News-Letter

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Two Fridays ago, the club sailing team made their usual trip down to the Inner Harbor for what they thought would be an ordinary day of sailing. What they found, however, were 40-mph gusts of wind, rolling waves and the most intense sailing experience of the year. "It was nuts, the most crazy day!" freshman sailing instructor Greg Shultz said. That Friday, the experienced sailors to had a blast and the novice sailors learned basically every possible situation they would need to know regarding sailing.

Though images of shipwreck and The Perfect Storm come to mind, the conditions were not so rough that anyone was in any serious danger. "Everything was pretty safe," freshman sailing instructor Jack Lewis said. "It was actually a great time. It was a fun crash course for people, especially people who had never sailed before."

The club sailing team was fortunate to gain the leadership of four sailing instructors this year: Shultz, Lewis, freshman Roxi Radi and senior John Criezis. Every Friday they help new sailors rig the boats, set sail and instruct those who need help. The success of the program was mostly made possible from the efforts of Criezis, who has been involved with club sailing since his freshman year. When Criezis began sailing in 2002, the program was stricken with a number of problems regarding organization, finance and commitment. Transportation also became a problem, forcing the team to pay per session.

"My first year was kind of a mess," Criezis said. "In a sense we actually didn't go sailing my freshman year. We got out once or twice in the spring." However, as Criezis gradually took the club sailing reins, the program improved dramatically. Over his four-year span, the sailors were able to sign a contract with the Downtown Baltimore Sailing Center, allowing them to sail in different locations, take out four boats at a time and most importantly, pay a flat fee instead of paying per session. The club was also able to gain the sponsorship of the Outdoor Pursuits program, which alleviated financial strain.

However, despite Criezis' success at rejuvenating the program, the club sailing team still sees its share of troubles. When asked about difficulties regarding recruitment, transportation and scheduling, Shultz said, "All of the above! There are only four instructors who really do it all the time, every week (Criezis, Lewis, Radi and Shultz). We haven't had that many people show an interest in doing it all the time."

Continued...

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