Coming off four straight years of being the top college sailing team in North Carolina, the NC State Club Sailing Team is looking forward to beginning another competitive season. 

Recently, interest in the program has grown due to the program’s success, and the team is holding tryouts for the second year in a row.

“We’re working our way to really becoming a well-organized, running machine,” senior captain Paulina Spencer said.

With this growing interest in the program, the team is starting the season looking to bring together a new group of sailors, along with some old faces, to form a strong and competitive team.

“This semester, we have a lot of incoming freshmen that have a lot of experience,” Spencer said. “Our main goal is to just get everyone up to the same speed. We’re going to more regattas this semester than we’ve ever been to in a semester, so we want to organize all of that and get out there and show everyone what NC State sailing is made of.”

Dana Magliola is entering his fourth year as the volunteer head coach for the club sailing team. While the program’s recent success will be hard to match, he has high hopes for the team going forward with the help of its experienced members.

“Our goals this season are to remain competitive in SAISA, qualifying for Conference Championships through our in-conference points regattas, while also pushing ourselves to compete in inter-conference and invitational events,” Magliola said. “We return to the Fall 2015 season with a stable of veteran sailors. These veteran sailors make it all work and student leadership is important part of our team.”

As regatta participation has increased, the team has set some high goals for itself this season, including finishing well in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association (SAISA), the sailing conference NC State is a part of that includes schools from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, and northern Alabama.

“As a team, I’d like to see us do very good in SAISA,” sophomore James Stonecypher said. “I know last year we were in the fifth-seventh spot. This year I’d like to see us get up there and be  a solid six or a solid five in the rankings. The reason for that is it gives us a really good shot to go to nationals.”

In addition to doing well in SAISA, the team will also strive to keep a steady level across the entire year.

“My biggest goal is just to be consistent,” sophomore Mark Thompson said. “Rather than us winning one regatta and then doing mediocre in others, I’d like to see us be consistent and competitive. I’d also like to see the whole team be equal in competition, rather than having two really good people, and everybody else way behind. I want us to be equal, so we can send more than one team to different regattas in different areas and be competitive at all of them.”

Many sailors looking to join the team attended an orientation at Lake Wheeler Friday prior to trying out the following day. The newcomers cited both a love for the sport and interest in NC State’s growing program as reasons for their interest.

“I love it so much,” freshman Elizabeth Blenk said. “It’s just a great thing to be involved in and a great team spirit. This is a good sailing team. It’s up-and-coming, which is awesome.”

Other newcomers expressed their love of the sport and excitement to be a part of the program.

“I’ve always loved sailing, since I was really little,” freshman John Taylor said. “I’ve always taken classes. I’ve taught people; it’s just something that made me happy. I don’t have too much experience with racing, so I wanted to get more involved in that aspect of it. I’m really excited to try that out.”

In addition to the newcomers, several of the returning sailors and leaders all have different elements they are looking to bring to the team, including making the NC State sailing experience fun for everyone.

“Most of what I’m trying to bring is a positive attitude,” Spencer said. “While yes, I have a lot of experience, so does everyone else, and we all try to look at each other as equals and help each other. So, I’m less of a coach and more of a motivation.”

Having an enjoyable day out on the water was also important to other members of the team, like the returning Stonecypher.

“I just like to bring a fun attitude to sailing,” he said. “We are a racing team; we try to stay competitive, but at the same time, we can’t lose that fun side.”

As the team gets through tryouts and gets underway, it will be looking to prepare for its first regatta Sept. 12 at the College of Charleston Sailing Venue against other SAISA member schools.