Final Project 3-4 Series Regatta Race

The View of the Central Coast from the Harbor. Photo by: Michael Anderson

            The elements of nature joined forces for the CSULB Sailing clubs end of the year 3-4 Series Regatta Race that took place on Saturday, April 9 in the beautiful harbor of Santa Barbara. The event that started at 9:30 a.m. brought together thirty different schools for one exciting day of sail races. Students and sailors from all over the coast showed up to take part in the event and cheer on their fellow classmates participating in the races. The event also brought with it sunshine, warm weather and great fun for the locals relaxing in the sand.

            The collaboration of all the schools made for a diverse, competitive and fun filled day with booths and tents set up and down the beach. Music, food and beach activities were all available for the students and the public, making it a great atmosphere for a Saturday afternoon at the beach. The audience was a great turn out and came with ecstatic energy, letting people know that in the midst of all the fun they still had pride for their school and it was still a competition.

            All nine members from California State University, Long Beach sailing team showed up healthy and ready to finish out the year with a strong race. When at home in the waters of Long Beach its no time for play, the team trains four times a week for three hours a day, making odds for competition tough. “This is the end of the year contest for all the marbles, we train all year for this.” Said Laura Newton, a second year student and President of the sailing club at California Sate University, Long Beach. “We are like a family, sailing takes team work and for a successful team you have to develop a strong bond and relationship with your crew” Newton said that winning isn’t always about being the best sailors but communicating and understanding the team like a family is key to a strong race.

            The event consisted of multiple races called “sets” where the first division of four club members sail around five inflatable buoys and back to the finish line, where the second division of five members jump in the boat and lap the buoys twice until heading back to the finish line. The contest is made up of points, if you place first in division one, that’s one point, if you place second or third that’s two or three points. The team with the lowest points is how you win big races. “Our fist division really started us off strong placing second.” Said Shane young a third year student and vice president of the sailing club at California State University, Long Beach. “They really put division two in a great position to get ahead start on their next two laps, but as the day progressed so did the conditions.” Young said that even know they were in a good spot for the lead, Mother Nature can take over anytime and cause difficulties. “We got hit with a strong flooding current that was pulling us away from the direction we were trying to go.”

            Though the team got hit with Mother Nature doing what she does best, they still placed fifth in division two, leaving them with an overall score of seventh out of thirty schools. “I am so pleased with the results of our team, seven out of thirty schools is awesome” Said Dustin Durant a fourth year senior and skipper of the sailing club at California State University, Long beach. “We worked harder than ever training for this event, dedicating time and money to practice and making sure our gear was ready for any type of conditions.” Durant said that dedication and teamwork really played a huge roll in this race and everyone on the beach could tell how focused the CSULB team was. “People that we didn’t even know came up to congratulated us, it was crazy people even told us how organized and focused we looked, I was honored to hear comments like that.”            

California State University, Long Beach Sailing club Graphic 1. Graphic Designer: Laura Newton

CSULB Sailing Club Graphic 2: Graphic Designer: Laura Newton

            Overall the event couldn’t of gone any better than it did. Bringing a great atmosphere and vibes to the Santa Barbara harbor for everyone to enjoy and a fierce competition for everyone to watch and engage in. The public loved the scholarly event and word on the beach said they couldn’t wait for next years big season finisher. 

                        

Bad News!

Practice, Practice, Practice all day in the sun. Photo:Michael Anderson

Practicing twice as hard for next year. Photo: Michael Anderson

Sunday April 24, 2011 The Sailing club receives bad news about nationals. The CSULB sailing club qualified for nationals in Santa Barbara when they placed seventh in their race out of 30 schools. The event they qualified for is called the Pacific Coast Championship or some call it the PCC, Held usually out of state but this Year its held in CSULB’s back yard, the Long Beach Harbor. The Bad news is even know they qualified, the sailing club is not allowed to compete in the race. The school has made a rule that if it your first year as a “team” then that team is not allowed to race in the championship. Team President Shane Young expressed his feelings about the situation “I think it’s unfair because we haven’t been extended the same opportunities as other schools and we have all worked very hard to get to where we are now.”  The whole team is disappointed on the news they heard Sunday but have no control over the situation. “ I am so bummed, we practice, we compete, we work so hard to get seventh place out of 30 schools and then we hear this horrible news, the worst part about it is that its help in our harbor. If we were to compete in this race we would basically have home court advantage, its such a disappointment that we are not allowed to race.” Vice President Laura Newton explained. She went on to explain that the team would just work twice as hard during the off-season and comeback next year to win the whole thing. Laura is very confident that her team can do it and it’s a great person to reach out for motivation. 

REDBULL Switchboard

Many Showed up for the event Friday, the set up on the beach. Photo: Michael Anderson

Jamie O'Brian Sponsor Rusty Add. Photo:Craig Hamlin

Club Members Pumped to surf with Jamie O'Brian. Photo: Michael Anderson

Rey Liang Messing around in the tent. Photo: Michael Anderson

Friday April 22, 2011 The Surf club met up at Goldenwest Street in Huntington Beach for one of their biggest events all year, the Red bull Switchboard event. The Red bull Switchboard is an event sponsored by Red bull. The Sponsor brought out professional surfer Jamie O’Brian to meet up at the beach and surf with the club members at Cal State University, Long Beach. “It was a typical beach day turn out but with a professional surfer hanging out with us, it was so sick” explained Rey Liang a club member since freshman year of college.  Red bull also provided the surf club with tons of demo surfboards for the club to test ride and give feedback, along with breakfast burritos for a lunch treat. “I think it’s a surfer thing, but breakfast burritos after a good surf session, no matter what time of day are always the best.” Liang explained as he stuffed his face with eggs and bacon wrapped in a tortilla.  After a few hours at the beach Red Bull stuffed the whole club in a special Red bull bus and took the club to big bear to go snowboarding for the rest of the day. The sponsor paid for everything including lift tickets, food and the bus ride. “ It was so much fun, we got to snowboard with the whole Red bull team and surf with Jamie O’Brian, its just one of those special days that I wont ever forget. It was such a great opportunity and I’m so glad I got to be a part of it.” Treasurer Emily Bates explained when she got back into Long Beach that night. 

Birth of the Sailing Club

The Sailing Club on the dock. Photo: Michael Anderson

the rest of the crew taking a break from a practice. Photo: Michael Anderson

Monday April 18, 2011 Sailing club vice president Laura Newton explained the roster of the club and how it all came about. “The story of how we became a club/team is actually really interesting because CSULB has always had a sailing club, but hasn’t had a sailing team in over 20 years.” Newton Explains. She went on to explain that Secretary Kristen Barca and crewmember Kara Roberts didn’t even know how to sail when they first joined the team. “They just kept showing up to practice and learning new things, eventually they picked it up and got good at it.” Jessica Kephart and Francesco Baldi both started sailing back when they were in high school and once accepted into Cal Sate University, Long Beach they joined the club. She went on to explain that the rest of the skippers all raced competitive growing up and when they got into college there was no team. “The special part about our team is that there hasn’t been a competitive sailing team at Cal State, Long Beach in over 20 years and we are the generation that started it again. It means a lot to me and the crew” Laura went on to explain that being a part of a club/team is an honor and it’s a great way to make new friends and do what you love to do. She encourages everyone to join some type of club at The Beach. 

Naples Fundraiser

Naples Logo

Alumni Association card. Photo:CSULB.edu

Saturday April 16, 2011 The CSULB sailing club sent out 500 letters to all the sailing club alumni members. The letter was asking to donate money for the club, due to the fact that Cal State University, Long Beach does not fund anything for the sailing club. The letter also consisted of a flyer; the flyer was to promote the alumni to meet at Naples Rib Company on May 5, 2011 for dinner, where 20 percent of their food bill will go straight to the sailing club. “I think it’s a great Idea, especially because we have to come up with the money all by ourselves, we have already raised $2,500 and its not even May yet” President Shane Young explained. He also said that the support of the alumni really means a lot to the club and is greatly appreciated by every member. Vice president Laura Newton was in charge of sending the letters out on time, “not the easiest of tasks to send out 500 letters to longtime CSULB graduates, I had to stamp them all and seal them all, I’m just glad were seeing feedback so early” she explained. The fundraiser at Naples Rib Company will be held on May 5, 2011 at 7p.m so the club encourages all alumni to go and support the cause. 

Surf Club Beach Day

BEACH DAY! Photo: Michael Anderson

Friday April 15, 2011 The CSULB surf club met up at Sunset Beach off of Warner and PCH for a beautiful beach day. The club beach day is full of fun filled activities like surfing of course, surf lessons for students that want to learn how to surf, beach games, food and smiles. The Club met up at 12 p.m. and set up a huge tent with multiple foam surfboards lined up for surf lessons and a table full of subway for a refreshing lunch. The day started out well with waves and sun for everyone to soak up. “When the weather is like this, it makes are beach days so much better, the waves are good and the sun is shining, that’s all we ask for.” Said Emily Bates as she was suiting up to go catch a few waves before lunch. Once lunchtime came around everyone joined under the tent to eat their delicious subway sandwiches and crack jokes with each other. After lunch President Julie Caban and Treasurer Emily Bates rounded up everyone that attended for surf lessons. “The surf lessons went great, everyone seemed to pick it up really quick and the waves weren’t to big so it made things easy on them as well.” President Caban stated after an hour-long lesson. Overall the beach day was a success, Caban also announced the launching of the surf clubs new website, which she was thrilled to let everyone know. 

The Foam Surfboards for Beginners. :Photo Michael Anderson

St. Francis Sailing Invetational

Shane Young and Dustin Durant testing the waters. Photo: Michael Anderson

Sunday April 10, 2011 after a long Saturday of racing all day the club packed up and made there way up to San Francisco for the St. Francis Invitational at south Jetty 3-4. “The drive was brutal, we were all so tired from sailing all day and being in the sun, it took a really long time and by the time we checked in the hotel it was really late and know one could keep there eyes open.” Club President Shane Young said. The races began at 10 a.m. Sunday morning at the south jetty harbor. Due to long hours of travel and little hours of sleep the club members were faced with some difficulties. The weather and conditions of the water were different from Santa Barbara, the wind was blowing at 10-15 knots and the water was choppy along with a strong flooding current. The team managed to pull off a good race and won a tiebreaker for 6^th with Chapman University. Skippers Shane Young and Dustin Durant were faced with varied conditions that almost made the boat capsize. “The conditions were really tough along with being tired from the long sailing weekend, but we managed to pull it off with decent results.” Skipper Durant explained. Overall the weekend turned out great for the club, they got a lot of sailing in and also had a really great time together traveling up and down the coast of California with all the members. “It was awesome, we had a lot of fun memories and laughs, it was just a really good weekend” Vice President Newton explained after asking her how the contest turned out.

Regatta sailing series

The Central Coast from the harbor: Photo: Michael Anderson

Saturday April 9, 2011 the CSULB Sailing club woke up for an early morning drive to Santa Barbara for the South 3-4 series Regatta Race. After a well-rested Friday night the club was up and ready to go by 5:30 a.m. to meet contest check it by 9:30 a.m. Check in was a success with all nine members from the roster present. The races began at 10:15 a.m. and proceeded through out the day. “ The weather was great, I felt like the wind was really on our side, it was about five to 10 knots and the water was calm, couldn’t of asked for more.”  Club Vice President Laura Newton explained “I love racing in Santa Barbara because it’s so beautiful and the view of the central coast from the water is amazing” she explained as she de-rigged the sails at the end of the day. Overall the race turned out to be a success with little errors and minimal frustration.  CSULB sailing placed seventh overall out of 30 schools. “Yeah it was great I feel like we really worked well together as a team and we were all happy with the results.” Skipper Dustin Durant said, as he was packing up his gear and getting ready to head to San Francisco for another contest the following day. 

Coming in after a long day of competition. Photo:Michael Anderson

Soul Surfer

      Wednesday April 6, 2011 the CSULB surf club met up in Newport Beach to check out the movie premiere of "Soul Surfer", a highly anticipated film about Kauai shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton. 

Rey Liang before the movie, all smiles. Photo: Michael Anderson

       The Club met up at 7:30 and stood in line for an hour waiting anxiously for a movie they have been hearing tons of hype about. "Yeah Bethany Hamilton is an inspiration to all of us here in the club, she's doing big things with only one arm, that takes dedication and patients. I can’t wait to get in and watch this movie. Club member Rey Liang states. Liang has been surfing for five years and has been a student and club member at CSULB since he was a freshman. Liang has a daily routine of surfing every morning before class, some consider him a die hard but he is the go to guy if you ever need motivation to get out of bed and go surf. 

        Soul Surfer is the inspiring true story of teen surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm in a shark attack and courageously overcame all odds to become a champion again, through the love of her family, her sheer determination and unwavering faith. The film features an all-star cast, including Anna Sophia Robb and Helen Hunt, with Carrie Underwood in her film debut, and Dennis Quaid.

Club waiting for the movie to start. Photo: Michael Anderson

            “The premiere went great, everyone had an awesome time and the movie just made you want to be a better person and really push your capabilities to the test. I think everyone enjoyed it, it was just a real positive night.” Club member Emily Bates explained after the successful movie night with the club. 

Sailing Away

A view of the team from the Harbor. Photo: Michael Anderson

        Monday March 14, The Long Beach State sailing club braced themselves for heavy winds at Practice. The wind blowing at a steady 15 knots with gusts up to 22 knots around 4 p.m. Five members of the club showed up to sail away including Laura Newton team captain, Dustin Durant, Shane Young, Chase Young, and Russell Olson. Team members rigged four club FJ sailboats. The team set sail for what they hoped to be a good day.
         Within 20 minutes of sailing Chase young and Russell Olson capitalized after preforming a Faulty roll tack, in other words the wind was so strong that it caught the sails and the boat tipped over. "Thankfully we were still in the jetty and not in deep water yet, so everyone recovered safely." Team captain Laura Newton explained.
          After sailing out of the jetty the two boats sailed at a fast reach around the nearest oil island, which is about an hour round trip, making it in a hour was difficult due to the conditions of the ocean being very choppy. Eventually both boats made it back to the yacht club safely as the sun descended beyond the horizon. "Its days like these that make you want to come out for more, the adrenalin of being in the deep ocean is so thrilling." Club member Chase young explains. The Members sailed into the Long Beach Yatch Club de-rigged their sailboats and tied them up to the docks. Newton explained that the sailing club also is a team at Cal State Long Beach and competes in sail races regularly as well as free sailing days. 

Intro to Club Sports at THE BEACH!

The surf club standing at Huntington Beach 9th Street Photo:  Emily Bates 

  

     Being students at Long Beach State is not all fun and games, most students take fifteen units or more, have jobs outside of school and are always trying to squeeze time in for some fun. What's wrong with a little fun especially if it means getting involved on campus! Being a student is one thing, but being a part of your school and having pride is another. F. King Alexander, CSULB President was quoted on our very first day on orientation saying "If all you do is come to class, do your work then go home, your not getting the full experience of being a student here at Cal State Long Beach." So in other words take advantage of what our campus has to offer.

      Our campus club sports are very diverse, the department of club sports strives to improve the quality of campus life by providing a variety of sports to choose from. Ranging from surfing, wake boarding and snowboarding to paint balling, bowling, hip hop and many more. Don't be intimidated if you don't know how to surf or you have never touched a bowling ball in your life, the great thing about our club sports is that you don't have to know how to do anything. You'll have the opportunity to learn and acquire your own taste and style in the sport. For example if one does not know how to surf, there are days dedicated to free surf lessons from top surfers at our school! 

         Being active and involved is club sports is also a door opener to meeting tons of new people on campus, especially if your a freshman or a transfer student and you don't know anyone yet. Creating friends and networks of people you can rely on and share experiences with is all part of being a student here at The Beach. This is just a briefing on what I'm going to be blogging about throughout the semester. Stayed tuned in for more about club sports at CSULB!