With no major waterways near campus, you may wonder why exactly we would have a “Yachting Club.” Like junior Lucas Coye joked, you might join because you “thought it was about boats.”

You may be more interested to find that the Yachting Club actually has nothing to do with boats at all. In fact, it is a place to find creative minds that have tons of nerdy things in common.

According to its constitution, the club’s purpose is “to bring creative minds together in a comfortable, productive atmosphere.” This includes discussing all sorts of fiction — particularly fantasy and science fiction — along with other topics from role-playing games and Japanese animation to face painting and comic books.

aBasically, Yachting Club is there to give everyone a safe and nonjudgmental place to nerd out.

“Nerds are in the minority,” said sophomore Patrick Withrow, boatswain (webmaster) of Yachting Club. “Everyone has something they can be nerdy about. Yachting Club gives everyone a chance to voice it.”

Due to the recent renovation of Founders Hall, Yachting Club has lost the space in which they stored their comprehensive library of board games, VHS tapes, DVDs and role-playing rulebooks. Clubs are now allowed three cubbies’ worth of storage space in the Student Organization and Media Commons, although the club’s library formerly filled over 14 boxes of miscellany.

According to Commodore (President) and senior Adrienne Mattson-Perdue, the majority of the club’s library will be donated to the college’s library. Yachting Club will be named as the benefactor of these donated books via labels on the inside covers.

In previous years, Yachting Club has not been perceived in the best light. The members of the club have a tendency to be loud and boisterous during club meetings.

But, as Mattson-Perdue stated, “We’re loud and we’re really weird, but we are nice people, and that’s what makes us awesome.”

Yachting Club’s yearly convention, What the Hell?! Con, was also negatively reviewed in The Guilfordian last year as there was a smaller turnout than previous years, and the club met several obstacles during the organization of the Con. This year, the club hopes to have a better turnout than last year, with better advertising for the convention. There has also been talk about a possible chance for food in the convention area.

Besides improving the annual convention, Yachting Club is also attempting to gather the community together in all ways nerdy. For example, the Role Play Sampler will demonstrate all kinds of role-playing games for students to try out on Sept. 26 during community time.

In the end, Yachting Club is really about the community as a whole and wants to be a safe and fun place to geek out about anything and everything.

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