GENERAL INFO CSC Home Page About CSC Open Houses CSC FAQ ... Contacts/People ACTION Racing Events Calendar READING Library CSC History Minutes ON-LINE Listserver Sailing/Weather Links Club Cruise Sign-Up Cruise Sign-Up Help SEARCH A History of the Cal Sailing Club by Paul Kamen , former CSC Commodore March 29, 1995
(revised June 23, 1997) Most universities that are located near large bodies of water have a single sailing facility which serves multiple functions. These usually include sailing instruction, recreational sailing, and intercollegiate competitive sailing. Up until about 1970, this was the case at U.C. Berkeley. A single organization served all the sailing-related needs of the University community. But at that time the U.C. Racing Team, the U.C. Physical Education Department's sailing classes, and the Cal Sailing Club split into three separate organizations, each using their own equipment and located miles apart. This split was due largely to the rigorous environmental conditions that prevail on San Francisco Bay. The Bay is famous for its strong sailing breezes - but these conditions, along with cold water, steep waves, and dense fog, place unusually stringent requirements on both instructional standards and on boat maintenance procedures. Friction inevitably developed between the Racing Team, which needed their boats in top competitive condition, the U.C. Sailing Classes, which consistently damaged boats during instruction but had insufficient resources to maintain them, and the U.C. Yacht CLub, as it was then called, which had volunteers to maintain the fleet but was primarily interested in recreational sailing. | |
|
