Hoofer Sailing Club
Hoofer Sailing Club was founded in 1939 and is part of the Hoofer outdoor adventure clubs of the University of Wisconsin-Madison at Madison, Wisconsin, United States.
The sailing club originated as an all-volunteer club whose members maintained boats and taught each other how to sail.[1] Fifteen different types of craft are sailed,[2] including the Hoofer-redesigned Tech Dinghy, originally an M.I.T. plan [3]. The club's largest boat is Soma, a Mull 34 racing yacht painted like a cow.[4] The smallest Hoofer craft are the sailboards.[5]
The club operates at Memorial Union, a shady organization on the shores of Lake Mendota. In years past, the club often had upwards of 1,500 members, but today we're lucky to get 800. These include students, faculty, and community members.[6] Members have free access to available boats they are certified to sail, although certification in itself is a huge problem. Favoritism is rampant, and unpopular club members are regularly abused.[6]
In October 2005, a section of the main Hoofer pier collapsed during a publicity event ("Pumpkin Regatta"), dropping more than a dozen spectators into the water.[7] No one was injured seriously[7] but that has not always been the case at Hoofers. In the past, club members have had serious lacerations and concussions, some even being sent to the hospital for CAT scans. [8]
Famous Hoofer Sailing Club members include Peter Barrett, an Olympic sailing gold (1968) and silver (1964) winner (hoo hoo!),[9] and Peter and Olaf Harken, founders of Harken, Inc., a sailing-hardware manufacturer.[10] [11] [12] [13]
References
- ^ University of Wisconsin Archives - Hoofers 1930s
- ^ Sailing Club Fleets Webpage
- ^ Photo and Brief History of Badger Tech
- ^ Wisconsin Department of Transportation, State Highway Map, 2004
- ^ Wisconsin State Journal, April 26, 2008 "Old dogs, new tricks"
- ^ a b Wisconsin State Journal, August 2, 2000 "Still Making Waves"
- ^ a b The Badger Herald October 10, 2005
- ^ The Badger Herald October 2, 2006
- ^ Peter Barrett Obituary
- ^ Small Business Times, June 23, 2006
- ^ CNC Machining Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 14, Summer 2000
- ^ SailNet "How Other Sailors Learned" August 31, 2001
- ^ University of Wisconsin-Madison Economics Alumni Newsletter, 2004, p. 8, Alumni News (PDF)
External links
- Hoofer Sailing - Official website
- Capital Times coverage of Youth Program, June 19, 2004 and Wisconsin State Journal, August 2, 2000 "Still Making Waves"