Originally Posted by bigfred

"racing"? Perhaps. "sailing"? Not likely. I've done 17+ on one of the old AC lead mines. 14+ on a J24 and on Moxie. Surfed the foredeck of a Starboat down long waves as well as a Farr 1020 between surfers and into the channel leading to the Waikiki and Hawaii Yacht Clubs. Did 20+ on an F boat tri. I don't know that 30+ on foils would be that huge a thrill for me, unless we were engaged in competing against another team. And, that would take a lot of practice and experience to make competitive. I think the thing that is so special about the AC72s is that they took 'sail racing' and made it athletic, high risk, competitive and created passing lanes on an otherwise confined course. Most the things sailing needs to capture general audience interest.

The space shot on the other hand! I've been to 18,000ft+ under a paraglider, watched air liners going by closer to me than the earth was and with nothing between my toes and that earth but air. Cars had long ago become invisible and highways mear black threads, no wider than a hair. Without the limited frame of reference that a plane window provides and with your full peripheral vision intact you could begin to see the curvature of the earth. Without the reinforced glass of a jetliner between me and it, the sky began to take on an incredible hue. It felt almost as though you could look out of the atmosphere and into the dark of space. It wasn't entirely dissimiliar to going for a dip in 5,000 meters along the equator and staring down into the abyss with goggles on. You can see the light heading down, down, down, and reflecting back to you along the way. But, at some point, it's just becomes BLACK. Both are one of those moments when you come to realize where you fit in the universe.

I can't imagine that a trip into actual space wouldn't also be one of those moments. However, any of the commercial ventures would probably be ruined, first by the fact that those windows would exist and secondly by a couple yahoos sitting either side of you. Now, if I could do it in the style of Felix Baumgartner! Then we would be talking. It would be no contest between that opportunity and sailing on an AC72 or 60whatever.