When in class other students were complaining about the lack of competitive sports in the school campus, Andrew “Ty” Baird decided to step ahead and face the waterfront
Baird just lifted his backpack of USF and but didn’t say any word. He has listened to these comments many times before, could be the reason.
The sailing teams of USF St. Petersburg, varsity and Co-ed, get overlooked often. In November, the Co-ed team of USF St. Petersburg competed in the Intercollegiate Sailing Association competition Kennedy Cup and won the first position. In the competition the team of eight men beats the Naval Academy of United States. The event took place in Annapolis, Maryland.
The victory in Annapolis has allowed the team of USFSP to go to the next level, i.e. 37th annual Student Yachting World Cup (SYWC). The event will take place in France.
Baird grew up in St. Petersburg (a junior business major). Father of Baird is a pro sailor and the mother of Baird also a sailor (world champion)
Baird spent his initial years of sailing at Old Dominion University and returned to St. Petersburg because cold weather.
Though, the team of university has made great success, but Braid, did not expect much change in the popularity of the sport in the campus.
Baird said “Sailing isn’t a sport that is spectator-friendly. Instead, it is a complex sport, people sitting on the shore watching the race has no idea, what’s going on with the sailor.
The coach of co-ed team, Alan Capellin, explained, “Sailing has a number of variables that cannot be seen; only a sailor has to deal with it like the wind condition, tides and equipment malfunctions. Also, the conditions are changing with the time. It is only sailor who has to deal with everything coming in-front of them.”