Sailing Urges

I ran across this website on canoe sailing website recently and was intrigued.  I poked around a few other websites on the subject and while I have no plans to run out and do it, I did mentally file the idea in the "would be fun to try someday" category.

It struck me how the sailing urge manages to express itself in so many different ways.  A huge variety of boats, rigs, activities, competitions, locales, etc. exist for all ages with the common denominator of sails, hulls and water (let's not quibble about these words - sails include wings, hulls include foils or simple boards, and water can be liquid, solid and maybe even sand).  Each of us is drawn to some manifestations of the urge more than others, but it is hard not to see something attractive in each of the manifestations.

Are there other sports/hobbies/passions that appear in so many ways?  The only one I can think of might be horses - which frankly have no appeal for me.  My girls growing up did the horse thing, but the whole subject left me cold. I told them I might try if they could find me a saddle with seat belt. However, I can imagine that a horse lover would appreciate the wide variety of horses and horse things - such as rodeo, jumping, cross country, dressage, racing of all sorts, carriages, etc. Certainly the interaction with another species must be part of the overall appeal.

But back to sailing - although devotees of other sports/hobbies/passions certainly can enjoy them as much as a sailer loves sailing, only our passion involves such a wide range of possibilities - variety of equipment, dealing with nature in all her moods, understanding of maps, tides and weather, understanding of rules, etc. etc. 

To each his own passion -  but personally I can't imagine a better one.