'U' Sailing Club provides public access to local boating

By Doug Rett

Daily Staff Reporter

While the accelerated pace of spring term classes can sometime feel overwhelming, a group of students and faculty have found a way to dissolve those stresses by taking to the water.

The University of Michigan Sailing Club attracts boaters to its home waters of Baseline Lake, about 20 minutes northwest of Ann Arbor.

In addition to offering access to all types of watercraft, the UMSC aims to teach sailing skills.

Although the club currently has 113 members, Commodore Kevin Bosley, president of the UMSC, said he expects that number to rise to about 220 members by the end of the season.

"Anyone is welcome to be a member," Bosley said. "We have people from all walks of life here, including students, faculty, and alumni from U of M, Eastern Michigan University and even Concordia (College)."

The UMSC has property rights on Baseline Lake, a wide spot of the Huron River which was donated to the UMSC by the University's zoology department in the 1950s.

Bosley said the University does not give funding to the UMSC, but the group has built a clubhouse, along with a storehouse, and maintains and updates their equipment using membership dues.

Shoreside lectures and individual sailing lessons involving the club's 24 sailboats and seven sailboards are offered every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Although the first two lessons are free, membership can be attained when dues are paid on the third visit.

University alumna Tamar Charney, a broadcast producer at WUOM radio, has been a member of the club since 1997 and came to the lake Saturday with her family for a picnic and an afternoon of sailing.

"I love it out here. I don't think enough students know about this," Charney said.

UMSC also has an intercollegiate racing team for undergraduates during the fall, which competes mainly against other teams from the Midwest.

In the fall, the club holds picnics for students and occasionally brings sailboats onto the Diag to generate student interest.

Business graduate student Sibel Koyluoglu, a club member since 1986, said she learned how to sail from UMSC and wonders why more students don't sail.

"With so many lakes around, how could you not sail?" she asked.

To become a member or to just check out the club, Bosley suggests coming to one of the club's weekly Thursday meeting, held at 7:45 p.m. in Room 120 of the Dennison Building, or simply showing up at Baseline Lake.

Twenty-five to 35 lessons are taught each Saturday and Sunday, Bosley said. "But there's always room for more."

For directions to Baseline Lake or for more information, contact the club at 426-0920.

06-07-99