By Andrew Doran
As CI students, we live pretty darn close to the ocean. Not only can we go for a dip, surf or lounge on the sand- we can also go sailing! CI has its very own sailing club, allowing students to participate in an activity that is usually reserved for people that already have boats.
The Sailing Club, which is based at the Channel Islands Boating Center, has a strong group of members this year.
”We have a strong core group of about 12 people that practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Four of us have a decent amount of sailing experience, and the rest just started sailing this semester,” said Neil Marcellini, President of the Sailing Club, via email. ”We can help members learn to sail with no prior experience. We want to welcome new members at any point in the semester.”
As CI is not right against the coast, it’s important that CI maintains the relationship with Channel Island Boating Center. Luckily for CI, it’s a mutual attraction. Marcellini was adamant that the Channel Island Boating Center allows CI to grow and get better as the year goes on.
“They have a classroom where we can meet, locker rooms for us to change and shower in, a yard to store our boats trailer and room to store our equipment inside,” said Marcellini. “[They] also provide staff to support our practices.”
Since the sail club already has a stable and reliable set of members, they have been able to compete in competitions across California.
“We recently placed 8th overall out of 20 boats in the [University of California – San Diego] Open Regatta,” said Marcellini. ”We placed 4th overall in A division.”
Marcellini doesn’t just want people to come and watch them, he really wants students to come and join their club.
“Rather than watch us, I recommend students join the club and experience it with us,” said Marcellini. “[A majority] of our members never sailed before this semester.”
If you want to watch the next competition of the CI Sailing Club, they will be sailing at the Fall Pacific Coast Championship up the coast in Santa Barbara. You can also follow them
@ci_sailing on Instagram and Twitter.
