Hi V15 folks,
I know you get a lot of emails from me in my role as fleet captain, but
this one is just as a friend. You've all heard me talk a lot about my time
on the sailing team at UCLA. I'll spare you too much of a recap of how
important that experience was to me since I know you've heard it all before.
One thing that was both challenging and rewarding about the UCLA team was
its self-sufficiency. We got - and the team still gets - very little
organizational or financial support from the school. I'm proud of the
progress we made in my time on the team increasing membership, building a
community, and improving our results on the water. One thing we never did
very well, though, was fundraising.
That shortcoming from my tenure makes me all the more impressed with the
current team's efforts. They've set an ambitious but necessary goal
of *replacing
five aging practice boats* - many of which were already showing their age
when I was on the team eight years ago - with much newer boats from San
Diego Yacht Club, and they are well on their way to meeting that goal. But
they are not there yet.
I know you all have no shortage of causes you care about, not to mention
your own lives and expenses. Please don't feel obligated to chip in for
this if it doesn't make sense for you. If you're interested, though, you
can donate here - even a few bucks makes a difference:
https://spark.ucla.edu/project/3427
I've included a note from the team treasurer at the end of this email if
you're interested in reading more. In addition to the perks on the
fundraising website, I would be glad to hook anyone who wants one up
with a Friends
of the UCLA Sailing Team <http://www.foustsupport.net> sticker - just let
me know if you'd like one.
Thanks so much, happy new year, and I'm looking forward to seeing you all
on the water soon!
Sam
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First off, I want to say that we are incredibly proud of the team and all
of the progress it has made in the last four years. Four years ago we had
less than 10 active members, very few organized practices, and consistently
scored in the middle to back of the fleet in regattas. I am very proud to
say that today we have about 50 very enthusiastic active members,
unprecedented practice attendance, and we have extremely organized and
productive practices that are leading us to improve our scores greatly. We
have a lot of incoming talent and some members with little experience who
are excited to learn and are picking up racing very quickly. As you know,
our women's team made it to women's nationals for the first time ever last
year, and we are looking to build on that momentum and take our team to the
next level.
However, in order for us to continue this level of growth and success we
are going to start needing to update and improve our equipment and
resources. As you are probably aware, we have had many of the same boats
for a very very long time. Sadly, their time to be replaced is long overdue
as many of them are in very poor condition. For example, Arnie is being
held together by duct tape, and several of our boats have cracks and chips
that are below the waterline. That being said, our goal is to replace our
practice fleet with 5 lightly used boats by the end of this school year. We
are looking to purchase these boats from San Diego Yacht Club for roughly
$3,000 each. Therefore, we are hoping to raise $15,000.
-Bobbie Hutchinson (UCLA '18, Co-Treasurer)
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