Two Loves
Julee Roth enjoys moving over the water,
whether it's warm or frozen.
SUSAN WEINGARDEN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
I
t's like playing chess on a moving
board," says Julee Roth of her love for
competitive sailing. "The course is al-
ways changing and I love the challenge.
I love feeling the wind in my face and the
bugs in my teeth. And I love the water,
frozen or otherwise."
To prove that point, Ms. Roth, 27, di-
vides her time. Her summers are spent in
Michigan as the program director of the
junior, sailing, adult and ladies sailing pro-
grams at the Great Lakes Yacht Club.
From November to April, she is in charge
of the snowboard program for the Aspen
Ski Company in Snowmass, Colo. "I feel
very fortunate that I am paid to enjoy my
hobbies," she says.
Her interest in sailing and skiing came
naturally via her parents, Michael and
Janie Roth of Bloomfield Hills. "I've been
sailing since my parents joined the Great
Lakes Yacht Club when I was 3," Julee
says. "I was in the junior program as a
child, but I really learned to sail from my
dad.
"In the winter, we spent vacations in
Snowmass and I've always loved skiing.
Snowboarding is like skiing, but both feet
are on one board that is wider than a ski."
Roth employs the same principles when
teaching the two sports. "The key words
are comfort and confidence," she says. "Ba-
sically, you expose the student to the
equipment, teach them the mechanics,
and build their confidence by repetition."
In the junior sailing program at GLYC,
which teaches about 20 children age 9 to
17, students first go out in a Sonar sail-
boat. "It is a larger, more stable boat so
they will feel more comfortable on the wa-
ter," she says. "They have to experience
the motion and feel the spray, and as their
confidence builds they learn to steer the
boat and pull the lines."
Students then graduate to smaller
boats, like a Flying Junior or Laser II. Cap-
size and man-overboard drills emphasize
safety training before skills are mastered.
"Kids learn about wind directions and
tacking a course, and we set up buoys as
a mini race course. After about two
weeks they can take a boat out alone."
To teach skiing or snowboarding, Roth
first has students put the equipment on
so they can feel the sensation of sliding.
"The first step is learning control, which
comes from knowing how to stop and how
to turn the skis," she says. "You get stu-
dents down the mountain by teaching
them to take one turn at a time. They
learn to talk themselves into doing it and
they learn not to be
afraid."
Following her gradu- Julee Roth's
ation from Andover summer venue.
High School, Roth stud-
ied economics for two years at the Amer-
ican College of Switzerland. She returned
to Michigan and took classes at Wayne
State. While selling real estate, she vol-
unteered at the Great Lakes Yacht Club
to help reorganize the junior sailing pro-
gram, and the following year became the
first member ever hired to direct it.
"Julee is like the CEO of the junior sail-
ing program," says Patti Kommel, secre-
tary of the Great Lakes Yacht Club. "She
took a program that was on its knees and
turned it around so that we now have the
respect of other clubs. She is well-respected
in the racing community."
Roth reorganized the program with a
manual she wrote after attending semi-
nars and investigating other clubs. Under
her direction, the budget increased from
$7,000 to approximately $50,000, and is
divided between instructor wages, equip-
ment and maintenance, and miscellaneous
items such as weekly programs and re-
gattas.
Her administrative duties limit her in-
struction time, and teaching is what she
likes best."She has a wonderful rapport
with the kids and tailor-makes the pro-
gram to suit their needs," says Mrs. Kom-
mel, whose daughter is in the program.
"She gives them a wonderful sense of
pride."
Seeing the accomplishments of the kids,
says Roth, is the best part of both her jobs.
"Their smiles are my reward. In both sail-
ing and skiing we set kids up to succeed.
I teach them to respect their environment
and provide them with a sense of achieve-
ment at the same time."
When her sailing students asked ques-
tions that books did not address, Roth
wrote and published an advanced sailing
manual for children called Get Ready Get
Set Go! In addition to covering funda-
mentals such as proper sailing terms,
weather and safety, Roth took her book
one step further. "It is a very practical
manual and I discuss things like what
causes storms, what to do if you are caught
in a storm, how to fix things, how to use
the radio, and the importance of seaman-
ship and attitude."
Now in its second printing, the book is
used by sailing programs, marine compa-
nies and trade shows, and is available at
local bookstores. Roth plans to continue
her writing and is working on three new
projects.
When time allows, she races on Hippie
Chick, the 19-foot Lightning sailboat that
she keeps at the Pontiac Yacht Club on
Cass Lake, or visits her parents in
Charlevoix, where the family sails a new
65-foot yacht, the Micjay. She joined them
in July for the Chicago-to-Mackinac race.
"Julee was our tactician," says her
father, Michael Roth. "She plotted our di-
rection and told us where the wind would
Mixing sailing and
snowboarding.
be. She's extremely knowledgeable and I
totally respect her opinions. We finished
17th overall out of 252 boats."
Though she admits to occasionally ex-
periencing fear while racing in a storm,
she usually finds it exhilarating. When
the boat is reeling, and the thunder is
threatening, Roth is in her glory.
"Safety is the No. 1 issue, and you have
TWO LOVES page 118