(Editor’s note: The Old Gold series provides a look at University of Iowa history and tradition through images housed in University Archives, Department of Special Collections.)

Ahoy, mates! Old Gold’s somethin o’ a landlubber himself, but he can also—ahem—fathom a crew o’ Hawkeyes at sea. Let Old Gold spin a yarn for ya and tell ya the tale of the University of Iowa Sailing Club. True story to boot, if I say so me self.

Founded 50 years ago, the club was established in response to the growing national popularity of recreational sailing. Completion of the Coralville Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers just a few years before—in 1958—resulted in creation of Coralville Lake and attracted increased attention to nearby Lake Macbride. The new organization’s objectives, approved as part of its constitution in 1965, included “the encouragement, advancement, and improvement of the sailing sport” and to offer instruction to both experienced and beginning sailors.

An early roster listed over 60 members, with nearly equal numbers of men and women. It was an almost-instant hit on campus, so much so that the club hosted its first Big Ten regatta on Lake Macbride just one year after the club’s founding. Indeed, today the club sponsors an intercollegiate racing team that travels to such campuses as Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, and Brown University, according to its website, iowasailing.org.

An unsigned memoir, Reflections on Ten Years, written in 1975 and part of a set of scrapbooks acquired recently by the University Archives, notes that the “interaction of these members, which developed into a peer group spirit...has made this club one of the most organized and ambitious sailing clubs throughout the Midwest.” The scrapbooks, donated by the UI Sailing Club, cover the club’s first dozen years and include photographs, posters, newspaper clippings, and other documents.

A celebratory reunion is planned for July 2015, and those interested may contact former sailor James Torner at james-torner@uiowa.edu or current commodore Kyle Williams at kyle-a-williams@uiowa.edu. Additional information is available on the UI Alumni Association website.

Scuttlebutt is that Old Gold’s husband is a sailor, so there’s hope for this ol’ landlubber yet. Very well!