Photo essay: Hoofers away!
A weekend work party installs one of the Hoofers’ six piers in Lake Mendota, which had been ice-covered only a week earlier. (Photo: Jeff Miller)
The moment was preceded by hours of volunteer activity. Before setting sail, volunteers systematically repaired, patched, sanded, painted and did other work on the club’s fleet of 45 Tech sailboats. The small, mostly orange and yellow Tech sailboats are used for all beginning sailing instruction. The boats were designed in about 1967 by Peter Harken and feature large sealed air chambers in the hull, enabling one person to right a capsized or “turtled” boat while in the water.
The frenzy of springtime activity will continue in coming weeks as Hoofer members continue to ready the lakeshore and their sailing fleets for use. The mooring field in front of the Memorial Union Terrace, for example, is also expected to fill out May 10 when a crane lifts larger boats — up to 30 feet — into the lake.
Hoofers Sailing Club is the second-largest inland sailing club in the nation with 1,200 members.
A crew carries a pier joist onto a pier. (Photo: Jeff Miller)
Alumnus Aaron Linder, front, and high school student Kate Thornberry are the first club members to set sail last weekend. (Photo: Jeff Miller)
Two club members install masts in the Tech dinghies used for sailing instruction. (Photo: Jeff Miller)
Hoofer Sailing Club staffperson Michu Barroso, right, teaches Medical School staffperson and sailing club member Michael Moninger how to repair the damaged body of a Tech with strips of fiberglass cloth and resin. (Photo: Jeff Miller)