No docks. No clubhouse. Not even a cabana.
No matter.
What the Cougar Yacht Club lacks in physical assets, it makes up for in spirit. Cougar spirit. Especially when cruising on Lake Washington past Husky Stadium. Or when the Apple Cup gets canceled, like it did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020 marked the first time the iconic match-up wasn’t played since World War II. But the University of Utah accepted a late invitation from the University of Washington just days after the 113th Apple Cup was slated to take place. And a few Cougar fans took to the water to wave Ol’ Crimson flags during the game.
“We’re Apple Cupping no matter what,” Nicole Marie Sobottke (’11 Nat. Res. Sci.) recalls telling friend, fellow boating enthusiast, and former Washington State University student Paul Twibell, then-commodore of the Cougar Yacht Club. “I said, ‘You can’t cancel Cougar spirit.’”
(Courtesy Nicole Sobottke)
That can-do, don’t-let-the-devil-get-you-down attitude is a key reason Sobottke—aka Nicole “The Rock” Rockfish—is now serving as the first woman and youngest commodore in the history of the Cougar Yacht Club, a group of sailors with a simple mission: “To promote Cougar spirit by connecting alumni and friends to Washington State University through their interest in boating and to raise the image and awareness of WSU in waterfront communities.”
Anyone can join. Anyone, that is, who loves the Cougs.
“You don’t have to be an alum. All you need is crimson in your heart and a boat in your moorage,” Sobottke
quips.
Her favorite part of Cougar Yacht Club is the camaraderie. “We’re not stuffy. We’re very welcoming. We get out there on the water, and we just share our love for the Cougs. We just enjoy being Cougars and being boaters,” says Sobottke, who was 38 when she took the helm of CYC during the 2025 Opening Day festivities.
Commodore Nicole “The Rock” Sobottke (Courtesy Paul Twibell)
Held the first Saturday in May, Opening Day celebrates the start of Seattle’s busy spring and summer boating season with a boat parade through Montlake Cut, just south of Husky Stadium. The procession motors past the UW shellhouse from Portage Bay, ending near Lake Washington’s Webster Point. Of course, CYC’s fleet is decked out in crimson and Cougar-head logos. “We love trolling the Huskies,” Sobottke says.
Opening Day, along with “sailgating” during Apple Cup the years it’s held in Seattle, are the club’s two biggest events of the year. In all, CYC, founded in 1992, has about 650 supporters and a fleet of approximately 500 vessels—from 19-foot runabouts to 70-foot yachts. The average vessel size is about 35 feet. Most are motorboats, moored in Seattle, Tri-Cities, and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Some are sailboats. Others, kayaks.
“It’s come one, come all,” says Sobottke, of Moscow, Idaho. She didn’t become interested in sailing until arriving in Cougar country after earning her associate’s degree at Skagit Valley College. A WSU pal’s dad gifted him a Catalina 28, moored on Lake Union, and their friend group drove from Pullman to Seattle to sail as much as possible. They raced in Lake Union’s Tuesday night Duck Dodge, participated in Whidbey Island Race Week, and sailed the San Juan Islands during summer vacation.
Soon, Sobottke—nicknamed “Outta Control Nicole”—became known for sailing close to the wind, a nautical term for navigating a vessel at the tightest possible angle toward the wind without the sails losing power. Figuratively, it means taking risks. Along with her moniker came a tagline: “She’ll sink a boat to win.”
She’s still vivacious. But, Sobottke, a Palouse-area sales manager for Ziply Fiber, takes her CYC leadership role seriously. “I run a tight ship,” she says. “I hope to leave a lasting impact and make the school proud and give back to the school that gave so much to me. My goals are to gain more members and lead our club in a positive way into the future.”
She loves “all kinds of boating. I’m a big sucker for wooden boats. My favorite boat is a Chris-Craft. I do prefer powerboats over sailboats. And I do make a mean charcuterie board, so,” she says with a wink, “I might be a yachter.”
After serving as vice commodore for two years under Twibell, she replaced him in the top slot. Twibell—creator of the Cougar-themed repurposed ambulance known as the Cougulance—is now vice commodore.
Vice Commodore Paul Twibell (Courtesy Paul Twibell/Facebook)
Sobottke met him at a tailgate in Pullman. He introduced her to CYC, although she didn’t join right away. “I was their stray cat for several years before I became a full-fledged member,” she says. “I’ve been one of the youngest members of the yacht club this whole time. But I am going to change that.”
Sobottke recently helped add a student ambassador to the board of directors. “One of my goals as the youngest commodore in CYC history is to get more students involved. We are an older club. I think getting more young boaters involved is going to be our way forward.”
The club emphasizes friendship, fun, and “Cougs versus everyone.” The vibe is low-key and approachable; the dues are just a one-time donation of $125. Each supporter receives a CYC burgee, a pennant used by recreational boaters to identify their home yacht club or sailing organization.
In addition to her recruitment goal, Sobottke wants to connect with the nonprofit Ol’ Crimson Booster Club—which has been waving the WSU flag on ESPN College GameDay since 2003—don her commodore uniform, and represent CYC and Coug Nation on TV.
“My biggest dream in life,” she says, “is to wave the Coug flag in my uniform as the youngest commodore in CYC history.”
Contact the Cougar Yacht Club
From the Archive: Opening Day…a great way to reunite Cougars (Spring 2002)