Having little resources for weekly practice, Iowa State’s team beat the odds in the Big 12 sailing tournament. 

Iowa State’s sailing club competed in the Big 12 tournament, winning for the second consecutive year. The tournament was held at the Perry Yacht Club near Meriden, Kansas, from Sept. 14 to 16.

Communication, strategy, consistency and a passion for sailing gave the team a major advantage.

With a low-point scoring system, Iowa State won with 49 points. Falling close behind was the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a 55 and Kansas State University finished in third with 61. Iowa State beat out seven Big 12 teams for the championship title.

Stefan Peterson, senior in mechanical engineering, joined the sailing club in 2014. At the time, only a handful of students participated in the club.

After attending the University of Iowa’s races — otherwise known as regattas — as a guest team, Peterson joined the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association (MCSA) in 2016, launching the club’s success in competitive regattas.

“It started off going to Iowa City just for fun,” Peterson said. “Then in 2016 we joined the conference and started doing more regattas.”

According to Peterson, membership has grown in the past two years, even with low funding and no formal coach.

Among the growing members is August Nagro, junior in computer science, whose father introduced him to sailing as a child. Nagro chose to continue his love for sailing in college.

During the tournament, all hands were on deck as team members communicated and strategized between races.

As the skipper — the driver of the boat — for division A, Peterson described what he saw on each course after races to the division B skipper. Only having a few minutes, communication was critical for the division B skipper, Nagro, to know the best starting position along with unusual air patterns.

“On the second day, Stefan noticed on his first rotation that the heat was causing a wind suck on shore,” Nagro said. “Heat rises up and sucks in the wind off the water.”

Along with other impromptu strategies, Nagro consistently finished first in his division, ultimately leading to Iowa State’s second championship win, the first being in 2017.

Using their talents, the ISU sailing club will participate in the qualifiers at the Milwaukee Yacht Club in Wisconsin from Sept. 28 to 30. The top three teams will go to the MCSA fall championships in November.

The sailing club will also attend regattas in Champaign, Illinois, at the University of Illinois, and Iowa City, at the University of Iowa.

Peterson said students do not need experience if they’re interested in sailing. Peterson’s goal is to get newer members to regattas and day sail trips for experience.

“New people shouldn’t be discouraged. The more you get out there the easier it’ll be,” Peterson said. “Our experienced members help out our lesser experienced members. We coach each other.”

Students interested in sailing can check out the student organization webpage for further information.