The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

Sailing Club begins second semester with a ‘boom’

Members+of+Sailing+Club+work+on+improving+teacher+Alexander+Wallaces+old+sail+and+boat%2C+including+the+boom%2C+the+horizontal+pole+which+extends+from+the+bottom+of+the+mast.
Joley Bove
Members of Sailing Club work on improving teacher Alexander Wallace’s old sail and boat, including the boom, the horizontal pole which extends from the bottom of the mast.

For a somewhat unknown activity, sailing has made its Carlmont debut through Sailing Club.

At the start of her junior year, Mia Yang scrolled through Carlmont’s club roster and noticed there wasn’t a club for those interested in sailing, a passion she pursued at her old school.

Wanting to change that, Yang approached her physics teacher Alexander Wallace, who is also interested in sailing, and asked him to be the adviser of her new club, Sailing Club.

But what’s a sailing club without a boat?

Luckily for Yang, Wallace had an old boat that he no longer had use for, so he donated it to the club. Everything pulled together, and it was now up to the team to make Carlmont’s first Sailing Club as successful as possible.

Given that sailing is a somewhat uncommon activity, members of the club, such as Vice President Ella Duarte, didn’t initially expect the club to attract new members.

“I was surprised that there were any other kids who sailed at Carlmont, and now there’s five of us, which is pretty impressive considering it’s the first year,” Duarte said.

Many joined the club with a shared appreciation for the unique skills that go hand-in-hand with sailing.

“It teaches people how to think for themselves by handling the boat. You have to be creative in the way that you do it. It’s a great way to be active but also really learn something about mechanics and how things operate,” Yang said.

During a typical weekly Wednesday meeting in B3, the club works on improving the Wallace’s old boat.

Sailing is a great learning experience that I wish more people knew about. It’s a very active sport, and there are so many different components that make it very interesting.

— Ella Duarte

Being that the boat is from the ’60s, it needs many repairs. The club spends countless hours removing rust and rebuilding parts in hopes of being able to take it out on the water by spring.

“We haven’t gotten into too much of the sailing aspect; it’s more of the building stuff right now. Once we get it put all together, I think that we could probably take it out into the pool and practice tacking,” Wallace said.

However, finishing the boat isn’t the only goal of the club. They also hope to publicize more for people to recognize the club’s existence and even encourage those who have never sailed to join as well.

“It’s self-fulfilling to see everything come together and know you’re making something basically by scratch,” freshman Laura Byrne said.

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About the Contributor
Joley Bove, Staff Writer
Joley Bove is a sophomore at Carlmont High School. She is a part of Media Arts English. She enjoys watching sports and plays for her school's lacrosse team. She hopes to inform the student body on their school's sports. Twitter: @JoleyBove

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  • E

    Ellis Becker-LiptonJan 23, 2020 at 7:45 pm

    Sick! Well said! Very good!

    Reply
  • A

    Alexander E. KentJan 23, 2020 at 4:47 pm

    Congrats to Joley Bove, Mia Yang, Alexander Wallace and friends on starting a sailing club at Carlmont!

    We live in a ‘mecca’ for sailing, both in the bay with its uniquely consistently wind in front of the Golden Gate Bridge, and with the navigation and larger waves of the coastal and off-shore sailing.

    These sailing mecca conditions (and vistas) and our the Bay Area’s history as a serious ship building center, also attracts an ecosystem of sail makers, boat designers, Olympic and pro sailors and the financial supporters including Larry Ellison and Tom Siebel to John Kilroy and many others.

    Many older adults in Belmont and beyond have spent decades pleasure sailing and also “yacht racing” as we call it.

    Crystal Springs Uplands has started a sailing team, The Design Tech high school started a sailing team, and I believe that they collaborate with the Peninsula Youth Sailing Foundation (PYSF) https://sites.google.com/pysf.us/home at the Port of Redwood City for their fleet of fully modernized boats. And, both PRSF and Stanford http://www.stanfordsailing.com/ offer summer sailing camps for children to young adults like Carlmont High Schoolers.

    Even among the more serious yacht racing in San Francisco out of clubs like St. Francis Yacht Club https://www.stfyc.com/juniors, Golden Gate Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club and Corinthian Yacht Club, some top adult teams welcome young adults, who in some cases get free lessons from pro sail makers and pro sailors in the process. And, St. Francis YC, considered the best yacht club in the United States, along with even tonier but perhaps less athletic, sister club, New York Yacht Club, also raises money for American aspiring Olympic sailors with the St. Francis Sailing Foundation. https://www.stfyc.com/Default.aspx?p=dynamicmodule&pageid=407769&ssid=334780&vnf=1

    Non profits like The Blue Water Foundation https://www.bluewaterfoundation.org/ run regular sailing outings with at-risk youth and other programs with their fleet of large racing yachts and seasoned volunteer, adult crew and skippers to keep the experiences safe and informative.
    I’m the father of Carlmont freshman, Miles Kent. And, indeed Miles has done a few summers of sailing camp at both the Peninsula Youth Sailing Foundation, Stanford Sailing and he’s also joined me and the team on “Yellow Brick Road” for some Wednesday night yacht racing and outings on “6 Brothers” in San Francisco.

    If we lived in Vail or Park City, we’d look up at the mountains and think, “How can you not ski or snowboard?” Here, I challenge you to consider the same question with our beautiful Bay and Ocean – “How can you not sail?”

    Please let me know if I can be of assistance to your efforts!

    Sincerely,

    Alexander Kent
    Father of Carlmont Freshman, Miles Kent
    Northwestern University Sailing Team, Class of 1994
    Avid Yacht Racer, Bay and Ocean, 2006 to present
    Yacht Racing Resume: https://tinyurl.com/y7dwhf7s
    650-793-0541

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The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.
Sailing Club begins second semester with a ‘boom’