A trip to Lake Anna is not just a day of fun in the sun for the Sailing Association at the University. It is also filled with a passion to sail across Anna’s waters in record time.
The Sailing Association competes in the Mid-Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association. Virginia is the southernmost state in this conference, and teams hail from as far north as New York. The club also travels south, though, to compete in a number of regattas. Its schedule goes into November, concluding with the SAISA/MAISA event in Charleston.
“We try to get to the Charleston regatta every year,” junior club treasurer Katie Coleman said. “Many varsity teams are down there, and it is good because it helps our team to be more competitive putting us in a great position for the spring.”
Even though the Sailing Association is a club sport at Virginia, the team regularly competes against a wide field of varsity teams.
“Most of the teams we compete against are varsity programs,” said commodore Whit Overstreet, one of two fourth-year club members on the racing roster. “They are fortunate because they have coaches, access to water within a 15-minute drive and professional facilities.”
Virginia’s sailing program began in the early 1970s as a recreational club. It flourished throughout the years until the early 1990s when it was, as Overstreet put it, “notoriously kicked off Lake Monticello.” From then on it has been in a rebuilding stage and has moved its facilities to Lake Anna. Now the club has members ranging from competitive racers to first-time sailors. Many have been attracted to the speed of the winds as this club sport continues to increase in membership and competitiveness; it is a thrilling ride right from the beginning.
“I had never sailed before,” Overstreet said. “The first time I sailed was when I went out to the lake in mid-January with my friend, and he taught me how to sail. I was just blown away on how fast you can go just by the wind power.”
After finishing next to last or last in four of five regattas in the spring season, the team fared better in its most recent competition, placing 12th in a field of 18 at the Tom Curtis Memorial Regatta hosted by Georgetown.
This improvement from years past can largely be attributed to the fact that the club has acquired two new boats. Equipment for sailing is expensive, and a generous grant by the Parents’ Committee enabled this upgrade.
“That money was the catalyst to update our fleet as it helped inspire us to build our new facilities,” Coleman said. “This really jump-started our transition to be a better organization.”
The team has also gained some self sufficiency by building its own floating docks, making it much easier to launch boats.
“We were losing a lot of experienced people because it took so much effort to put the boats in the water,” Overstreet said. “If we wanted to sail, six people had to struggle with this [launch].”
With these improvements, the club has expanded to the point where it makes two trips per week to Lake Anna in order to get everybody on the water. The competitive racers practice one day, while another day is designated for recreational trips for the entire club.
Virginia is known as a place where clubs thrive on student leadership, and the Sailing Association is no exception. The team motto is “Sail like it’s sinking!” and it appears that the club will remain afloat for quite some time.
“I think our system we have here at U.Va. for clubs is amazing,” Overstreet said. “It’s not like most schools where clubs have intense oversight from administration — you’re free to make it or break it yourself.”
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