Dana Latham discovered her passion for sailing in seventh grade when her older brother Chris bought a Lone Star 13 sailboat.
They grew up in Dallas near White Rock Lake, where Chris would participate in races. When he needed members for his crew, Latham decided to help out.
“We would sail on different lakes around the Dallas area, different regattas, and that’s where it all got started,” she said. “That’s how I learned to sail and really enjoyed it.”
She learned some of those sailing lessons the hard way.
“I remember slamming his boat into the dock when I was first learning how to sail,” she said with a laugh.
Today, Latham is a kinesiology instructor who teaches a sailing class on NW Campus, using some of the same skills her brother taught her.
“It’s fun on windier days. It’s not quite as peaceful, but it’s more of an adrenaline rush,” she said.
Latham said before students can take the boat out on their own, they must spend at least 30 minutes with her on Marine Creek Lake.
“I have intermediate students that will take the others out so that people can be sailing, but they can’t drive the boat until they meet with me,” she said.
Buoys are placed in the lake as targets for students to hit as they learn how to steer the sailboat.
“They learn how to sail a course, and they’re actually sailing to a certain place,” she said.
Students also get to race the sailboats, but they must follow Latham’s rules, such as not being able to hit any buoys and understanding who has the right of way.
One of the requirements for the class is knowing how to swim. The students take a swimming test on the second day of class, and there are lifeguards on duty as well. Students also learn boating terminology in a classroom before sailing.
Latham said the class is available during the fall semester and the first summer session. The class does not take place in the spring due to the weather.
“The water is super cold. Even the temperature doesn’t get warmed up enough because the water is cold,” she said. “It would just be miserable.”
NW student Caleb Moore said he is enjoying taking the class this semester.
“It’s pretty fun,” he said. “Mostly we’ve just been sailing around. We got to put up the sails. … It’s a good way to spend your mornings.”
Another NW student, Jenny Harberts, enjoyed the class so much that she is taking it again.
“I wanted to improve my sailing skills from last semester,” she said. “Dana, the instructor, is personable. She’s fun to learn from.”
In addition to teaching, Latham has had experience sailing boats at resorts in different countries, including some of the same boats used in her class.
“We went to Jamaica, and the resort’s boat was our boat. It was a Hobie Wave,” she said. “So it made it nice because I already knew how to rig it, sail it. [That’s] nice for our students. If they ever go to a resort, then they are most likely to be able to sail that boat.”
