Over the past 10 years of sailboat racing through Sagamore Yacht Club I have made friends with many good sailors. Mike Gehrling is one such person who is also obsessed with boating, but in a good way. He finds great joy in racing his sailboat, Slapshot, and also finds happiness in sharing his knowledge with competitors in order to improve the racing program at Sagamore. Mike also works for Liberty Maritime which operates bulk carriers. The following are excerpts of an interview I had with Mike about his racing experience.

I started when I was 9. My father, Fred Gehrling, bought a 26 foot 1924 wooden sloop. It was really cheap because the stern area needed all new ribs and the keel rotted off. My father is great at fixing things so he, myself, and my two brothers would tag along to watch as he fabricated 14 sister ribs, and laid a new keel out of poured lead. After that our sailing lives began through City Island.

In 1978 I went to college at S.U.N.Y. Maritime, and immediately joined the sailing team. It was there I first learned how much I really did not know and for four years I sailed (mostly crewed) in 420's, Shields and Lasers.

I've always loved to make things work, whether it is rebuilding a car, a house or help Phil [Sagamore's Dockmaster] with the engine on the launch. Like any of these, every time you raise a sail you need to make it work. Couple this with my competitive attitude racing was the natural progression.

I've done a lot of racing. I even got the opportunity to race on a 80 foot one design, originally named Boomerang. One year a friend of mine from Northport asked if I could help him race in the Vanderbilt [annual Cup race out of Huntington Harbor] on his Northern 30. For them it was a social event, for me it was a race. After reviewing the wind, the tide and the course, I told them after the start we would sail out of the harbor along the western shore. To the crew's amazement the rest of the fleet went to the eastern shore. We were alone and no one on the boat was happy with what I got them into. The words "trust me" can only go so far. The winds were light from the north and I told them the out-going tide will make them regret their decision to go over there. As we got out into the sound, it became apparent the rest of the fleet was in trouble, but we just sailed up to the mark, rounded and headed back to the finish line with no one around. The only thing we were all amazed at was how we only got second overall.

Well, I love all aspects of sailing, but getting a group of people working for a single goal of making the boat sail efficiently is a great feeling especially when all the maneuvers are performed well.

I bought the boat six years ago...keep in mind that I love to make things work. The boat is a 1981 Pearson Flyer. It was in bad shape if I wanted to race it. So I saw it as a challenge to restore this boat, not to original beauty as I'm working on now, but to original racing form. It took three winters of slowly fairing on the keel and bottom, but it has worked out beautifully.

I don't watch sailboat racing. I'm sorry but I find it boring. Participating is a blast and getting the opportunity to race on the Maxi Hercules (formerly named Boomerang) in the Marblehead to Halifax Race was definitely the biggest. Also, many Around Long Island Regattas, a few Vineyard races and as I said the Marblehead to Halifax. I would like to do more.

I would love to participate in the Key West Race Week.

I really enjoy sailing in Oyster Bay and I always love getting into a good discussion with others. I find the people at Sagamore so friendly and love to talk. Just a great bunch of people, this tied into sailing is what I love.

In 1982 my father belonged to a club in Hempstead Harbor. He asked if we could try one of the Wednesday Night Races. We grabbed my two brothers and the four of us were off to try racing on a 1965 Seafarer 30. After the start, we watched the fleet sail away to the windward mark. By the time we got there we were dead last. Once again the whole fleet went for the western shore of Hempstead Bay. I told my father if we should follow that would ensure last place, but to improve we should try the Eastern Shore. It was late in the season and at this point it was getting dark. My father was sure we went the wrong way. Sound familiar! So we tacked up the eastern shore to the finish line and to our amazement we arrived smack dab in the middle of the fleet. To make things even more interesting, we were on starboard tack and forced two boats on port tack to tack just at the finish line allowing us to gain two more slots. My father had a blast and something to talk about when we got back to the bar. Seeing my father excited at the finish line and proud at our achievement of finishing in the middle of the fleet on his first race gave me a great feeling that I will never forget.

Mike kept his boat at Oyster Bay Marine Center for years and raced on Wednesday nights through Sagamore Yacht Club. There is an additional reasonable fee that Captains not from Sagamore pay to enter their boat for the racing season. This fee helps cover miscellaneous expenses for running the program including the trophies given out at the end of the season. Although Mike was not a member he was invited to the clubhouse to celebrate after the races. He enjoyed the conversations at the bar so much that he decided to join so he could come down whenever he wanted. He also thanks Horst and Barbara Ankermann and even John McGrane for convincing him to join.

If you are interested in learning more about sailing, then you should seriously consider trying to crew on a Wednesday night race at Sagamore Yacht Club, which starts in the beginning of May. There are also many activities for power boaters and non-boaters at Sagamore. There is food service and a bar, kayak and dinghy slips, poker and bridge nights, dart nights, monthly family nights, theme parties, and skeet shooting in the winter. For more information about the Sagamore experience contact me at (516) 922-0555 or JaimeVanDyke@gmail.com. Please also visit www.sagamoreyc.com or look up SagamoreRacing on Yahoo!Groups on the web.