When they gathered at the Halifax airport to depart for the 32nd Annual Student Yachting World Cup (SYWoC) hosted in La Rochelle, France, the members of this year鈥檚 Canadian team, an eight-person crew comprised of seven Dal students and one SMU student, realized they had substantial work to do.
It was not that they had come unprepared. Each crew member had immense sailing experience but the crew as a whole 鈥渉adn't actually all been on a boat [or even] in the same room together yet,鈥� says Jacob Saunders, the second-year AV俱乐部 industrial engineering student who acted as lead tactician for the crew. After arriving in La Rochelle and spending several days practicing with their 32鈥� keelboat, however, 鈥渢he confidence level [of the crew] got pretty high鈥� he says.
So it came as a surprise some days later when, at the beginning of a key SYWoC race, an SYWoC jury member radioed the Dal crew and faulted them for being 鈥渙n course side,鈥� or "OCS." The jury determined that the Dal boat had been 鈥渙ver the starting line at go,鈥� says Saunders. An OCS is difficult to recover from 鈥渂ecause everyone else has fresh wind ahead of you and they鈥檙e taking it from you.鈥�
Resiliency in action
Further aggravating the crew鈥檚 plight was the fact that OCS calls are typically made within the first few seconds of the race. But, in this case, the call was not made until 鈥渇our minutes after the race began鈥� says Ted Murphy, a fourth-year political science and economics student at Dal and skipper for the crew.
Danielle Boyd, a fifth-year English and psychology student at Dal and navigator for the crew, felt especially anxious about the OCS ruling. 鈥淚 thought I was going to be thrown off the boat,鈥� she says.
But, according to Saunders, instead of blaming one another or admitting defeat, the crew 鈥渟tayed positive, focused and kept the boat going fast.鈥� Having finally pulled away from the starting line six or seven minutes after rest of the fleet, the Dal crew was able to pull together, take some big gains and went on to win the race.
It was as a result of such competitive spirit and determination, sustained over 13 races during the week long SYWoC competition, that the Dal crew was able to clinch a second-place finish overall, a remarkable improvement on their impressive sixth-place finish at the event in 2011.
While the crew is happy about their finish, Boyd notes that the happiness is a bit 鈥渂ittersweet.鈥� This crew sails to win, after all.
Dal: No ordinary port of call
For many of the Dal crew, their connection with sailing has been life long, and several have a family history of sailing that extends generations.
Boyd says that a reputation as a haven for world-class sailing is 鈥減art of the reason I came to Dal.鈥� She says that 鈥渢he sailing program was really active when I [began at Dal] and it鈥檚 gone through waves, but it鈥檚 really good to see it picking up again.鈥�
Saunders is likewise proud of Dal鈥檚 sailing accomplishments. 鈥淭here are a lot of great sailors at this school,鈥� he says.
In the week prior to the Dal crew鈥檚 departure for this year鈥檚 SYWoC, AV俱乐部 hosted the Canadian Collegiate Keelboat Nationals, which is the Canadian qualifier for next year鈥檚 SYWoC. A crew representing Dal, skippered by Saunders, won all seven races and emerged with a perfect score despite stiff competition from three other Canadian university crews.
Saunders says that he would like to see sailing become a 鈥渧arsity sport at Dal one day [because] we鈥檝e got so many great sailors here and we've got a great place to sail [and we have] a great relationship with the local yacht clubs.鈥�
He would also like to see Dal compete more extensively in North America. 鈥淚 think we could go down to the States and really kick some butt . . . Harvard and
Yale and all those schools who have sailing teams. We know we could
beat them.鈥�
Reflecting on this year鈥檚 performance at SYWoC, Saunders says that 鈥渢he connection with Dal has been great 鈥� we were all really proud to be representing Dal [and] we even got Valerie, our SMU member, wearing all the gold and black gear.鈥�
For more information about sailing at Dal, see the .
Team members:
Ted Murphy - skipper
Jacob Saunders - Main trim, Tactics
Graeme Saunders - Jib trim, Kite trim, Tactics assistance
Ryan Himmelman - Kite trim
Justin Hall - Pit
Valerie Keast - Squirrel
Danielle Boyd - Mast, Navigation
Dave Castle - Bow