Even after 60 years, NC State’s oldest organized club sport has not lost the wind in its sails. The Wolfpack sailing team was established in 1954 and has continued to grow and foster a love of sailing that aligns with the club’s mission.
The club is divided into two main squads, the racing team and the club team. The club team is dedicated to teaching students about sailing and learning to enjoy the sport. On the more competitive side, the racing team commits themselves to practice and race competitively in regattas, which are a series of boat races. The site for its practices is about a 15-minute drive from campus at the Lake Wheeler waterfront.
Both the women’s and coed racing teams compete in the Intercollegiate Sailing Race Team South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association conference with regattas in the fall and spring semesters. The team races two different maneuverable dinghies; flying juniors and 420s.
Two sailors man the boats. The skipper steers and controls the main compete not against other college club teams, but also varsity squads, creating an intense competitive field. Some of the schools included in NC State’s conference are UNCW, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, and the 2013 ICSA/Gill Coed National Champion College of Charleston.
The head coach of the racing squad, Dana Magliola, volunteered for the position three years ago and has high hopes for the program.
“I had gotten to know some of the sailors and learned that they were working on creating a more competitive program and offered to help where I could. Then they took me up on that offer,” Magliola said. “I have been coaching here now for three years and feel we are very close to competing on a national level.”
Magliola is very goal-driven and has adapted a coaching style that includes student leadership in order to reach those goals and to create a sustainable high-level program. The Wolfpack team has a very open communication dynamic that allows for the team to grow and improve together.
“This spring, our goal is to reach Nationals,” Magliola said. “Which is not something we’ve ever done in the past, but it is in the realm of possibility. It’s not going to be easy, but it is a goal that everybody can get behind.”
Although the team is looking forward with high hopes and expectations for the next half of the season, the Wolfpack sailors have also found great success in their recent regattas. In its last race of the regular fall season, the Wolfpack sailing team traveled to Virginia for the Webb Open, hosted by Christopher Newport University. Senior skipper David Rogers and his freshman crew James Stoneycypher finished second and third in two of their races, finishing fifth overall for the day. Freshman Kara Wheeler and junior Zane Smith also represented the Wolfpack in the B-fleet, contributing to NC State’s fifth place finish overall.
Conditions for sailing are rarely perfect and mental preparation is key to a good race.
“Before I even go to the venue,” Rogers said. “I’m looking up conditions and predictions for the day, studying the course and weather patterns, and I just make sure that I’m focused and have a game plan with my crew.”
Sailing is not only a physically demanding sport, but is also very strategic and requires mental agility. Kara Wheeler from Oriental, North Carolina, has a great deal of experience with sailing. She said both of her parents were sailors, and her family even lived on a sailboat cruising from the Bahamas to Maine.
“Sailing is equally a mental sport as it is a physical sport,” Wheeler said. “There are many minute things that can either kill or make your race.”
In addition to developing an incredible work ethic and determination, the Wolfpack sailors have created a family at sea.
“Our program is a great place to learn how to sail, learn how to race,” Magliola said. “And it’s a very supportive environment.”
As the semester draws to a close, the sailing team will continue to train and work hard to reach its team goal and compete in Nationals.
