Saturday, March 30, 1968
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Seven
Saturday, March 30, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAiLY
,
Banning Beer for
Fun in the Sun:
Ah, how sweet it is!
It may be a little early-possibly under-
mining a whole semester's worth of hard work
-but how can you avoid thoughts of spring?
With the temperatures on the rise and the
last flakes of the white stuff long disappeared,
the one thing that itches in the back of your
mind is the spring season that's hiding just
beyond this weekend and the long, glorious
summer that just has to follow.
It doesn't really seem possible, but another
winter term is rapidly drawing to a close, and
the days of new white Levi's, Coppertone, and
cold beer under a hot sun are near at hand.
No matter how important it seemed two weeks
ago to pull that A in Psych, thoughts of grades
or four months of work or more school are
drowned in drowsy dreams of a new summer.
Yet no matter how strongly summer's
haunting call affects you, it can't compare
with the effect that the arrival of warm
weather has on members of the Michigan
Sailing Club. Forced indoors by the biting
December cold, the sailing club takes to the
water once again as frozen lakes and rivers
yield to the spring sun.
Keeping order among the large member-
ship is a major problem for the club leadership,
but has been handled well in the past. Ab-
solutely no drinking or rowdy activities of
any sort are allowed on the club property,
and leaders are always at hand to make sure
members treat the property and rules with due
respect.
Oddly enough, this policy has not caused
any problems for the club. Members bent on
drinking or noise-making are simply removed;
no appreciable drop in membership has ever
resulted from the rules' enforcement.
The main concern of the club has always
been, logically enough, sailing. Each summer
the club's boat school and training program
turn out dozens of new sailors.
When spring replaces winter in Ann Arbor,
beer and beaches may occupy the minds of
most, but to the Michigan Sailing Club its
time once again to get back on the water-
Summer is for Sailing.
-P.B.
THE WEATHER makes all the difference for members of the Michigan Sailing Club. Real thrills
result when a good stiff wind fills the sail and w hips a fine spray at the craft's occupant (above). At
moments like this, a little body english may be re quired to make navigation possible. But there are
always some of those calm days (right) when all you can do is hold the tiller and pretend.
Summer and the Sailing Club
THE CLUB FLEET (above) consists of ten fiberglass Skipjacks,
three Jet 14s, also fiberglass, and two power boats. New boats are
purchased every six years out of a replacement fund maintained
by the club. Plans are now under way to produce a new craft,
the 'Michigan 15,' under club auspices. Designed by club com-
modore Hans Muhlert, a naval architecture student, it will be
large enough to accomodate either two or three persons.
By PHIL BROWN leaders. A bigger move-possibly than most boats of comparable
When you talk about the Mich- the biggest in the club's history- size.
igan Sailing Club and you're not was made in 1952, when a deal Muhlert says the annual budg-
a member, you have to have a lit- was arranged with the Universi- et for all club operations exceeds
tle envy in your voice. ty's Zoology Department to lease $10,000, with all the money com-
Probably the most affluent of 200 feet of frontage on Base Line ing from members' dues. The ros-
all undergraduate campus organi- Lake for club operations. ter of club' members drops to less
zations, the club is also ranked Moving Up than 200 during the winter, be-
first in the country in, intercol- The move to a permanent club fore ballooning for the summer.
legiate competition. site solidified the organization, The number of members gained
The club owns fifteen boats, has and probably did more than any- for the summer creates special
a summertime membership of thing else to give it its big boost problems for club leaders, but
more than 400, and holds a long- on campus. they are met very deliberately. The
term lease on a nice little piece of Memoersnip expancted immeac- biggest is maintaining good rela-
property on Base Line Lake. ately after the move, and again in tions with other property owners
And to top it all off, it costs '58, with the new fleet of Jets. around the lake and with the Uni-
each member something like 25 Another spurt in membership Avoiding Trouble
dollars a year-really not bad. came in 1965, when the Jets were Residents of the lake area have
The club's story is a fascinating replaced with fiberglas Skipjacks. not taken well to student rowdy-
one, going back almost 30 years, Three glas Jets were purchased at ism in the past, and rules are now
but is certainly no more intriguing the same time; bringing the clubstritenfstced ricesnire
than the possibilities for its future. fleet to 13 boats. strictly enforced which minimize
Back in '38 This club-owned fleet is the possibilities for future trouble.
Begun in 1938 by a handful of organization's strongest selling University relations are important
naval architecture students, it has point, and is helped by a replace- because the low-cost lease can
grown by the proverbial leaps and ment fund designed to get the broken if enough pressure is put
bounds to its present stature club an entirely new fleet every on the school.
through the efforts of a relatively six years. Dues money is set aside Club leaders have found that
small group of sailing enthusiasts, each year in a special account, intercollegiate racing causes the
They were sailing Tech Dinghies and collects interest until the new most trouble for the club. Hand-
at that time. These 12-foot wood boats are purchased. ling large numbers of students not
jobs were tough, but notoriously More To Come familiar with club rules often re-
slow, and in 1958 the club made And plans for the future in- sults in complaints from neigh-
the move to Jet 14s. Also built of elude club production of a new bors around the lake.
wood, the newer craft were two design called the 'Michigan 15.' Training, Too
feet longer than the Techs. Designed by club commodore Hans But while keeping out of trou-
But buying bigger boats was just Muhlert, the craft will be able to ble is an important task for the
another step in the ladder for club handle three people, one more club, it is not the most impor-
tant. Training new sailors and
*"r.-giving active members a chance to
use club boats is the primary ob-
Sjective of the organization.
n k$Club boats are always in use
during the months of good weath-
er, as members sail for pleasure
and newcomers train under the
watchful eyes of more experienced
sailors.
The club awards ratings to
members who complete training
programs. A Cruise rating denotes
completion of primary training,
while Helmsman indicates ad-
vanced proficiency with boats and
with club operations.
Very Advanced
For the very advanced, there is,
a Skipper classification-a plateau
gained by only a few expert sail-
ors. Familiarity with every art
and science related to sailing is
necessary for a Skipper rating.
And only those who have been so
designated are entrusted with
handling club leadership duties.
The club publishes "The Michi-
gan Sailor" for the general edi-
fication of the membership. It lists
all club regulations and contains
basic instruction in sailing.
Obviously enough, the club's
most active period is during the
summer. A shore school and boat
school are organized and taught
by advanced sailors in the club.
Programs are also arranged for
advanced members, and everyone
is free to use the club boats dur-
ing the week.
Iceboats, Too
An intraclub racing series is car-
ried through the summer, with
racing each Sunday morning.
For those adventurous souls who
can't get enough of the wind in
the summer, the club owns three
iceboats, which the members sail
on Whitmore Lake. The light-
weight craft can easily outrun the
wind, attaining, speeds up to 40
miles per hour.
The club also supports an in-
tercollegiate racing team, which
has recently become the top-rated
team in the country. Hans Meyer
and }Chris Chatin skippered their
craft to titles in every regatta
they entered last fall, including
the prestigious Timme Angsten
Memorial in Chicago and the Sug-
ar Bowl in New Orleans.
The club racing team travels to
Annapolis for a regatta with East-
ern sailing powers this weekend,
then prepares for the national
championships, which will be
hosted by Yale in June.
Frosting
The racers' success has not
greatly altered the club's position
on intercollegiate competition,
however. It is looked upon as
"frosting on the cake" for the
club's best sailors, and is not sup-
ported at the expense of other
club programs.
The club is a model for other
organizations, which too often
consider publicity the most impor-
tant product. Services for, and
privilege of, members rank first,
and outside help has never been
needed or sought.
The club has done admirably
in the past, serving all of the Uni-
versity community, and should do
equally well in the future. It
deserves a little envy, and the
congratulations and thanks of all
who enjoy the use of its facilities
and services.
HANS MEYER
A PAIR OF JET 14s (above) of the older wood variety maneu-
ver on Base Line Lake, where the club maintains its headquarters
during the sailing season. The sailors leased property from the
University's Zoology Department in 1952, and have since built
on it a small clubhouse, head, boathouse, and dock facilities.
Petitioning for
JOINT JUDICIARY COUNCIL
5 seats available
Pick up petitions in SGC offices.
Sign up for interview.
Petitions due in SGC offices
5:00 P.M. Wed., April 3.
A HANDFUL of the club's many
trophies rest on a Skipjack in
storage in. the Student Activ-
ities Building (above). More
brass can be found at the club
house and in homes of individ-
uals who won them as club
members.
f 1.
14CUAC Summer Flight No. 4
MAY 20 -AUG. 12
TWA JET N.Y.-London-Paris-N.Y.
IS DEFINITELY FLYING
r
LEN QUENON
Believes:
RACING DAY finds a swarm of club craft jockeying for position
at a buoy (above). Michigan sailors, who prefer to concentrate on
internal activities instead of facing the trouble involved in inter-
collegiate competition, are now rated the best in the country.
They won every competition they entered last fall, and travel
to Yale for the national' championships in June.
For information -
Call 662-4431 EXT. 23
or
Stop in at UAC offices
SOME SEATS STILL
$230
Rebate if
flight full
AVAILABLE !
"The University and City Council
Must Plan Together"
DEMOCRAT SECOND WARD
Vote Monday, April 1
iceboating: for the Frozen Few
Paid Political
Announcement
II
__ _ __
-
I!
a
#i/lel
UN ION-LEAGUE
DR. ALLEN GROSSMAN
Stimulating Poet and Professor of English
at Brandeis University
will present a program
at
I!
GRADUATE STUDENT COUNCIL
presents a
Bagel and Lox Brunch
Sunday at Noon
nr' Al I~I N rPcgkAK
SYMPOSIUM '68
presents
A FACULTY PANEL
SHAW LIVERMORE
ROBERT SKLAR
BRUCE WHITE
discussing the