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Samantha Sclafani
Professor
ENC 1101-17
5 November 2017
Final Draft

Trying Out for the Team

The sailing community is an interesting discourse full of diverse, lively people of all

ages. The particular discourse in this community is the Lauderdale Yacht Club high school

sailing team that I was a member of for four years prior to my arrival at the University of Central

Florida. This discourse took part in many charity events, regattas (races), practices, and team

building exercises that I believe make them an interesting discourse to focus on.

The Lauderdale Yacht Club, located in Fort Lauderdale. Florida, was founded in 1938

and claims that its main goal is to promote the science of seamanship and to provide and

maintain a Clubhouse, piers and anchorage for the recreation of its Members and to make

available for the youth of the community the opportunity to learn and practice seamanship and to

render benevolent aid to the youth of the community interested in learning seamanship" (LYC).

They instituted their High School Sailing program in 2002 and it has since been nationally

recognized by winning Nationals in 2014 and 2015 and placing in Nationals in 2016 and 2017.

This community of sailors ranges from high school freshmen to seniors and only accepts those

on the team who are aptly skilled and show promise of hard work and dedication. The try-out

process to make it onto the team is gruesome. It is a four day process where the potential team

member is on the water for seven plus hours at a time. The sailor is truly pushed to physical and

emotional limits throughout these tryout days and only the elite will make it onto the team. On

the first day of tryouts, there are physical tests that truly tests the sailors physical and mental

capabilities. It begins with a 5:00 am wake up and an immediate two mile run. Then it moves
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into an hour and a half of doing laps in the pool where a coach is constantly yelling at the sailor

to try harder! and move faster! When the pool session is finished, the sailors go on another

run where they can only stop running after someone loses their lunch. Unfortunately for that

sailor, they will be cut. After this is completed the sailors move into the weight room where their

physical strengths are tested and for some, their limits are reached.

On the second day of tryouts you finally get to see a boat. In High School Sailing two

kinds of boats are sailed: 420s and Flying Juniors (FJs). 420s are faster than FJs however they

are easier to handle. An FJ requires skill and agility when sailing to truly master sailing the

particular vessel. When the sailor arrives at practice, (another 5:00 am start) they have to take a

test proving their knowledge on terminology, rigging techniques (how to put up sails on the boat

etc.), and the playbook. The playbook was given to the sailors two weeks prior to tryouts

and they were instructed to memorize every play in the book. These plays are for team racing

which is when two teams of boats try and achieve the lowest placings once crossing the finish

line. They involve different tactics in which the sailors on the same team will team up against the

opposing team in order to get one of their own boats across the finish line in first place. There are

sequences in which the other boats then must finish to grab their team the first place cup. These

plays are what make the LYC High School Sailing Team a nationally recognized organization as

they have allowed the team to bring home many victories and sponsorships. Needless to say, it is

important for every potential team member to have these plays down pact and failing the test

given results in the sailors immediate end to his or her try out process. After the test, providing

the sailor passed, they are then instructed to rig a boat without flaw. This means he or she has to

raise all of the sails, attach and tie all of the ropes and lines, and do it perfectly in the allotted

amount of time. After the boat is rigged and meticulously inspected by the coach, the sailors are
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paired and sent out onto the water, as there are two sailors in each boat. Their first task is to

prove to the coach they have good boat handling skills. This means the sailors must complete a

series of courses filled with different kinds of boat handling skills like tacking (turning the boat

by pushing the tiller away from the sailor), gybing (turning the boat by pulling the tiller towards

the sailor), sailing upwind and sailing downwind. The sailors also have to complete and series of

whistle drills which are activities where the sailors have to complete a command based on the

number of whistles the coach blows. This requires the sailor to be attentive and make actions on

the water quickly and efficiently. After this is done the sailors are allowed to go home and a list

of who was cut and who is allowed to come back for the next day of tryouts.

On the third day of this seemingly eternal tryout process, there is an ocean sail day.

Finally the sailors are allowed to have some sleep and are not instructed to show up until 9:00

am. However they have to be rigged and ready by nine. This basically means they still have to

show up early to be ready by the deadline. Once ready, the sailors launch their boats and are told

to get into a tow line which is when all the boats tie themselves together in a straight line behind

the motorized coach boat. Each sailor has to know how to tie a bowline knot properly to stay

attached to the coach boat. The coach boat then begins to tow the boats through the intercoastal

and into the ocean, however if the line the sailor used to attach themselves to the other boats

comes untied they are immediately cut and sent back in because not being able to tie the proper

knots is a safety hazard to the sailor themselves and to others around them. Once in the ocean the

sailors are instructed to free sail. This is so the coach can assess how each sailor is capable of

handling the environmental factors of sailing like the waves, current, and of course the wind.

After this assessment is completed the sailors then must complete a capsize drill. They must

intentionally flip the boat with and let the centerboard slide out of its place. One sailor must then
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swim underneath the boat and push it back up while the second sailor stand on top of the boat

and secures it. Together they must then right the boat and begin the bail out all the water that

came in. The sailors are timed when doing this and must display good teamwork and

communication. After this is done the coach then does more drills and courses to really see who

is best fit for the team. The coach does drills that show how a sailor can control their speed in

different wind conditions while also remaining in control of the direction they are intended to go

in.

After the team roster is selected the sailors are called for a meeting with the coaches. The

sailors are told what is expected them of them on the team and they are also given all the practice

dates and regatta dates for the season which lasts from August to May. The sailors then have to

vote for the team captain. This person is usually a junior or senior who shows the utmost

dedication to the team. The team captain is supposed to have to answer to almost every question

and is supposed to motivate and encourage the team to succeed in every way, shape, and form.

The team captain also has the privilege of being sent to every regatta and gets to participate in

every leg of the race which is an extremely big deal.

After this meeting and once the team captain is selected, the team will begin to practice.

They will have after school practice three times a week from three to six and morning practice

two times a week from six to seven. There are also optional saturday practices from ten to four.

Although optional, the sailors that attend are usually the ones to be sent on regattas and who

climb the roster the fastest.

Sailing, especially at the Lauderdale Yacht Club, is an interesting discourse community

that shows was true hard work and dedication can do. The sailors involved are motivated, clean-

cut individuals who always have their eye on the prize. As shown in the above paragraphs, it is
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clear that one cannot just simply walk on the team, they have to prove to the coaches and

previous team members that they have what it takes to be a interscholastic sailor.