As one of the oldest Club Sports in the
history of the University, we strive to encourage,
advance, and improve dinghy racing and the sport of
sailing.
As a club, we have two primary functions: to teach
our members everything they need to know about the
sport of sailing, and to compete. In the past year
alone, we have increased our active participation by
100%, moved to a beautiful new marina, and
successfully petitioned the University for a grant
in order to buy a new fleet of boats. As for our
racing, we have started to be noticed in our
conference, and have become a very competitive team
amongst prosperous varsity programs.
We sail out of Two
Rivers Yacht Club, on the Bohemia River, in
Chesapeake City, MD. We have a fleet of seven
Flying Juniors, which is a common collegiate boat,
two 420's, which we kept from our previous fleet,
and one Hobie Cat, which we like to play around on.
Our season on the
water runs through October, and starts again in
March. We hold practice six days a week, one day
for beginners, and two days for racers. The
practices, which run between 3:30 and 7:00, are all
optional. We have members that come out every day,
and members we see once or twice a semester. Along
with student members, we also have active faculty
who come out to spend a relaxing afternoon on the
water. We hold numerous social functions as well as
fundraisers throughout the year. In the off season
we have chalkboard lessons every Sunday night.
Racing is the aspect
of our team in which we have made the most progress
in recent years, and in which we will make the most
progress in years to come. We belong to MAISA
(Mid-Atlantic Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association),
which is the most competitive district in the ICSA
(Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association). Some of the
best sailors in America, as well as Olympians, come
out of this division, and are our competition in
major regattas. Each weekend a select group of
racers travel to regattas at various schools such as
Georgetown, Old Dominion, Maryland, Drexel, UMBC,
UPENN, Princeton, Webb, Navy, CNU, and others.
Along with traveling
to these schools, we host three Regattas of our
own: The McCurdy Open in the fall, a Spring Open,
and an Alumni Regatta in April. All of our members
work hard to prepare for these events. The sailors
from six other schools stay with our members, and an
amazing weekend is had by all. We have become very
competitive this year, our sailors have produced
some of the best results our program has ever seen,
and we are well on our way to producing a winning
program.
We are entirely
student-run, and as such, our officers learn
valuable leadership skills as well as providing the
perfect atmosphere in which our members can learn,
enjoy themselves, and advance in the sport of
sailing, as well as in life!
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