The sailboats were the evolution of boat club in many ways. Literally in the sense of the original boat club boat, as it was converted into a fairly functional sailboat.
In the Case of Ansible however, it was a an interest born out of the desire to not have to constantly shout over the scream out our pathetically slow engine, and to live in the constant fear of avalanches.
Ansible is what I named the Sunfish that I bought from an old gentleman in Portland. The name comes from Ursula LeGuin's imaginative invention-- an Ansible is a device that can transmit messages across any amount of space instantaneously (which I think would precipitate in the loophole of being able to send messages back in time if you had two ships traveling away from each other at high speeds.). Thus the name was synonymous with speed, and it turns out that Ursuala LeGuin spent a lot of time writing at the very lake--Wallowa Lake-- that I sailed on!
I would also sail with my older brother on his boat: The Madeline, and later go on to join the University of Oregon Sailing Team for a term, and I enjoyed the sailing, but the repetitive nature of the racing wasn't the reason that I loved to sail: fresh air, quiet, and exploration. All told, I've ammassed around 100 hours of time sailing.