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'''Hoofer Sailing Club''' was founded in 1939 and is part of the ] at the ] and the Wisconsin Union Directorate . It currently has approximately 1,200 members. It originated as an all-volunteer club where members maintained boats and taught each other how to sail. See also: ] and '''Hoofer Sailing Club''' was founded in 1939 and is part of the ] at the ] and the Wisconsin Union Directorate . It originated as an all-volunteer club where members maintained boats and taught each other how to sail. In the early days of the club, Hoofers sailed wooden dinghies called "Olympics". Today, fifteen different types of craft are sailed, including the Hoofer-redesigned Tech Dinghy, originally an M.I.T. plan ]. See also: ] and


The club owns its piers at ] on ] along with more than 120 different boats and sailboards. Fifteen different types of craft are sailed, including the Hoofer-designed Tech Dinghy. Snow kiting is offered in winter. There is an adaptive sailing program for individuals with disabilities, and a youth program for those who are not old enough to be regular club members. Over 300 youths from ages 10 to 16 attend the Hoofer Youth summer program yearly. The club operates at ] on ] and has more than 120 different boats and sailboards. In a typical season, there are around 1,000 members. Instruction is included in the membership price and is provided by paid and volunteer staff. Instructors form a de facto club-within-the-club, having their own socials, meetings, and retreats. ] The club's largest boat is <i>Soma</i>, a Mull 34 racing yacht. Some years ago, several club members rowed out in the dead of night and painted black spots on <i>Soma</i> which has since become a Wisconsin icon known fondly as "The Cow Boat"


⚫ In 2005, in response to ongoing complaints about mismanagement and abuse at Hoofers, a Sailing club BOC member proposed a new Code of Ethics that would govern club operations. However, the proposal was defeated when the Sailing Club president voted against. In October 2005, a section of the main Hoofer pier collapsed during a publicity event, dumping more than a dozen spectators into the water. Although no one was seriously injured and the pier was rebuilt the following year, this incident spotlights shortcomings in the management of Wisconsin Hoofers.
Instruction and boat access are included in the membership dues. During the regular sailing season, members may check out any boat/board on which they have ratings. Hours are generally limited to times that UW Lifesaving Service is operating. Club members are required to volunteer 6 hours of labor a year or else must pay higher membership rates. The club has active socials and special events, including a Pirate's Day in June and a week-long Commodore's Cup in July.


Famous Hoofer Sailing Club members include Peter Barrett , an Olympic sailing gold and silver winner, and Peter and Olaf Harken, the founders of ], a sailing-hardware manufacturer. Famous Hoofer Sailing Club members include Peter Barrett , an Olympic sailing gold and silver winner, and Peter and Olaf Harken, the founders of ], a sailing-hardware manufacturer.


==Hoofer Sailing Club - Overview==

===Instruction===
Instruction is offered primarily in small-group lessons on craft owned by the club. The club has 80+ full- and part-time instructors. In theory, there is no limit on the number of classes a member can take, although lessons are sometimes full. A basic ground school is required of all members to introduce them to club rules and basic sailing concepts. During the off-season limited classroom instruction is offered on topics such as navigation and weather prediction. The club also sponsors classes on sail making and repair.

===Racing program===
The Hoofer Sailing Club sponsors the University of Wisconsin's Sailboat Racing Program , an intercollegiate program for undergraduates. The Sailing Team primarily uses the club's 420s and Flying Juniors but also the Lasers and Tech dinghies. In addition, the club sponsors regular races by its members on the various fleets and competes in races sponsored by the Mendota Yacht Club. The club's J-boats are sailed in match races or Mendota Yacht Club handicapped races. See also: ], ], ]
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===Fleets and equipment===
The club has a wide range of equipment available for use by members and for instruction purposes. The boats are divided into fleets for administrative purposes.

====Dinghies====
<b>Badger Techs</b> are small (11 ft), stable fiberglass boats that are the core fleet for the club. (PDF ). , . The club has committed to renewing this fleet on a rolling basis, and ten were recently added to the fleet. A small fleet of <b>]</b> dinghies is maintained in cooperation with the ] program. These are fast solo boats. Sailing a laser has been said to be windsurfing while sitting down.] <b>]</b> are two-person performance dinghies used by the racing team for their practices and regattas. A number of them are fitted for use with spinnaker and harness. A rating on the Badger Tech is required to take lessons on the 420s. <b>]</b> (FJs) are a similar type of performance dinghy, also used by the sailing team. The FJs are secured during the summer when there is no intercollegiate competition.

See also: ]

====Badger sloops====

<b>Badger Sloops</b>, pictured above, are 17-foot open-cockpit day-sailors that can accommodate up to six people. Redesigned by Hoofers (based on the Interlake design), the Badger Sloops were built in Madison. A rating on the Badger Tech is required to take lessons on Badger Sloops. On special occasions, Badger Sloops accompany the keelboats on moonlight sails.

====Wind surfing boards and sails====

Many people join the club just to learn to windsurf and use the equipment. Beginners start with long boards such as Mistral Prodigies, Hifly Mambos, and Hifly Melodies. After mastering the basics, students can then move on to short boards such as the Bic Techno and more advanced techniques like harnessing, use of footstraps, and freestyle moves. See ].

====Scows====
The Hoofer Sailing Club also owns several ], C-scows, and ], smaller cousins of the enormous ]. All of these are flat-bottomed, inland racing boats unsuitable for sailing in large waves. See also: ,

====Keelboats====

The club currently has nine keelboats, divided into J-boats and "heavy" keelboats. <b>The J Fleet</b>, or <b>light keelboats</b> are small monohulls with outboard motors and an array of sails. The fleet currently consists of two ], two ], and one J-29. A rating on 420s or a crew rating on a heavy keelboat is generally required to take lessons on the ] and ]. The <b>heavy keelboats</b> generally have inboard diesel engines and are heavier than the J-boats. Club members without any ratings or prior sailing experience can take lessons on the heavy keelboats or an "Introduction to Sailing" lesson on a J boat. The club has two types of "heavy" keelboats: racing and cruising. The <b>Cruising Keelboats</b> include <i>Spray</i>, a Soverel 30 cruiser that was donated in 2003 by a retired UW-Madison engineering professor. <i>Knotty Rascal</i>, a Precision 27 cruiser with wheel steering and a furling headsail, is used along with <i>Spray</i> in the Cruising curriculum which is based on the US Sailing books <i>Basic Keelboat</i>, <i>Basic Cruising</i>, and <i>Bareboat Cruising</i>. The club also owns two <b>Racing Keelboats</b>: a G&S 30 (<i>Toy Boat</i>) and <i>Soma</i>, a Mull 34. Both are used to teach spinnaker handling, and both are regularly raced by members in Mendota Yacht Club races. See also: ]

====Snow kiting====

The club has a selection of kites and boards for use during the winter when ] is frozen. Kite flying can be learned throughout the year. See ].

===Social events===
During the sailing season, club members gather every Friday evening after Tech races for a lakefront barbeque. The <b>Commodore's Cup</b>is a weeklong series of team contests and celebrations held in July. Teams compete throughout the week and are judged not only on sailing ability but on creativity and hospitality. The week culminates with a semi-formal dance, the Commodore's Ball at which trophies are awarded including both the Commodore's Cup. <b>Pirate's Day</b> in June is essentially a treasure hunt on the water. Squirt guns and water balloons can be seen in abundance. A prize is awarded for best costume. The club continues its Friday night socials in the off-season at nearby restaurants with discounts on food and beverages. Members can also participate in the Hoofers' Winter Carnival sponsoring a formal dance called the Snow Ball. In recent years (2006-2007), the club has sponsored another costume dance, the <b>Buccaneers' Ball</b>, around the end of October.

===Donations===
All of the club's scows and keelboats have come to the club as donations. Substantial cash donations were used to replace the 420 fleet in 2007. Such donations are tax-deductible.

==Brief history==

In the early days of the club, Hoofers sailed wooden dinghies called "Olympics". These were followed by "Hoofer Cubs" and wooden scows. In the 1940s, Hoofers began sailing "Tech" dinghies, originally an M.I.T. design ], and in 1967, Peter Harken modified the MIT version into the first <i>Badger Tech</i>. Over the years, various types of sailboat have been available to club members, including such unusual boats as catamarans and, one season, a Rhodes 19 oceangoing daysailer.

===Dinghies to yachts===
In 1982, a Santa Cruz 33 racing yacht named <i>Maria</i> was donated to the club. This led to the creation of a big boat (keelboat) instruction program, a rarity for collegiate sailing clubs. Seven years later the club received <i>Soma</i>, a Mull 34. In 1996, in the dead of night, several club members painted black spots on <i>Soma</i> which has since become a Wisconsin icon known fondly as "The Cow Boat" . In recent years, several other large (30+ foot) yachts have been donated; some were kept and some sold.

===Instruction program changes===
As the club acquired a greater variety of boats over the years, instruction attempted to adapt. For example, after the large keelboats were donated, lessons were initially taught by paid staff. In 1990, several club members worked successfully to institute a policy whereby any rated skipper could teach lessons. The idea was that anyone qualified to skipper a 30 ft yacht was also qualified to instruct on it. Although mastery comes from practice, the very nature of managing a crew of seven or eight requires the ability to teach others. Unfortunately, a lack of oversight led to inconsistencies and conflicts, and in 2001 keelboat instruction control was taken away from the keelboat skippers and placed back under control of the regular instruction program.

The number of instructors has been limited. Every instructor--paid or volunteer--receives a free annual club membership. This amounts to lost income for the club, so there is an incentive to keep the number of instructors low. There is also a tendency to re-hire individuals who would otherwise decline to volunteer their time. In addition, as the number of instructors grows, the amount of time required (paid or volunteer) to supervise those instructors also grows. Today, instructors form a de facto club-within-the-club, having their own socials, meetings, and retreats. ]

===Florida cruises ended in 1992===
Starting in the 1980s, the club organized popular winter cruises in the Florida Keys, with as many as six yachts chartered at one time. These sponsored cruises were invaluable for newer sailors who wanted to gain real world experience. Many crucial aspects of big boat sailing are difficult or impossible to teach on tiny ] (39 km<sup>2</sup>), including boat handling in large waves, motoring in currents, docking in a slip, and navigation. In 1992, the club's last official cruise ended in disaster. Several charter yachts were damaged, one seriously, when some skippers delayed their return in spite of orders from the charter company, then got caught in a storm. After that, the UW-Madison's Risk Management office disallowed any further club-sponsored cruises.

Cruises to the Carribean and in the Great Lakes are still organized by members but not under the auspices of the club. Thus, many club members are no longer able to gain this valuable real-world experience.

===Free beer discontinued in 2002===

For some time beer was also provided free to members at socials, but after several incidents, Wisconsin Union management decided in 2002 that free beer would no longer be provided.

==Governance==
Hoofers is a part of the Wisconsin Union which bills itself as the university's unofficial "department of social education". Every August, the club's president, or commodore, is elected along with the vice-commodore. The commodore then appoints the remaining 18+ Board of Captains (BOC) members and he can remove individual BOC members at his own discretion. Thus, the club's commodore has tremendous power within the club, and each new generation of club leaders can dramatically change things.

⚫ In 2005, in response to ongoing complaints about mismanagement and abuse at Hoofers, a Sailing club BOC member proposed a new Code of Ethics. However, the proposal was ultimately defeated when the Sailing Club president voted against.


==See also== ==See also==
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==External links== ==External links==
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Hoofer Sailing Club
LocationWisconsin
Coordinates43°06′N 89°25′W / 43.100°N 89.417°W / 43.100; -89.417
Basin countriesUnited States
Surface area9740 acres (39 km)
Max. depth83 ft (25 m)
Shore length21.6 mi (34 km)
SettlementsMadison, Wisconsin
Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Hoofer Sailing Club (website) was founded in 1939 and is part of the Hoofer outdoor adventure clubs at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the Wisconsin Union Directorate . It originated as an all-volunteer club where members maintained boats and taught each other how to sail. In the early days of the club, Hoofers sailed wooden dinghies called "Olympics". Today, fifteen different types of craft are sailed, including the Hoofer-redesigned Tech Dinghy, originally an M.I.T. plan ]. See also: Sailing and Sailing Club

The club operates at Memorial Union on Lake Mendota and has more than 120 different boats and sailboards. In a typical season, there are around 1,000 members. Instruction is included in the membership price and is provided by paid and volunteer staff. Instructors form a de facto club-within-the-club, having their own socials, meetings, and retreats. ] The club's largest boat is Soma, a Mull 34 racing yacht. Some years ago, several club members rowed out in the dead of night and painted black spots on Soma which has since become a Wisconsin icon known fondly as "The Cow Boat" (photo)

In 2005, in response to ongoing complaints about mismanagement and abuse at Hoofers, a Sailing club BOC member proposed a new Code of Ethics that would govern club operations. However, the proposal was defeated when the Sailing Club president voted against. In October 2005, a section of the main Hoofer pier collapsed during a publicity event, dumping more than a dozen spectators into the water. Although no one was seriously injured and the pier was rebuilt the following year, this incident spotlights shortcomings in the management of Wisconsin Hoofers.

Famous Hoofer Sailing Club members include Peter Barrett , an Olympic sailing gold and silver winner, and Peter and Olaf Harken, the founders of Harken, Inc., a sailing-hardware manufacturer.


See also

External links

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