is not like many other sports where you simply pick up a racket or a stick and either get the
hang of it quickly or soon realize that it’s not for you. With sailing there is so much you must learn
before even setting foot in a boat. There are so many safety measures and checks to be done, and
regrettably too often we hear about people who have been critically injured simply because they
didn’t take the necessary precautionary steps. I have so many stories of incidents that have occurred
over the years. I remember on one occasion passing an Olympic sailor who had badly injured his leg
and, with no rescue boat around for miles, we took charge of getting him to safety. On another
occasion we got a radio call telling us our friends’ boat had been washed up (both crew members
fortunately unharmed!) miles away from where they had started out. Initiative is always essential in
these situations. But it is because of this, not despite it, that sailing is such an interesting sport. Every
day is different, the weather is never the same, and one never knows what might happen next.

Sailing is one of those sports that you need time, money and energy. Often people say that all you
need is money and more money to sail, but in my opinion time and energy are equally as important.
There are many truly dedicated sailors who may not be competitive or wealthy but nevertheless still
really enjoy what they do, fixing up boats with old parts and just simply pottering around. When a
person is doing something they love and enjoy, they will give it their all. Another common
misconception is that you can just pop into a boat and off you go, but it’s so much more than that.
The number of hours and energy spent off-water, packing and unpacking boats, de-rigging and re-
rigging them, does nothing to deter the dedicated sailor. People who don’t understand this, and can
never be convinced, tend to resort to mockery, but to be honest it doesn’t really bother me
anymore; if they’re not interested then they are the ones losing out in my opinion. I have never
found anything more enjoyable than being out on the sea on a windy day. There’s nothing more
satisfying to me in life than a smooth running boat, cleaned and rigged up to perfection, and, of
course, that adrenaline rush that pumps through my veins every race day …

It is here I am in my element, out on the wire, busy stretching to fill two sails. I can sense we have
this race in the bag as we round the gybe mark skillfully. We are at least five boat lengths ahead by
the leeward with only our last beat to the end remaining. Nothing can stop us now – nothing! And
when that blaring horn confirms our victory, as we sail triumphantly across the finish line, it is the
greatest feeling in the whole world.

sample courtesy of: http://reidynotes.weebly.com/personal-essay---sample.html

Analyse:
1. List up to 3 examples of Aesthetic use of language (feelings, sensations
Highlight/underline

2. Find a passage of the narrative that uses reflection as a narrative tool.

Highlight/underline
3. Find a passage that demonstrates both use of narrative and aesthetic use of language
(HINT: look for feelings or sensations)
4. Score this essay out of 100 using PCLM and explain your choice.