15

SPORTS

The Norwich Guidon
April 29, 2004

Sailing team tries to make their mark as a thriving Norwich sport

By Carson Miller
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

It has been two years since Norwich has had a sport practiced and played on water, perhaps because the school is surrounded by land.

Less than twenty students and a faculty advisor have reinstituted a team sport at Norwich that will challenge them in using the limited resources that central Vermont has to offer.

This year, the Norwich University Naval ROTC (NROTC) will offer a sailing team to members of the Naval unit. The team is sponsored by the NROTC department and is funded by the United States Navy.

Lt. Brian Haggerty is a Naval Science Instructor and faculty advisor to the sailing team.

"When I got here we had four sailboats and a Boston Whaler that hadn't been put in water in over two years. I considered that wasted resources, so I began the process of making those vessels ready to go to water and making sure that we had midshipmen that were interested in competing in sailing," Haggerty said.

The ROTC unit has the boats and equipment dry docked in the winter to keep them seaworthy for the warmer months.

Presently there are restrictions for personnel not in the Naval Battalion to participate on the sailing team.

Col. Michael Anderson, the Commanding Officer of the NROTC unit at Norwich, is a big supporter of the sailing team.

"We want members of this battalion to get an affinity for some of the things that we do, and we are trying different things," Anderson said. "One of them is the sailing team."

"At this point, due to Navy liability issues, because it's Navy boats and Navy equipment, participation is restricted to the Navy battalion, but participation in intercollegiate regattas not on our vessels, it's not restricted to the battalion," Haggerty said.

"Within the battalion, there are no restrictions. Even if you have no experience whatsoever, it is encouraged to join us because it provides you the training to teach you how to sail," Haggerty said.

Drew Gore, a freshman criminal justice major from Ipswich, Massachusetts, is the most experienced sailor on the team. "I have been sailing since I was nine and teaching since fifteen," Gore said.

"I take people who don't know how to sail and get them qualified for the Navy's qualifications, which are A, B, and C, which are mate, skipper, and racing skipper, respectively," Gore said.

The sailing team meets on Thursdays in Plumley at noon.

"I'd say on average we have about fifteen to twenty midshipmen at any given meeting, and each of the trips we've taken so far have been roughly eight people per trip. The only limit on trips has been transportation. We can take one van load each trip," Haggerty said.

"In the fall, we participated in a regatta in Massachusetts. It was an intercollegiate regatta hosted by Amherst College.

"Unfortunately, there was very poor wind, and although everyone we took ended up getting to sail, the competition was cancelled, and all heats were cancelled, because there was no wind," Haggerty said.

"The event prior to the Amherst College regatta was in Washington, D.C., and we sailed against a number of different ROTC units, and that one was hosted by George Washington University," Haggerty said. "In the George Washington University event, we finished last overall. Midshipman Drew Gore finished first in all but one heat that he competed in and was recognized as the top sailor overall in the competition."

"We have a small budget that comes from the government, so anything that we start doing for fundraising helps support the team by sending them to competition and things of that nature," Anderson said.

Greg Johnson, a sophomore international studies major from Yorktown, Vir., is the captain of the sailing team and has been sailing since childhood. "I was a boy scout, and since I lived on the Chesapeake Bay, we did a lot of sailing. I learned on smaller boats, but I have also done bigger boats," Johnson said.

"We are not that great, yet. It's kind of hard to get good fast [when] you are a landlocked Army school, but we have a good time," Johnson said.

The team's next competition is on April 17 against ROTC units from the New England area, held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"At the MIT regatta, I expect to see improvement from the George Washington regatta," Haggerty said.

The team is doing primarily classroom training focusing on "learning to sail," which is important, because it teaches you important skills such as "the effects of natural forces on vessels such as wind, current, weather, and things of that nature," Haggerty said.

"We do everything idiots guide," Johnson said. "We explain everything to the smallest detail."

Training is conducted on Navy equipment.

"We have four lazars, which are small, fifteen-foot sailing vessels that can sail one to two people each, and we have a Boston Whaler, which is a motor boat used for support of the training and all of the safety equipment used for those vessels," Haggerty said.

"Right now, it is all introductory classes. Eventually, we will get more into the boats, and it will be more interesting," Johnson said.

Training is also conducted outside of the classroom.

"We took some midshipmen down to Annapolis for an annual Safety At Sea seminar hosted by the Naval Academy and the Sailing Merchants Association, where they learned a lot about offshore sailing and sailing safety," Haggerty said. "In addition, there are opportunities for the midshipmen to actually go sailing on local bodies of water, including Lake Champlain and a reservoir near Montpelier."

"We are trying to get sail qualified, and we are looking to see what those entitle and see what kind of meetings we can have to prepare for those," Johnson said. "There are different levels of sailing."

"We want to get the boats out into the water and have hands-on training," Johnson said.

"There is a qualifications book, and you have to meet all the requirements to show general knowledge of sailing, being able to tie knots, know the boat, navigation, and conditions of being at sea," Johnson said.

"Once they've shown that they know that knowledge, and they have proved that out on the water, they will get a written test that should be enough to get them qualified," Johnson said.

"The ability to sail in competition is a nice bonus to hone their skills," Haggerty said.

The leaders of the sailing team hope to get all of the participants to qualify as racing skippers.

"I haven't been qualified, yet, but I have the experience to get qualified as a racing skipper. Lieutenant Haggerty is helping to qualify me," Gore said.

"During the summer, the midshipmen that participate in sailing will be coming back for about a week. We are going to a sailing training program near Lake Champlain funded by the Norwich Naval ROTC unit," Gore said.

"It is something to give the members of this battalion something to look forward to doing," Anderson said.

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.