There was a moment this past fall when I was leaning
horizontally out of the boat with my head six inches above the
water when it struck me: A month before I had never been in a boat.
And now I was in a collegiate sailing race, competing on the UCLA
sailing team.
Sailing at UCLA is club sport, meaning that although it is not
NCAA competition, the team does compete against other universities.
These schools include the University of Hawai’i, USC,
Stanford and UC Berkeley.
When I came to school for my sophomore year I decided I wanted
to try a new sport. Club sports offer more competition to students
but require more of a commitment than intramurals. Teams have
tryouts and regular practices, and they travel to other schools for
games.
I was going to play rugby. I borrowed my friend’s cleats
and had all my other friends begging me to tell them when practice
was so they could watch me get destroyed and brutally dragged
through the mud. When I showed up for the first practice, I found I
had been spared. It was two-hand touch.
I had a great time. It was decided; I was going to be a rugby
player.
That is, until I went to sailing tryouts. I showed up at the
Marina Aquatic Center to give sailing a shot, and it did not take
long to realize I had found my new sport. There was a barbecue. It
was co-ed. I went out on the water for the first time in a 14-foot
FJ, manned by two people, and had a great time taking the boat
around the marina.
Somewhere my grandma breathed a silent sigh of relief that her
grandson wasn’t going to attempt to be a rugby rookie, and my
friends threw temper tantrums when they heard they weren’t
going to get to watch my untimely death.
Ironically, it’s all thanks to John Madden that I’m
a sailor instead of a rugby player. During my freshman year I lived
on a floor with a guy who had been sailing all his life, and now
sailed for UCLA. We played at least four games of Madden a week on
his Xbox and every game he would subtly mention, “Hey, you
should come out for sailing.”
After a year of subliminal messaging, I figured I owed it a
chance. I gave it one, and I haven’t regretted it for a
second.
My favorite kind of race is one in heavy wind, where the only
things in the boat are my legs hooked under the hiking strap.
In my second regatta on the team I got introduced to this
situation. After jockeying for position behind the starting line we
headed up the course and the boat started to keel. In order to keep
it flat and not capsize, I had to lean all the way out of the boat
while still controlling the sail.
That was the moment I realized sailing is a sport. When my
muscles started to get tired and I realized the difference between
us continuing to zip along the course or be in the water was my
ability to stay hiked out. It was exhausting and such a rush.
And then we came out of the water and camped out around a
bonfire by the lake where we were racing. That’s the great
thing about college sailing. There is strong competition in the
water and then there is an infectious, relaxed vibe surrounding the
sport once the racing is over.
Last year I found myself sailing all over California, racing in
San Diego, Santa Barbara, Long Beach and San Francisco. I even won
my first race at a regatta hosted by UH in Oahu. Camping on the
beach watching lightning strike offshore, rugby could not have been
further from my mind.
College is the perfect opportunity to pick up a sport like
sailing. Before college I had heard of the America’s Cup, but
that was it. I had never done it before, and I probably never would
have done it afterward. But having picked it up in college, not
only do I like racing now, but I can sail for years after I
graduate.
Last fall when I told a friend of mine that I was on the UCLA
sailing team, he told me that it was the most random thing he had
ever heard. In a way it was, but in a way that is why it is the
perfect thing to have started in college. Thank you, John
Madden.
E-mail Gordon at bgordon@media.ucla.edu if your life path
has also been governed by legendary sports icon John
Madden.