One thing for collegiate sailing that makes it different than other aspects of the sport
is that it is a very team oriented game. Collegiate sailing specifically is sailed generally in
small boats by two people and the races are really short, usually between twelve
and twenty minutes long.
A lot of people think it is a recreational sport and so it is very confusing to them
when I tell I spending up to sixty hours a week practicing sailing or being at regattas.
We got to sail against some of the best teams in the nation on a regular basis. You're trying
to take advantage of every little thing that the wind gives you and do whatever you can
to be faster than the boats around you.
There could be a lot of different things to win a sailboat race. Some sailers are very
good at sailing their boats fast, others are better at racing tactics, which have to do
with understanding wind patterns and where is the wind coming from, where is it
going shift to next.
In order to sail into the wind you actually have to tack that's turn the boat at certain
degree from the wind. So that the boat can actually move forward. It is a very athletic
maneuver that every boat is working to perfect.
There is different elements to sailboat racing. There is boat handling, which works on how
your boar moves to the water. Than there is also a strategy element, which is where are
you going to the course, how other boats on the course are dictating where you go.
Things can get pretty hectic on the race course and you always have to be on our toes. There
is gonna be great communication between the skipper and crew.
Probably, my favorite thing about sailing is the competition. I am the competitive person
and I am trying install that in the team too. We have a pretty talented group of upperclassmen
and underclassmen and our goals for this season will be to qualify for a spring national championships
and I would like to see us be ranked in the top ten nationally by the end of the
spring semester.
You getting up there in the water and having opportunity to do something I love it is great.
I love everything about it.