A group of St. Thomas students banded together this spring to help resurrect a school-sponsored sailing club, six years after the previous version of the club was discontinued due to poor leadership.

Sophomores Hans Vroege, Lilly Anasari and Lauren Vallez teamed up to once again raise the sails. Vroege, the club’s president, said re-establishing the sailing club was a goal of his after coming to St. Thomas as a transfer student from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

“There was a pretty big history of St. Thomas and the U of M sailing together,” Vroege said. “I knew that history and that if I went here, I wanted to re-start it. That was one of my biggest goals coming in as a new student this year, to start the sailing club up.”

The club, which has only been officially in existence for about a month, has two main purposes, according to Vroege.

“The goal of the St. Thomas sailing club is to first get people out sailing and understand what that whole world is like,” he said. “Kind of the second tier is you learn racing format, and you learn how to sailboat race once you have the basics down. From there you can go on and do regattas.”

With the club still in its infancy, expanding the membership base is Vroge’s biggest task. Three members have participated enough to pay dues and four other students have shows interest, according to Vroege. He hopes to eventually have a steady group of between 10 and 15 students.

Although Vroege and Anasari both started the club with previous sailing experience, Vroege stressed that the club is open to any interested students.

“I have been trying to get new people, and often they are nervous because they do not have any experience, but the whole point of clubs is to show people new experiences,” he said.

Vallez echoed the sentiment, stating that even as a co-founder of the club she had no prior sailing experience and is still learning the ropes.

“People are kind of surprised that I wanted to form a club of something I had never tried before, but I think it is good that I have not, because people are not as intimidated to join,” Vallez said. “If you do not know how to sail, neither do I, and I am a co-founder.”

On May 9 and 10 the sailing club competed for the first time since its establishment, racing in the Gopher Invite hosted by the University of Minnesota. Although the club lacked a full team and could not be officially scored, Vroege said the members who did participate really enjoyed the experience.

“It was awesome… we joined up with the U of M and created a combined team,” he said. “It wasn’t officially scored, because you need to have a pure team to be officially scored, but we were able to race and have fun, and that’s really the core of what we are doing.”

The club has weekly meetings on campus, but has emphasized getting out on the water. Members have regularly practiced sailing on Lake Minnetonka every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday since the club’s founding. Depending on the week’s schedule, members also practice on Fridays and Saturdays, and the club even works with a paid coach.

All of this comes at a price, however. Each member must pay $350 per season, or $500 if they want to sail the whole year. Vroege said this steep price does hurt recruitment, but stressed that members get a lot for their money, including access to a facility on Lake Minnetonka and the opportunity to work with a sailing coach who has coached across America.

Freshman Jack Cunningham, a regular member since the club started, recommended the club to students for a number of reasons, including the social aspects of sailing.

“It is something that not a lot of people get exposed to,” Cunningham said. “It is a really cool sport, and it is very different and a really good time. It is also a very social sport as well. With every regatta there is a lot of social events that go on, regardless of where you are in the country. So it is kind of a cool connection to have with other sailors around the country.”

As the sailing club tries to expand its membership base and experience level, the hope is to continue competing in more regattas starting next fall.

Willie Faust can be reached at faus5612@stthomas.edu.