The team has been featured multiple times in Sailing World, the most venerated sailing magazine, and has had two sailors who won Olympic medals. Since its inception, Amherst has emerged as a strong sailing team competing with other schools in New England like rival Williams College and Ivy League institutions such as Harvard University and Dartmouth College. Though the team isn't the best in their division, Amherst is an especially solid team considering that no level of athletic recruiting figures into the composition of the team. The team is well equipped with some of the fastest, most expensive boats in the sport. The sailing team boasts eight "420s" and a "crashboat" and plans to purchase an additional 12 boats to add to their fleet. The demands of the sport are high and, as one might expect, practice isn't easy. The team practices three times a week in Lake Arcadia, a few miles east of Belchertown.
The team's sailors range in experience from those people who have never even set foot in a boat to those who are experienced sailors, some of whom are certified sailing instructors and have sailed for much of their lives.
Nevertheless, the current roster includes 35 diligent, hardworking sailors, most of whom are freshmen. "It's great to see a lot of freshmen out this year," said Jason Blynn '04, "the most we've seen in a long time. There are even a few good skippers, which we were counting on because skippers are hard to come by."
The sailors on the team believe sailing is an exhilarating sport and enjoy the hard work and effort that goes into preparing for regattas. Team members especially enjoy the water, the sheer speed and the wind blowing in their faces, as well as more subtle things such as breaking up ice in the boats during early spring regattas, and molding the frozen ropes on the boat. Sometimes the team has moonlight practice which makes for a very fulfilling yet eerie experience.
Sailing is "a particularly rewarding but difficult sport," said Daisuke O '06.
"You can make sailing as serious as your want it to be," said junior John Downey, who had never sailed before his freshman year. "You can practice every day and go to regattas every weekend, or just sail sometimes for fun."
The team attends regattas throughout the New England area and has competed in regattas in Michigan and in Montreal. Regattas occur every weekend during the fall season and, after a brief halt during winter, resume again in the spring season. Races occur between teams of different schools, each school sending about six to eight racers in two divisions to compete.
The team has their share of accolades to brag about. The team this season won third place overall in a trophy race and second place overall in last weekend's home regatta. The team's last home regatta is on Saturday.