I joined the Rutgers sailing team!
I joined the Rutgers sailing team! After leaving Williams-Mystic, I wasn’t sure if I’d get the chance to sail again. Lucky me, I ended up at a school with an awesome sailing team :) It’s pretty laid back if you aren’t competing, which is good for me as a beginner.
I’ve been to a few practices so far, and last time I got to skipper! (That means I’m sitting in the back steering the boat, as you can see in the photo.) In the smaller one-person boats I sailed at Williams-Mystic, I did skipper, but this felt pretty different. I felt really clumsy trying to switch sides on the boat while also steering and adjusting the sail. I was starting to get the hang of it by the end though :)
It’s a lot less stressful to be crew, which is the role of the second person in the boat (responsible for the smaller sail– the jib– while also moving around to keep the boat from tilting too far to one side). It’s still a challenge, though.
I’m excited to keep going to practice and improving my sailing skills. Thanks to the experienced team members and coaches for helping me learn. It’s awesome!