A cold and relaxing afternoon is what the sailing club was expecting when it took a trip to the Outer Banks on March 24, but the afternoon was far from relaxing.
Ryan Boyle, a junior in aerospace engineering and the club’s newly appointed president, said the team planned to go to Cape Lookout. But the conditions were more adverse than originally anticipated, moving the journey down the shore to Shackleford Banks.
He said after taking the sailboat out in the water, the scene quickly shifted away from calm.
“It was crazy,” Boyle said. “The boat flipped over. It swamped itself in the ground. One guy went and called the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard came by and got us, and then we spent the next few hours trying to get back.”
Luckily for the team, one of the club member’s houses was nearby. So they sprinted to his place and got dry apparel for the remainder of the trip.
Bryan Nicholls, a first-year member and sophomore in computer science, said the event was something he never expected to happen. He added the team would need to be more careful to prevent something similar from happening again.
“Everyone was pretty much in shock that the boat had capsized. It was a bit unexpected for that particular boat,” Nicholls said. “We just need to pay more attention to the wind and the boat.”
Even though the capsizing of the boat was an experience Nicholls said he would not forget, Rachel London, a freshman in marine and coastal natural resources, said seeing such a thing is very likely — and that the worst part for her was losing her sleeping bag.
“I saw it happen, and I ended up being wet and cold like the rest of the group,” London said. “The only thing that I ended up losing was my sleeping bag.”
She said it’s funnier now that she can look back on the moment.
“A crew of guys went out on the chase boat to get the rigging off, and then they dragged it in and we bailed it,” London said. “When it happened, it was more like an ‘oh crap, there it goes’ kind of moment.”
The trip to Shackleford Banks was one of many for the sailing club, as it takes many trips throughout the year. Next year, the team will travel to the Bahamas during spring break. Aside from sailing trips, there are also camping trips for the social members.
The team gets together four days of the week, with a team meeting Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in room 2036 of Carmichael Gymnasium and practices on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 3:30. Then the team has “Learn-To-Sail” days on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays to teach people how to sail.
Alan Stewart, a junior in aerospace engineering, said his love for the water is the reason he joined.
“I have always enjoyed water sports and sailing, in particular,” Stewart said. “I went to one of the sailing club meetings as a freshman when I heard about them in the Brickyard. I have been a member ever since.”
He said since the group doesn’t require participants to have any previous experience, it’s very easy to join.
“They are very friendly people and they are a very inviting group,” Stewart said.
“The ‘no previous experience required’ attitude makes it very easy to join without being discouraged. And with as much experience as there is on the team from people who already know all about racing, learning comes easily to most.”
Despite many not having a previous sailing background, Allison Jones, a third-year member of the club and a junior in psychology, said sailing was part of her family.
“Both my parents grew up sailing,” Jones said. “So I’ve basically sailed since I was born, and I started racing about 11 years ago.”
She said she heard about the club from one of her friends at N.C. State after talking about sailing a lot before coming to college.
“Where I grew up, sailing had a really strong junior program, so it’s just kind of what you did,” Jones said. “One of my friends was already on the team and told me about it.”
Even though James Boicourt, a senior in political science, had spent limited time with the team going into this year, he said missing being on the water is the reason he decided to take part.
“I’ve always sailed and, in the last year-and-a-half, I ended up joining the club and participating in a lot of stuff because it gives me an opportunity to be on the water and doing something I love,” Boicourt said.
Boicourt said sailing is a way to get away from everyday life.
“Even a calm day is a great way to relax and get away from everything else for a few hours,” Boicourt said. “Thinking more about wind and water than work that needs to get done is great.”
After the experience at Shackleford Banks, sailing still remains relaxing to Boyle.
“That experience with the boat capsizing was crazy,” Boyle said. “But I still see this as relaxing.”