Sailing club revived

The wind whips through her hair as the cold droplets of water hit her face and the FJ's slice through the waves. Yet this "Flying Junior Scotts" boat is not all alone in the ocean -- it's in the middle of seven other boats each vying for victory within the Sailboat Regatta.\nThe basics of Sailboat Regatta involve sailing a boat with one to three passengers through a course with a triangular shape. The boats are called Lasers, Flying Junior Scotts or FJ's for short, and Sloops for their prospective amount of passengers.\n"The sailboat most collegiate Regattas use are the Flying Junior Scotts," said sophomore and IU team member Adam Ledyard.\nThe Regatta involves a sailing contest where each competitor participates in at least three races, typically over a weekend of time, vying to have as many races as possible so that the most participants can get sailing time. \n"We might get six or seven rotations in on Saturday, and maybe four or five in on Sunday. You have to have at least three full rotations on one day to be considered a Regatta," Vice Commodore (sailing equivalent to Vice President) Katie Triplett said.\nWithin these races there are two levels to each team, called A and B Fleets, that each have to participate in the same amount of races. Unlike other sports, the letters A and B do not entail the skill level of the team, but is rather a method of dividing the teams into divisions, similar to conferences in other sports. \nThe IU Sailing Club began more than 13 years ago, but interest in the team was lost and eventually fizzled out. But, in 1998, the team was resurrected and re-entered sailing competition.\nThe IU Sailing Club is a member of the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association. \n"There are three different levels of the MCSA, and we just moved up to the second level, and are now able to compete in major regattas all over the US," Triplett said.\nWhile the team was a member of the third level, it was not able to run for the various delegations within the MCSA and was also unable to be ranked for competitions. The team is able to participate in major regattas for the first time this year. But, the participation within the tournaments has relied on the attendance of members.\n"The team's just starting out, so we're only trying to make it to competitions with enough people," Ledyard said. \nDespite this fact, this fall season's outings have proved successful for the team, winning two out of three of the tournaments they entered. \n"We took first at a Michigan State, took first at our own Regatta at Indiana during the 20th-21st, and we took sixth out of 10 teams at Detroit," Triplett said. \nWith the successful season comes a berth to the "Timmy's Qualifiers," which is similar to a Midwest team championship that will take place in Wisconsin this year. If the team places within the top four at this tournament, they would then advance to the "National Timmy's" and compete with the top teams from all over the country.\nEven with the team's success, fun is still the main goal.\n"At our tournament we made various gag prizes, including a 'Bobby Knight Award' that was a folding chair," Ledyard said. Even a spare tire with "Most Miles Traveled" painted on it was given to the team who took the most time to reach the finish line.\nThis light-hearted attitude is always apparent throughout the club, which is always searching for new members. Information will be posted throughout campus in February.\n"The sailing team is always interested in finding new sailors," Triplett said. "There is no need for experience, we're just out to have fun"