Not much is known about the early years of the University of Oregon Sailing Club.
“The club has been around since the mid-70s. We’re not sure all the exact details, because a janitor threw away all the files on accident,” junior Cara Kuhlman said.
But one thing is known for certain — the club has never raced in the national semifinals. Nor has any school from the state of Oregon. That will change on May 1, when the Ducks travel to Charleston, S.C., to compete in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association National Semifinals hosted by the College of Charleston.
The Ducks qualified for the semis by finishing in second place in the Northwest District qualifiers last weekend on Seattle’s Lake Washington. The Ducks finished behind host Washington, edging out Western Washington to clinch a semifinal berth.
The top nine schools at the semifinals will compete in the national championships, to be held at the University of Wisconsin this year. Senior captain Craig Emmes said the season will be a success even if the Ducks do not qualify for the national championships.
“At the same time, we’re not done here,” he said. “We’re still going to be practicing really hard and getting in really good shape.”
Coach Mike Karas said he isn’t about to count the Ducks out either.
“I think (qualifying for the finals) is possible,” he said. “If they put together a good regatta, they have a chance.”
The Ducks have been putting a lot more practice hours in this year, and even spent spring break competing in Long Beach, Calif.
Karas said the competition the Ducks faced in Long Beach was much tougher than the competition they face in districts. He said this experience will be vital to the Ducks when they race in Charleston.
“It was exactly the type of practice they need, with a lot of close boat-on-boat situations where everything is really compact,” Karas said.
The Ducks also raced in the St. Francis Regatta in San Francisco and Emmes said that will be a huge help for the Ducks going into the semifinals.
Emmes explained that Charleston is known for having strong crosswinds, and the Ducks raced in similar conditions in San Francisco.
As he prepares his team for the semifinals, Karas said he is trying to replicate the type of racing he expects to see in the semifinals.
“All the situations on the race course are going to be a lot closer together because everybody is a lot more even skill level, so we’re going to adjust practices accordingly.”
Emmes said the team has put in more practice time this year than in years past. As the Ducks practiced more, Emmes explained, the practices got more intense.
“There’s more people on the team that are at a lot closer of a level, so practices have been a lot more efficient,” he said. “And I think we’ve all gotten a lot more out of the practices because we’ve had more people that can push each other, and we can all kind of learn from that.”
Until last season, the sailing club was self-coached by the captain. Emmes said Karas’ help over the last two years has had a big impact on the club as well.
“Having somebody that can run practices and run drills and has really good advice has been helpful,” Emmes said.
With only a few seniors graduating this year, the club is very excited about next year, when the Ducks will host the national championships.
Among the young sailors returning next year is sophomore Elliot Drake, who raced at the singles national championship race last fall.
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