(ran East, South, Beach editions) Okay, it is not one of those sports involving cheerleaders and a ball of some sort. It will never fill a stadium. But a varsity team is now headquartered on the St. Petersburg campus of the University of South Florida. The women's sailing team is the first varsity team on the downtown campus. And though it is only about 2 years old, it was recently ranked among the Top 20 in the United States. "We were thrilled," said team coach Stephanie Doyle of the ranking by Sailing World magazine, which put them 19th in a list of about 100 teams. Doyle said that placed them "with the top sailing teams like Harvard, Old Dominion, Tufts, Connecticut College, the Naval Academy." Creating a women's varsity team rather than one for male students, in a sport long-considered the purview of wealthy men, was a practical decision, Doyle said. "USF St. Petersburg has had a co-ed "club' sailing team for years. The women's team branched out in the spring of 2000 because when football started, under Title IX, the school needed more women's varsity sports to equal men's. Initially there was some resentment, but we try really hard to keep things equal. I coach the guys, too, and they get to travel to more places." "I don't care as long as I get to sail," said team member Nick Chachula, 20, a junior. The women's varsity sailing team and the men's club team, totaling 25 members, is one more indicator that the local campus is evolving from a center mostly for graduate studies and only limited undergraduate courses into a full-fledged undergraduate institution. It is already a draw for undergraduates _ male and female _ interested in sailing. "I'm from Rhode Island, but I never sailed," said Andi Paolella, 19, a sophomore. "This program is good stuff. I take all my classes on this campus." "It's the reason I came to the St. Pete campus," said Matt Hickman, a 20-year-old sophomore from Melbourne. Genoa Griffin, 21, is considered the star of the team. A Tampa native who grew up sailing off Davis Islands, she said she opted for Florida Atlantic University for her freshman year and was a member of its swim team. "But I missed sailing and came to USF," she said. The young men and women sail together several times a week and go to regattas at other schools throughout the year. They say they are more than a team; they are friends who help each other out with studying and who go on camping-sailing trips on weekends when they are not traveling. In November, for the first time, the varsity team joins the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in co-hosting a collegiate regatta. Doyle said the team's varsity status has made a huge difference in funding and accounts for the team's success at regattas. In the past, coaches were volunteers. Doyle is a full-time, paid staffer with a part-time assistant coach. USF purchased a fleet of SJs, boats that are favored in competitive youth and collegiate sailing. One thing USF cannot offer is an athletic scholarship for sailing. "No college sailors are allowed to get scholarships, according to our governing body, the Intercollegiate Sailing Association," Doyle said. "It's an old rule, when sailing was controlled by Ivy Leagues and was considered an elite sport. There are discussions about changing it." But the young sailors at USF seem more interested in navigating deep water than arcane politics. Tacking and jibbing, not gender issues and varsity status, were on their minds Thursday as they sailed from Bayboro Harbor into Tampa Bay to practice drills for a weekend regatta in Charleston. "Hold your lanes," Doyle called, as they struggled to bend the laws of natural forces to their wills. In good wind and yare boats, they go far.