Racing for 17 hours in weather conditions ranging from heavy winds to thick fog to thunder and lightning did not stop the UT club sport sailing team from qualifying for a national championship.

UT students Ryan Lashaway, Catherine Sopher, Mike Stark and Brian Goldberg will compete against nationally ranked teams for the 2009 Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Sloop National Championship Friday through Sunday, Oct. 23-25, in Connecticut.

UT’s sailing team will compete at the varsity level against the U.S. Naval Academy, University of Wisconsin, Boston College, Brown University, Washington University and Charleston University, among others.

Due to three of the four members having more than 10 years of experience racing all over the country through various weather conditions, Lashaway feels they are ready for anything.

“I sailed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the high was 40 degrees and the wind was between 15 to 20 knots.” Lashaway said. “It became difficult to rig the boat when all the rope was frozen solid. Although it’s not always that cold, a majority of the time we are in shorts and T-shirts.”

Unpredictable weather conditions, varsity-level competition and staggered skill levels only fueled the team’s growth. Stark said the sailing team is looking for anyone who wants to learn how to sail, race or just have fun.

“Students need to know that it doesn’t matter what you have tried or not tried before; college is about experiencing new things, so sign up for a club sport that sounds fun or interesting to you,” Stark said.

UT club sports include badminton, basketball, crew, ultimate Frisbee, water polo, soccer, wrestling, sailing and a wilderness expedition.

For more information on UT sport clubs, visit www.hometeamsonline.com/utsportclubs.

This entry was posted   on  Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at  5:10 am and is filed under  Events, UToday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.   You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.