Out there on the water, it’s simply an escape.
No matter the conditions in the sea or the distractions going on in his head, Ryan Fritsen finds peace while sailing.
“When you are out there, all the shit that’s going on on land just kinda stops,” Fritsen said. “If you are thinking about what’s going on in your life, you’re not sailing right.”
Fritsen, a senior economics major from Grants Pass, Ore., is the club sailing team captain. He was originally inspired to join after hearing about it from friends and began participating with the team his freshman year at practices. Fritsen wasn’t completely hands on at first, sometimes just hanging out on the power boat and observing what was happening. Eventually, as a sophomore Fritsen’s schedule became less busy and he began competing with the team.
At first it all seemed straightforward to Fritsen, but once he started to understand what was really going on, the sport became more difficult.
“Sailing is an activity that is easy to learn and really difficult to master,” Fritsen said. “It’s a mental sport.”
Fritsen compared the mental process of sailing to the game to baseball because you have to think quickly about strategy and tactics. Every race is different. From the location to the weather and water conditions, the team never knows what to expect.
“It’s like playing basketball and every arena is different, every hoop is different and the floor is a different texture” Fritsen said. “Everything is constantly changing when you are sailing so the tactics are constantly changing.”
Mastering the sport’s nuances is what’s most difficult about it.
“Sailing is funny because it’s so weather dependent. You could have a completely different experience depending on the weather,” said Eliza Pearce, a junior at University of Oregon and the women’s team captain and coordinator.
Pearce, who rowed in high school, said that the club sailing team was a factor in her decision to attend UO.
However, there is one misconception that the team would like to squash about sailing — the idea that when people sail they just simply go out “booze cruising.”
“It’s what a lot of people do, but when we go out and race it’s a lot of work,” Fritsen said.
The training regiments the team goes through are similar to what athletes do in various other sports. Many of the physical moves they must do while sailing are similar to doing planks or bicep curls. Due to this, many team members lift weights and work out in their spare time. In addition, the team practices out at Fern Ridge Reservoir seven to 10 hours a week and travels on weekends to compete. The time commitment is something that Pearce says is hard to balance with school.
“There are definitely sometimes where I feel like there is too much going on,” Pearce said. “You get good at managing your workload and prioritizing.”
Fritsen agrees that the hectic schedule has taught him how to best prioritize his time.
With the major focus and attention that goes into sailing, Fritsen believes he has grown from participating on the club team.
“I know I have grown a lot as a person just because of so many scary situations I have been in,” Fritsen said. “Looking back there are great stories and I would never trade them, but at the time they were terrifying.”
In the last three years the team has gone to five out of six national competitions.
“I think that speaks for the success of the team,” Fritsen said.
The team will start up competition again come winter term.
Follow Beth Maiman on Twitter @bethamaiman