The University of Toledo Sailing Club is traveling to La Rochelle, France, to compete in the 47 EDHEC Sailing Cup from Friday, April 24, through Saturday, May 2.
Members of the UT Sailing Club posed for a photo after winning the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta.
During the week, the sailors compete on both in-port races and long-distance races to qualify for the final, which will take place Saturday, May 2.
To qualify for the global contest, the sailing team won the Paul Hoffman Perpetual Trophy at the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta last fall in Larchmont, N.Y. The Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta is one of the largest collegiate sailing events held in the country and hosts an extensive lineup of university sailing programs.
UT will face some tough competition going against some of the best sailors from Georgetown University, Tufts University, the University of Chicago and other schools from around the world.
Andrew Logan, UT senior engineering student and team member, has high expectations for the club.
“We beat a lot of really good teams in New York, one of them was Georgetown and they competed in France last year,” Logan said. “We expect to do really well and finish somewhere in the top 20.”
Logan said preparing for the competition has been tough, adding the team has only been able to get out on the water a few times leading up to the event.
“We launched a boat a few weeks ago; a member’s family let us borrow their boat, and we have only been training the past couple weeks,” he said.
Logan and the UT sailing club would like to thank the Toledo sailing community for its efforts to help raise money for the trip.
“Without their support, we would not have been able to go, so we are incredibly thankful to the local sailors for their generosity,” he said.
For more information or to donate to the UT Sailing Club, email sailing@utoledo.edu.
