Newclubsetssail

Freshmen Lauren Honaback and Jon Engle sail windward during practice in Mission Bay. PLNU’s club team, in its first season, is chartered by ASB and placed 14th out of 22 teams in its first competition win. Photo by Coco Jones

Before sophomore Jason Gilbert and freshman Jon Engle arrived at school this year, they were already planning and collaborating to create PLNU’s first sailing club. Over the summer, Gilbert and Engle contacted each other to figure out how to bring the sailing club to life without meeting each other until the first day of school. 

“It was like a blind date,” said Gilbert. 
They were united by a mutual friend who knew that both sailors wanted to start a club. 

Gilbert and Engle worked hard at getting the team started. They had to present their idea for the club to the ASB Board of Directors multiple times before finally getting it approved.
Lawyers from the school had to review a release form before they chartered the boats to make sure that the school would not be liable.

They found sponsors who would contribute to the financial costs of the team, including San Diego National Bank, Scripps Health and Miguel’s Cocina. 

The club team needed a faculty adviser, so they asked Rick Kennedy, professor of history and chair of the history and political science department. 

“Sailing is a great sport,” Kennedy said. “A lot of [college] teams are good. Why shouldn’t Point Loma have a good sailing team?” 

Along with an adviser, the sailing team needed a coach, so they turned to Mission Bay Yacht Club junior sailing director Chris Wright. 

“They definitely have plenty of promise to keep [the team] going,” said Wright, who was not only on the sailing team at San Diego State University, but also on Point Loma High School’s sailing team, which has placed in the top rankings in regatta events.
 
Many students have shown an interest in the sport and have gone to some of the practices, which are held on Thursdays from 2 to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 12 to 3 p.m. at the Mission Bay Yacht Club. Around eight to 10 students show up at practices. Many have never sailed before.

“I wanted to try something new,” said freshman Shelley Berney. “I didn’t know how to sail at all when I started, but I learned a lot.” 
Gilbert thinks that the sailing club and team are great opportunities for students to be able to learn to sail at an affordable rate of $130 per semester. 

“We started from scratch with no one knowing how to sail and we just ran with that,” said Gilbert. 

The sailing team competes against schools such as UCSD and USC in the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference, which consists of sailing teams from the West Coast. In their first regatta race, PLNU finished 14th out of 22 schools. 

Gilbert and Engle hope that the club will gain more student interest and become a well-ranked competitive team. As San Diego is a former host of the America’s Cup, the most well-known competitive sailing regatta in the sport, they hope the location will draw outside attention from prospective students who are interested in sailing as well. 

“You can do it pretty much year-round here in San Diego,” said Engle.  “With such a young and fresh team to mold, everyone has high prospects for the club as well as the team’s future regattas. “

Gilbert agreed. “Sailing is different from any sport,” he said. “It has been around forever. I think we want to grow the club and the team to be a highly competitive team throughout the next four years and I think it will be here to stay.”