After first joining the sailing club, I quickly learned I looked like a landlubber. Quizzical looks passed across plenty of faces after friends learned of my new hobby. Unfortunately, their instincts were spot-on: I couldn’t have identified my starboard from my port. 

It took just three short weeks for that to change. After a handful of short practices, I’ve sailed from commoner to naval commander. Let me share some newfound wisdom: everything I wish I knew before I joined the sailing club.

 

Joining sailing club

While it was daunting at first, sailing became a simple and mostly painless task. Beyond contacting the commodore Emily Marsh or the vice commodore Vivian Tork to join, I only had to come to practice. 

As there were enough able seamen ready to instruct newcomers at a moment’s notice, it was easy to show up with zero experience. 

“Everyone’s very friendly. The commodore and vice commodore are very accommodating. If everyone on the team wasn’t so nice and helpful I would be overwhelmed on the water. But as it is, I feel like I learn a lot,” freshman Riley Hamilton said. 

Sailing is something completely different from anything I’ve experienced. It’s not like driving a car, Jet Ski, or even a bike. When I’m on the water, it’s just me, the ropes, my crew, and my own knowledge. There is nothing more exhilarating than leaning my whole body out of the boat, grasping nothing but the lines and yelling to my crew as we rip through the water.

 

Practicing weekly

Practices are on Mondays and Tuesdays from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. and 4 p.m. – 6 p.m. I learned to come expecting to get a little wet. 

I spent my first overwhelming 15 minutes watching the more experienced people scramble to get sails on the boats and successfully launch them into Baw Beese Lake. Everyone sails as much or as little as they like, and even beginners require only a wiser skipper and a little gumption. For downtime during practice, homework and a social attitude tends to come in handy.

Team members come from all sorts of backgrounds, from sailing in a naval fleet across the Atlantic, to high school races off the coast of Chicago in Lake Michigan. No matter how I spend my time at practice, it’s always a unique and worthwhile use of time alongside new friends. 

 

Mastering the Regatta

Regattas are the bread and butter of the sailing club. A regatta is a sailing race that comes in two forms. Fleet racing is the most common. A team uses one boat to race through a series of buoys. A team race is less common and includes a points system, with each team has multiple boats.

Only a few weeks after the sailing club started the team competed in a regatta at the Detroit Yacht Club. It consisted of 10 races over two days and resulted in Hillsdale’s victory.

“Winning was great. It was great to be out in the world representing Hillsdale, and there was a lot of camaraderie between all the teams. Ultimately, we work together as a team very well,” freshman Alya MacManaway said. “Go Chargers!”