While most people come to Lake Mendota to work on homework, chat with friends or enjoy a picnic lunch, the members of the Wisconsin sailing club team, a branch of the Hoofers Sailing Club, have been all business on the water throughout the school year. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the Wisconsin sailing team has been mastering the Lake Mendota waters since 1954.
The Hoofers sailing team is a completely student-run co-ed organization that travels and competes on a national level. The sailing team competes both in the fall season and the spring season, practicing from August until Thanksgiving and from late March until the national championship in June. The sailing team is comprised of 26 members, 13 males and 13 females.
Although not NCAA affiliated, the sailing team is a member of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association, which is made up of seven divisions that are divided geographically across the nation. The Wisconsin sailing team, along with the other Big Ten schools and smaller Midwest schools, is a member of the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association (MCSA). The UW team competes against members of the MCSA and other schools nationally in regattas and district championships.
In an MCSA regatta, each school sends two boats, which compete in the A and B divisions. The race route is usually in the form of a large triangle or oval shape. The lowest combined point score of a school’s A and B divisions wins the regatta event.
Though UW sailing is not an NCAA sanctioned sport, it is not dramatically different than other sports at Wisconsin in terms of the amount of skill and dedication that is needed to perform well.
“Sailing is a great sport that anyone can do as long as they have the dedication to do it,” freshman Kelsey Cramer said. “There is a certain science to sailing. You need to get the best angles, to be able to read the wind and use it to its best ability. [Sailing] is a great sport because it includes physical ability, strength, wit and balls.”
Additionally, there is tremendous camaraderie among sailors, which is one of the things that makes sailing so rewarding.
“Sailing is unique because it is a lifelong sport that many of us from Wisconsin have done together since age five,” sailor Aaron Mann said. “As a result, there is a tremendous bond that [we] often share. We are always competing and racing and trying to make each other better. The beauty of sailing is that the person who kicks you all around the race course will also often be your close friend on shore, gladly explaining what he or she is doing better than you, helping you to improve. How often do you see opponents in basketball or football do that? Sailors are always helping each other out.”
Adding to the allure of UW sailing is the fact that Wisconsin was ranked as the second-best college sailing site in the nation behind Navy. Recently, the women’s and co-ed teams qualified for the national championship at the Gorge in Portland, Ore., which will take place in June. The third qualifying round, team racing, will be held this weekend at the University of Michigan. The Wisconsin Sailing Team has been a fixture on Lake Mendota and will continue to sail on those cold, choppy waters for many years to come.
