Though most clubs at WJ were founded by students, the WJ Sailing Club, which also serves as a racing team, is unique in that it was founded by physics teacher Mike Richards. Richards, who has sailed for many years, said he started the club because he wanted to share his love of sailing with other students.
“I regret that I didn’t get started [sailing] a lot earlier,” he said. “This is kind of my way of getting other people to at least experience it…I want to share the joy.”
Richards says the club has two main functions, one of which is to form a competitive racing team. The teams compete in races, also called regattas. Despite being a relatively new club, founded during third quarter of this school year, the Sailing Club already has roughly 20 members, seven of whom are on the racing team. The racing team practices their skills with D.C. Sail, a sailing program that offers services and provides sailboats to schools in the area. The members of the racing team also compete in regattas against other high schools, many of which are held in other counties.
Walt Whitman HS also has a racing team, which is then split into varsity and junior varsity teams. Since the WJ racing team is relatively new, all members are on a junior varsity team.
Another function of the club is to teach others how to sail. Apart from the seven sailors on the racing team, most of whom have previous sailing experience, Richards makes it a point to work with newer sailors. However, members not on the racing team are currently not as involved in the club, although Richards hopes to change this. In the coming weeks, Richards hopes to establish more activities for those not on the racing team.
One activity he has planned is experimentation with sail cars, three-wheeled vehicles with sails attached to catch wind.
“Picture go-karts with no motor, but a sail,” he said. “You kinda sail around the parking lot.”
Aside from the competitive portion of the club, Richards wants all club members to enjoy leisurely sailing together. Ultimately, Richards would like to get the club to sail on the Chesapeake Bay.
“[For] even those [students] who know how to sail but don’t want to race, [we want to try to] organize get-togethers where we either charter a boat ourselves on the [Chesapeake] Bay or there are places you can go where you simply go for a ride and they do all the sailing,” said Richards.
Although boats are provided by D.C. Sail and other venues for racing, Richards and his daughter also own boats, which are docked in the northern neck of Virginia near the mouth of the Potomac River. Some of the club members’ families also own boats. Additionally, Richards also builds boats in his garage with his son-in-law.
“We converted the garage into a workshop, and we’ve got some pretty cool machinery in there,” he said. “[The process includes] a lot of epoxying and sanding.”
Wile members do not need to own or even have access to a boat, being a member of the Sailing Club comes with additional costs. These cost are especially significant to those on the competitive team. The fees are not cheap. Each member is required to have a wetsuit, sailing boots and sailing gloves, in addition to a head cover of some sort.
“That could cost somewhere around 200 to 300 dollars,” he said.
At the moment, junior Gabe Jacobsohn, also club president, is the only officer. Jacobsohn, who is on the racing team, approximates that he has been sailing for seven or eight years. His father and grandparents got him into sailing when they went out on the lake near his grandparents’ residence. After Richards decided to start the club, he announced it to all of his classes. Jacobsohn, one of Richards’ students, heard the news and decided to join.
Overall, Jacobsohn says he enjoys being a part of the club. He enjoys competing against kids from other schools, although he says that being a club member can be a big time commitment. But as a whole, Jacobsohn enjoys sailing and encourages other students to join.
“Being out on the water is a great experience; it’s really worth a shot!” he said.
