Sailboats

My brother and I want to get my little sister the same thing for her birthday: a model sailboat that she can sail on the pond in the Jardin du Luxembourg.  I think I'll get to - he has class tomorrow morning, and I don't, but here are the reasons I should:
1) I have it planned out.  How I will modify and perfect the boat, and that is very very important.
2) I actually know how to sail.
3) I like boats better (this one is very true)
4) I'll be at the shop the moment it opens.
I love you, Caleb!

UPDATE:
We may split getting her the sailboat.  Model sailboats in France are expensive!

Sailing

These are Mercury Sailboats from CBI on the Charles.  I know I've used this photo before, from here....

In high school, I was on the sailing team for all four years.  And before that I sailed Mercury's at CBI for a summer or two, and on Sunfish at sleep-away camp, and before that, I learned to sail on Rhodes 19's in Boston Harbor.
There's just something about being on the water, about basically hanging off the side of the boat, pulling as tightly as you can, about that lovely humming of the centreboard when you're going really really fast.  I love sailing - I love the freedom of just hanging out and talking to my friends on the water on non-race days, I love the exhilaration of a race in a 420 with my skipper Nate, I love the satisfaction of a perfectly executed roll tack and the complete awareness it takes to sail well on a really windy day on the Charles.  The wind in your hair, the spray jumping up, the sting of the ropes in your palm - I love all of it.
This will be my first year in a while of not getting a full sailing season in - and probably no sailing this summer, either.  Honestly, the Seine is a little small to sail on, and it's not like there's an ocean nearby, so I guess I'll wait until I get home or get to university to sail again.
I'm going to university in Portland, and my uncle lives in Seattle and sails, so maybe on weekends when I don't have too much homework, I can visit him and get my sailing fix that way... he has a much bigger boat than the 12 and 15-foot long dinghies I'm used too, though...
Do any of you sail?  Do you like it?