Sailing is back at Hamilton. Thanks to the collaborative work of Anna Guerin '01 and Julie Smith '04, Hamilton now joins more than 200 colleges across the country offering sailing as an extracurricular option for their students.
Smith says sailing is popular in the United States and Canada, in part, because the sport does not exclude individuals because of their athletic ability. Depending on the boat that is used, sailing can involve the most rigorous of workouts, or can promote the most relaxed atmosphere. It is one of the few coeducational sports that allows women and men to create a uniform body and to compete together.
Guerin and Smith were aware of the versatility of sailing when they decided to introduce a sailing club to College Hill. Today, the club receives funding from Hamilton's Student Assembly and the Department of Athletics. Its first vessel, The Express, was purchased in fall 2001, and the current fleet consists of four FJs (or "Flying Juniors"), which are small, 14-foot, two-person boats. Professor of Mathematics Richard Bedient and former Director of Athletics Tom Murphy were named advisors for the sailing club. Membership has grown from three avid sailors to about a dozen team members who sail competitively in regattas and another 60 students who sail recreationally. The team practices at Oneida Lake, but has been hampered by poor wind conditions and is considering a move to Cazenovia Lake, where Colgate University's more-established sailing team trains. In addition to more favorable conditions, Smith said the move would allow Hamilton and Colgate to train together for the benefit of both teams.
According to Smith, who, in addition to helping found the current team, serves as team president, the sailing club has improved significantly in a short time. "The camaraderie that has formed between the men and women in the Hamilton Sailing Club has created the framework for a promising sailing team. We have witnessed the team's ability to succeed due to its successful revival and its resiliency in the harshest of conditions, such as having little wind and one sailboat."
In the fall of 2002, for example, Hamilton's sailing club competed in three regattas and placed 16th at the MAISA North Championship, just three places behind local rival Colgate.
In the future, Smith said, club members desire to develop from a club sport to a team sport.
The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) has seven districts that schedule sailing competitions, known as regattas: Middle Atlantic (MAISA), Midwest (MCSA), New England (NEISA), Northwest, (NWICSA), Pacific Coast (PCIYRA), South Atlantic (SAISA), and South-Eastern (SEISA).
