Tuesday, February 11, 1997
CLUB:
Returning sailors strengthen close-knit Bruins, look to HawaiiBy
Rocky Salmon
Daily Bruin Contributor
Which UCLA team is maintaining sole possession of first place in
its division for the first time in twenty years?
No, it is not one of the varsity sports.
Rather it is the UCLA sailing team.
The club has come out strong in the first two regattas and has
taken the lead in the Southern Section of the Pacific Coast
District (PCD).
Last year, the club qualified for district championships, but
fell short of the national championships by placing eighth.
This year, the Bruins have already defeated three teams ranked
among the top 20 nationally, including UC Irvine, a team which
placed second in the nationals last year. And in the last regatta,
UCLA beat arch-rival USC for the first time in 16 years.
The reason for the club’s success is the return of a full
varsity team from a year ago.
UCLA currently has two varsity teams  an "A" team that
competes on Saturdays and a "B" team that competes in the regattas
on Sundays.
"Team spirit makes the biggest difference because we’re a small
team but we’re close-knit," varsity "B" team skipper Ossi Saarela
said. "A lot of hard work in the fall and last season has started
to pay off."
Sailing for the co-ed varsity team in the victory over USC was
Kevin Richards and Emily Beeck from the "A" team, and "B" team
members Saarela and Sabrina Wong  all returnees from last
year.
Not only is the varsity coed team strong, but with a promising
new flow of female sailors , the women’s team is now ranked fifth
in the district.
"Sailing is a team effort," Richards, a sophomore, said. "What
matters is what the whole team puts in because this effects how the
whole team improves."
An example of the Bruins’ quick improvement is shown in their
record, as they maintain a two-point lead over the other teams in
their district. With such a drastic change, the club is looking to
travel to Hawaii in April to compete in the district
championships.
"Stanford will be our toughest opponent in the championships,"
Richards said. "Our goal is to reach the district and move on to
nationals. We have the ability to do it."
On Feb. 22-23 the club will try to take a step towards traveling
to Hawaii when they will hold a regatta at the Marina Aquatic
Center.
With every team looking to replace UCLA in its first-place
position, the Bruins will rely on home-court advantage to stay on
top of the division.
This year, the sailing team hopes it can repeat what happened in
the 1970s by going to Hawaii and winning a championship.