Q&A; WITH CHARLIE BUCKINGHAM:

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Charlie Buckingham knows all about success in sailing. Knows it all too well, actually. So much that the bar is raised high for him to perform at an elite level.

As a freshman at Georgetown, Buckingham, a 2007 Newport Harbor High graduate, helped the Hoyas win their first sailing national title at the 2008 Fleet Racing National Championships. He also earned All-American honors, and was the only All-American freshman sailor in the nation.

Buckingham, 20, who won a high school national title in sailing for Newport Harbor, was awarded the Carl Van Duyne Trophy for winning the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Assn. championship.

Recently he was one of three named to the 2009 U.S. Sailing Team AlphaGraphics for the Laser class (men’s one person dinghy). In June, he’ll be in his first competition for the Americans in Kiel, Germany.

For the Hoyas, Buckingham will compete in the Truxtun Umsted, one of the most competitive college regattas in the spring, today at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.

He took time out for a phone interview Friday with the Daily Pilot.

Question: With all the success you’ve had so quickly at Georgetown, are you under pressure to constantly perform at a high level?

Answer: Not really under pressure.

I couldn’t ask for a better year my freshman year. I really try not to think about it. I try my hardest to continue to improve with every practice. The more you think about what your past accomplishments are, the worse you are going to do. I try to take every regatta as serious as I can without putting too much pressure on myself. And if I do that I feel I’ll perform well.

Q: What are your goals for the future?

A: While I’m in college, I want to perform as well as possible on the college circuit, while also succeeding on the international Laser circuit. I have to split my time with the international competition while I’m in school. So while I’m in school I’m going to try to be as successful as I can. After college, I would like to concentrate on international and Olympic competition and make a run at the 2012 and 2016 Games.

Q: How did you break into sailing?

A: My whole dad’s side of the family is a huge sailing family. All my aunts and uncles grew up sailing. I was always around boats because of my dad and he’s a competitive sailor as well. Since I can remember, I was either crewing for him with local regattas or cruising on boats.

I really credit my dad for getting me into sailing. Without his involvement with the sport I probably wouldn’t be introduced to it.

Q: What’s your dad’s name? What’s his story?

A: His name is Jim. He sailed at Berkeley. He was an All-American in college and he’s also done very well for himself internationally. He’s gotten top 10 at a couple world championships. He’s a very good sailor and has been a huge influence on me.

Q: What’s the best way to explain the Laser class to common folks, and how rigorous is the competition?

A: I would say Laser class is one of the deepest classes in the world. At any given international event there are probably 20 guys who can win.

There’s one person sailing the boat. All the parts are given to you by the manufacturers, and you can only do so much with what they give you. It basically comes down to who is the best athlete. It’s a pretty simple formula. The boat is pretty simple itself.

[The Laser class] attracts a lot of sailors who are very good. I don’t know why exactly. It is definitely one of the hardest classes to compete in. That’s what makes it fun. I feel like every regatta that I get better. I’m so young, and I see how others compete, and I can learn a lot from observation.

Q: Do you have a nickname? Is it OK to call you C-Buck?

A: C-Buck? Where did you hear that? (laughs) Everyone calls me Charlie ... I prefer Charlie.

Q: What is your biggest highlight in your life?

A: I have two actually. One of them was last year when Georgetown and I won the Fleet National Racing Championship for college sailing. That’s definitely a highlight of my sailing career. The other highlight is qualifying for the US Sailing team this year.

Q: How were you able to qualify?

A: In past years, they’ve taken five events and they’ve given you points based on those events. Top five would qualify, but this year it comes down to one regatta at the Miami Rolex OCR in January. They took the top three Americans from that field.

I ended up getting 11th overall and was the third American to qualify.

Q: What was your reaction when you realized you qualified?

A: I felt I had a really good regatta at OCR. Once the last day was over I knew I qualified. I can’t really describe the feeling. I was extremely satisfied. I worked very hard. To have that hard work pay off was an unbelievable feeling. It was really satisfying. I’ve never qualified for a team like that before. There’s a lot of good Americans. It was definitely a goal of mine, but I wasn’t going to put a lot of pressure on myself.

I was so happy to make it.

Q: Ever get sea sick?

A: No. Luckily, otherwise I don’t think I would be able to go sailing as much as I do.

Q: What does it take to be a great skipper?

A: It takes an incredible amount of practice and focus, improving every little detail in your game, because the best skipper is the one who makes the least amount of mistakes in the regatta. Focusing on the mistakes and focusing on minimizing those is usually what separates the good skippers from the great skippers.