For as long as many Miamians can remember, the prestigious Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami has not exactly been a competitive sailing powerhouse.

But that might be about to change.

Retired U.S. Navy SEAL Captain Stuart Sorg, 77 -- a longtime Coconut Grove resident and sailboat racer -- is teaching graduate students, undergrads, scientists and staff members from the Virginia Key institution how to win races on Biscayne Bay.

Since January, Sorg has trained as many as 30 prospective sailing team members in weekly clinics on his 28-foot sailboat, Special Warfare, at Coral Reef Yacht Club in Coconut Grove. And several have crewed with him in weekend competitions put on by the Biscayne Bay Yacht Racing Association (BBYRA).

``We want to see Rosenstiel turn into a major entity on Biscayne Bay,'' Sorg said. ``If we get good sailors, we might be able to get a sailboat donated.''

The Rosenstiel trainees haven't won any races yet, but Sorg promises to keep drilling with them throughout the summer to be ready when the BBYRA racing season resumes in the fall.

The program has the enthusiastic endorsement of Rosenstiel's assistant dean of advancement, Doug Ray, an avid Lightning sailor.

Ray notes that Rosenstiel's founder, F.G. Walton Smith, was a marine biologist and yachtsman who built the school's first marine lab in the 1940s using the proceeds of donated yachts.

Ray said over the years, the school has lost the connection between plying the oceans and studying them, and Sorg's program is a good way to bring the two elements together.

``Stuart is a great teacher,'' Ray said. ``It reconnects us to our roots. These are people who are very dedicated and disciplined. When we get them out to win a race, they're going to do it. The word lazy is not in the dictionary for these people.''

On a recent weekday afternoon, five women and one man showed up at Coral Reef for a clinic.

Before heading out on the bay, Sorg explained the mechanics of raising the mainsail, then following up with the genoa, or ``genny.''

``We'll go into the wind, fall off 10 degrees and put up the mainsail,'' he said. ``Once we've got the mainsail up, we'll put up the genoa.''

Special Warfare departed the dock using its 10-horsepower diesel engine. But once in open water, it was time to raise the sails. Sorg pointed the bow into the southwesterly breeze while several crew members hoisted first the mainsail, then the genny.

The boat heeled over sharply as the genny began to fill with wind.

``Let it way out,'' he told crew members Silvia Gremes and Kristen Walter.

The boat skimmed along the wave tops at about 7 knots.

Walter, a Rosenstiel staffer who studies reef fish, said she had some sailing experience on Chesapeake Bay before joining Sorg's program, but wants to take it to the next level.

``I want to learn how to race seriously,'' she said.

Gremes, a doctorate student in applied marine physics, said she sailed a bit as a child in Argentina, but dropped out of the sport for about 20 years.

``I started in January with Stuart,'' she said. ``I did two races -- my first, actually. We didn't do very well, but it didn't matter. It was exciting because I learned a lot. It's such a passion.''

The crew practiced tacking several times before cranking up the engine to head back to the dock.

Sorg pronounced the session a success and complimented his crew on being quick learners who follow directions easily.

Said Sorg: ``What I like about sailing is it keeps you young.''

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