For the price of a few days of training and less than $110 per year, students can have access to club sailboats they can take as far south as Florida. Once members have paid their annual dues and been certified by senior teammates, such access is available to all members of State’s oldest club sport, the sailing team.
Founded in the 1950’s, the Sailing Club at North Carolina State University provides many of its members with their first exposure to the world of sailing.
Club president and commodore Milton Mealla had never seen a sailboat prior to his first day of practice with the sailing club.
“I had never actually seen a sailboat before joining the club,” Mealla said. “I had never seen a boat, and I joined the club. I liked the people and I kept showing up for sail days and meetings, and now, here I am.”
Mealla is by no means the only club member who took a quick liking to an activity he essentially stumbled into.
“I was just looking for an activity,” club officer and senior Tan Pham said. “I went to a meeting and fell in love with it right away.”
In addition to introducing people to a pastime they would otherwise need to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars to enjoy, the sailing club also offers a competitive racing team for experienced sailors looking to represent N.C. State in competition. The members of the sailing club who race compete in the Interscholastic Sailing Association’s South Atlantic District against representatives from other southeastern schools including UNC-Chapel Hill and College of Charleston.
The club was named the University’s club sport of the year in 2003-2004, but Mealla said that membership has decreased and created difficulties on the competitive front. Pham said the club welcomes anyone and everyone with an interest in extracurricular activity, whether it be the outdoors in general or sailing in particular.
“If there’s anybody interested, several classmates taught me and passed on the knowledge,” Pham said. “You don’t have to have any experience to come out and join the club.”
While the team takes competitions seriously, Pham said that for many of the participants, the sailing club is more about learning a craft and forming bonds than furiously chasing championships.
“I have made a lot of great friends, friends I will keep in touch with for a long time after school,” Pham said.