After Julie Arsenault tore a ligament in her knee while skiing in the winter of her junior year, the surgery and year-long recovery ended her ski season that year. But she was determined not to let it keep her from sailing with the MIT varsity sailing team the next fall, as she had done ever since she started competitive sailing in her first year at the Institute.

That determination grew out of the experience she had in sailing at MIT, and from the lessons she learned practicing and competing on the Charles River up to 35 hours every week.

“From sailing in tough conditions, I’ve developed a ‘never-give-up’ attitude that’s helped me stay focused on building strength and getting back on the water. Learning how to push myself beyond what I think is possible has been very valuable,” Arsenault says. Arsenault is competing again, and at the start of her senior year was named to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association All-Academic Sailing Team.

Dedication is just one lesson Arsenault learned on the water. She also credits sailing with developing her interpersonal skills. Sailing has taught her how to work in a team environment, how to motivate others, and how to be a leader and effect change. Sailing also helped her better manage her time so as to succeed in academics, she says.

Since 1936, the MIT Nautical Association has given students the opportunity to sail away from the stress of their labs and classes, to test their mettle against the wind and water. Few other experiences teach independence and self-confidence like being alone on the Boston side of the Charles River, facing a hard-blowing wind, and figuring out on your own how to sail a dinghy back to the MIT Sailing Pavilion — without tipping over.

“Now, I relish every challenge and every opportunity to push myself, because I recognize that this is how I can grow and learn,” says Arsenault.

An important aspect of sailing at MIT is that it is both a competitive sport and a recreational program, offering students the opportunity to learn skills and also to relax. About 1,400 people annually learn how to sail at MIT for free, with most instruction still led by Nautical Association volunteers. And MIT sailing issues about 2,000 new member cards annually.

“It’s a step away from the lab and the pressure — to another world. It might be hanging out, or a moonlight sail. It might be bumping around on the river in a Tech Dinghy, or it might be competitive sailing,” says MIT Sailing Master Franny Charles.

“You can learn to sail here and excel. Other schools recruit heavily — they have highly skilled sailors starting out. We build them,” Charles says.

MIT sailors have been named All-Americans, and six have competed in the Olympics. Moreover, the Institute’s competitive sailing program:

• is consistently ranked in the top 15 out of 270 nationally;
• has had four sailors win the national sportsmanship award, more than any other school in the country;
• produced the first African-American sailor to be named an All-American, Alan Sun, in 2000;
• hosts more intercollegiate regattas than any other school in the country; and has won a record number of collegiate sailing titles.

Maintaining MIT’s excellence in recreational and competitive sailing requires an investment in the Institute’s sailing facilities. The primary needs today are new docks and a new Tech fleet.

Dock renewal

The most urgent priority is to install new floating docks for the pavilion. The current docks are fixed-height, and were built when the river level was kept high and consistent, which is no longer the case. Fixed-height docks make it difficult for sailors to haul dinghies out of the water.

A new floating dock system will preserve the structural integrity of the fleets and make them easier to use. Dinghies will be kept permanently on the new docks. The new dock system will consist of two parts: a hinged dock system mounted off the front of the current fixed dock, and a separate moored floating dock off the end of the current fixed dock.

Both will be built to long-term construction standards and will add 9,600 square feet of floating dock space.

Sailing fleet renewal

Changes in the types of boats used to teach sailing and to race at the college level elsewhere — particularly the South, West Coast, and Mid-Atlantic Conferences — have made MIT a less attractive host for intercollegiate sailing competitions. The Tech Dinghy will continue to play a pivotal role at the Sailing Pavilion for pleasure sailing and racing, but there is a strong need for a new fleet.

The Firefly, which is used widely in competition by European universities, would address the need for intermediate instruction in a simple, responsive sloop. The currently used FJ sloop is sometimes too difficult for intermediate sailors. The Firefly is a rugged boat that is less sensitive to the weight of sailors. Rigs are set up quite loose, the helm balances well even with storm swells, and the rounded hull lines assist in making virtually all hull contacts “glancing blows.” The boat is easy enough for beginners to sail, and tough enough to withstand the burgeoning new sport of team racing.

A larger sloop, the Nomad, would be used to teach teamwork for novice racers, and would provide a stable and easy-to-rig platform for less agile sailors. The Nomad is a new, very stable, large centerboard boat that two to six people will find easy to use. It has roller furling, an asymmetrical spinnaker, and rests on a dock or at a mooring. The Nomads would replace the current fleet of Rhodes 19s, which are more than 25 years old, and require significantly more maintenance.