Sailing team tacks to the islands

By Margo Consul

The sailing team made sure that they made a lasting impression in Oahu, Hawaii at regionals this past weekend.

The Broncos finished tied for fifth overall in their second appearance at regionals while Bay Area rival, Stanford, took first.

Although they fell four points shy of qualifying for the semi-finals, team captain Blake Martini was still proud of how his team finished. The Broncos finished with 175 points while the fourth place team, the University of Hawaii, raked in 171.

"I felt that we got robbed, but we almost got there," Martini said of their high finish.

Santa Clara competes in the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference racing two 14 ft. dinghies, an A boat and a B boat.

"They can fully flip over and you get pretty wet all the time but it's fun," Martini said.

The A and B boats switch every two races and the combined scores of all the races add up to determine the total score. The lowest score, the team with the most first place finishes, wins the regatta.

The Broncos finished second in Northern California to earn their spot in regionals this year.

"In our division there are about 37 registered teams and this year we had a divide between Northern California and Southern California, and the top five from north and south go to the regional championships," Martini said.

This year's performance was an improvement from the transition season the team had last year, losing most of their varsity boat crew members to the engineering department's senior design projects and ultimately to graduation.

"We're a young team. Most of us are sophomores or below so I think the next two years or so we'll be really good," Martini said.

With only six boats in the yard they are one of the smallest teams and their experience ranges from people who have casually sailed with friends and family to those that have competed for many years.

Santa Clara's sailing team has been around for five years and Martini has seen nothing but growth since he joined the team.

"Every year we have just grown and grown. My freshman year we got second in Northern California out of seven teams; I believe we beat out Stanford that year and that was our big kick out year," Martini said.

The team practices year round with the major competitions taking place during winter quarter. The team practices and sails in Redwood City, but faces many challenges as a result of the location.

"It's kind of limited practice times because of the winds and time of day you could practice," said Martini. "We try to get out there as often as we can but we don't get to practice as much as we would like to."

Despite being one of the smallest and youngest teams out there, Martini enjoys what being on the sailing team provides.

"I just love being out on the water," said Martini. "Once you get out there you forget everything else (and are) able to just relax and focus on what you are doing."

Contact Margo Consul at mconsul@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.