IRVINE -- Despite being cut from the University of California, Irvine Athletics Department last summer, the UCI Sailing Team has re-emerged as a successful club sport competitor this fall, winning the Sloop Pacific Coast Championship and competing for the ICSA Sloop National Championship.

Photo by: UCI Sailing Sailing to Victory -- The UCI Sailing Team outperformed the University of Hawaii and the University of Southern California at the Sloop Pacific Coast Championship. Sailing was one of five sports cut at UCI on Aug. 1.

“So far, we’ve functioned nearly the same, less a coach,” said current team captain Frank O’Brien.

After a series of close races against the University of Hawaii and the University of Southern California during the Sloop Pacific Coast Championship, the UCI Sailing Team finished second in the final race of the competition. With the best overall score, UCI won the championship and qualified for nationals.

Competing at the national level at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT, the UCI Sailing Team had to adjust to new sailboats and rainy East Coast weather. The team managed to finish in the top three in several races, placing sixth overall at the ICSA Sloop National Championship, Oct. 23-25.

“The past seven weeks have been a lot of fun,” O’Brien said, a few weeks after the team returned from the national championship.

Competing without a coach has been the most serious consequence UCI Sailing has faced since leaving the UCI Athletics Department. Hiring a coach could cost as much as $40,000, though the team might obtain a coach for just part of the year if it cannot raise the entire amount.

The team’s main method of fundraising is through donations to the Anteater Sailing Fund, an account established through the California International Sailing Association. After it raises enough money for a coach, the team hopes to purchase new practice sails.

But even if the sailing team is able to raise money for a coach and new equipment, certain privileges the team once enjoyed will not be restored unless UCI Sailing rejoins the UCI Athletics Department.

As a club sport, the sailing team no longer has any influence over admissions, when it comes to admitting prospective team members to the university. For the time being, members of UCI Sailing still have priority registration, so they can schedule their classes around afternoon sailing practice. But this courtesy may not be extended for much longer, if sailing continues as a club sport.

O’Brien does not want people to think that UCI Sailing is inactive just because the team has been cut from the athletics department.

“We’re still up there competing,” he said.

For more information or to make a donation, visit www.anteatersailing.com or e-mail anteatersailingteam@gmail.com.