Heading into the 2016 season, head coach of the club sailing team Dana Magliola has high expectations for his squad. With 27 members on the roster, a good amount for sailing, the team looks to take a leap this season. In the last couple of seasons, NC State has fallen just short of nationals, with one year only three points away.
“We are very close to making the national bracket,” Magliola said. “I think that’s attributable to the fact that we’ve developed a varsity mindset around the program.”
The sailing team trains twice a week on the water, and once in the film room, talking strategy in a classroom setting. It learns the basic terms of the boat like the rudder, hull, mast, centerboard and parts of the sail: the leech, luff and batten. It also learns complicated sailing techniques involving crossing the wind.
Each race in a regatta, which is a series of boat races, is approximately 15-20 minutes long. Races are scored similarly to golf, in which the lowest score wins. First place receives one point, second place receives two, third receives three, etc. If a team falls behind in the first race and places seventh, they have the chance to place higher in the next race. Competitive sailing, however, isn’t the only team offered at NC State.
“There are club racing opportunities, learn to sail and Friday flotillas which gives you a chance to go on a big sailboat and cruise every week,” Magliola said. “So you can have a casual membership with the sailing club and not have the time commitment of being on the race team.”
Club sailing is for everyone, and whether you’re a seafaring specialist or looking to get your feet wet, NC State has it all. In terms of the club racing team, NC State places well among the competition, even defeating some varsity sailing teams on occasion.
In college sailing, there are roughly 35 varsity programs across the sport. Schools like Navy, Maritime Academies, Ivy League schools and the Coast Guard Academy all boast top-notch programs. NC State competes in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (SAISA). There are five varsity sailing programs in SAISA. So not only does NC State compete against your common North Carolina native opponents such as UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, UNC-Wilmington and Davidson, but these club teams also compete against varsity-level sailing programs: College of Charleston, Eckerd College and Florida Gulf Coast University among others.
“The only difference between the varsity programs and us is they get athletic department resources and we are a part of competitive sports in the university recreation world,” Magliola said.
The NC State sailing club raises it funds just like any other club sport.
“We get funding through student allocations,” Magliola said. “We do a lot of independent fundraising; we have events like the SAISA SailPack Women’s Regatta coming up this weekend.”
The Women’s Regatta is the only official home event for the Wolfpack this season and will be held Saturday at Lake Wheeler. It allows competition for the women’s teams, and teams from all over and sponsors come to the event. The SailPack Women’s Regatta is a great event for college sailing; in fact, it’s Raleigh’s only college sailing regatta. There will be food in the morning at the opening ceremony before competition starts at 10 a.m. For spectators there will be on-shore games, cornhole and knot tying contests. For club members and interested students there will also be barbeque at lunch. For more information on club sailing and college sailing as a whole, visit sailpack.org and collegesailing.org.
