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mission | history | meetings and practices | meet the team

mission "The University of St. Thomas Sailing Team is a proactive association organized to enhance student’s sailing knowledge through individual and collective efforts brought forward to represent St. Thomas in a sportsmanlike manner. The team exists to promote and expand the sport of sailing in a competitive, yet fun environment bringing all levels of sailors together. As a team, we aspire to benefit each other and the surrounding communities by building a strong, lasting program, interacting with other colleges, providing service to the local community, encouraging mutual advancement and social activity, and by lending a helping hand to fellow sailors in need." back to top

history Although a St. Thomas sailing club was in existence for some years in the 80s, our team in its current form began in the fall of 2001 and was officially recognized in January 2002. We are a regular member of the Midwest Collegiate Sailing Association (MCSA), and we plan to further our status within the organization. After practicing in the past at Lake Minnetonka Yacht Club and Calhoun Yacht Club, last spring we made a significant change by moving our practices to the Wayzata Sailing School where we are now able to be on the water with the University of Minnesota sailing team. We are excited for a great semester and hope to recruit more members while improving everyone's sailing ability, no matter what level they are currently at! back to top

meetings and practices Our team practices Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at Wayzata Sailing School on Lake Minnetonka. Our coaches Cappy Capper and Ben Burgum are at every practice as well as our fellow sailors from the University of Minnesota. We carpool to practice, usually leaving at 2:40 from under the skyway and arriving home around 6:30, but we are almost always able to have a car that comes a little late or leaves a little early to accommodate people who have class at those times. Team dinners usually happen once a week or every two weeks and are a great time for our team to get together off the water. Social events with our friends from the Minnesota team may also be planned. If you get on our email list, we will let you know when and where! Board meetings are currently scheduled for 8:00 on Monday nights in JRC (or sometimes Buffalo Wild Wings if we are trying to fundraise by winning at trivia)... please contact a board member if you are interested in attending! back to top

meet the team THIS COULD BE YOU!! Here are some of our current team members. These were the most flattering pictures available for each teammate...we are a pretty goodlooking bunch. Join our team and you too can be part of this distinguished crew of individuals.

	Medora Sletten, '10 Commodore mmsletten@stthomas.edu Medora is from North Dakota and probably inappropriately proud of it. It makes sense, as she is named after a major North Dakota tourist attraction. Ask her to sing you the theme song sometime.		Rachel Piotraschke, '09 Captain repiotraschk@stthomas.edu Rachel is making this website and doesn't know what to say about herself that wouldn't be really awkward.
	Brandon Wilson, '10 Captain bbwilson@stthomas.edu Brandon is from North Dakota and, appropriately, not that proud of it. Brandon also has the distinguishing accomplishment of having introduced the team to our GPS navigator, TomTom, without whom we would be totally screwed.		Sean Barker, '10 $$$ Man Sean has finally decided to occasionally prioritize sailing over homework, and we love him for it. Also, when you sing two notes, he can tell you what interval they are, like "perfect 5th" or "minor 6th". Who knew?!
	Matt Weishan, '11 Potato Peeler At some point Matt earned the nickname "LFB"... but we still like him.		Karen Hansen, '11 Karen enjoys politics and sleeping on chairs at regattas. She insists that it is more comfortable than the floor.
	Stephen Carlile, '11 Stephen works at J. Crew, and he loves it a lot.		Chester Mascot Our now deceased mascot, Chester is well loved by not only St. Thomas but many other teams throughout the MCSA, and he is the life of any party.

Pictures coming soon of some of our more recent recruits...

Ann Owen, '12	Anthony Krolczyk, '12
John Kirkman, '12	Maggie Olson, '11
Rick Motzko, '10	Spencer Nelson, '08
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recent alumni / VIPs

	Joseph Couture, '07 Joseph Michael Sebastian "Seabass" Couture is a retired chef who served as our team's commodore for the 2007 season.		Maureen O'Connor, '07 Maureen says and does lots of hilarious things, none of which would be appropriate for inclusion on this website.
	Rachel Lundeen, '07 "Awesome" Rachel is the recent alum of the sailing team that can be credited with teaching Medora and "Radical" Rachel about life.		Megan Zweber, '08 Megan is sometimes referred to as a "Team Mom" of sorts. Her contagious enthusiasm is a significant asset to the team in both on the water and off the water settings.
	Warren N. Gall, '10 In his hometown, Warren actually goes by his middle name, which is Nick. Team consensus is that Warren is also exceptionally good with the ladies. For whatever reason Warren has left us and gone to Wisco but we still love him dearly.