The mission of the Community Boating Center in New Bedford, MA is to teach positive life values to at-risk youth through boating. In 1998, Community Boating Center incorporated as a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to enriching the lives of area youth by exposing them to a new and challenging environment built upon a foundation of trust and respect. The Community Boating Center staff, acting as role models, provides friendship and mentorship, teach responsibility and teamwork and demonstrate commitment and compassion with all students. “Safety, fun and education are the cornerstones of Community Boating Center programs,” said Andy Herlihy, CBC’s Executive Director. “Approximately 70% of our students come at no cost; they simply cannot afford to pay!”

Editor’s note: All of the programs listed here, ranging from basic dinghy sailing in 8-foot prams to sail training aboard tall ships, are open to the public. Not included are yacht club programs that are only open to children of club members. If we’ve omitted your club’s junior program (and it’s open to all with no membership required), please let us know.

A new organization is providing enthusiastic Optimist sailors in eastern Connecticut an opportunity to become better racers by extending their sailing season. With startup funding provided by the Eastern Connecticut Sailing Association (ECSA) and the Mystic River Mudhead Sailing Association, the MudRatz ECSA Opti Race Team was created to help keen juniors develop and improve their sailing and racing skills.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for decades, but never found the right people to make it work,” said ECSA Junior Chair Paul Risseeuw. “The program started last fall at the Wadawanuck Club in Stonington, with 18 Opti sailors participating just from word of mouth. We have top coaches, and sailors from several ECSA clubs will be able to train together and feed off of each other. This is a great idea that has passed its initial ‘test flight,’ and it’s ready for prime time.” 

Last month, I returned home from a sunny, 80-degree Floridian weekend and walked into two feet of the white, fluffy stuff – an abrupt transition I have found myself experiencing quite a few times this winter. Seeing as most of us don’t enjoy sailing high performance dinghies in frigid conditions – frostbiting aside – my LISOT (Long Island Sound Youth Racing Team) teammates and I have been traveling frequently to locations across Florida for what turned out to be a terrific winter regatta tour.

Our adventure started in mid-November as we, and our International 420s, were driven to Miami on three multi-boat trailers after first heading to the I420 Atlantic Coasts at Annapolis Yacht Club. The boats remained in Florida for the next few months, moving from yacht club to boat park, regatta to regatta, with training in between.

Our nation faces a growing demand for creative change in how we educate today’s youth in the subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math. US Sailing is looking to do their part to engage students enrolled at schools and youth programs in hands-on learning opportunities in natural environments, while challenging students to reach higher for academic results.

In the fall of 2012, US Sailing launched a national education initiative called REACH. The program connects youth to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education and innovation through the great sport of sailing.

Editor’s note: On Saturday, October 20, 12-year-old Justin Smith of Muttontown, NY sailed his Optimist from Stamford, CT to Oyster Bay, NY. Justin, a member of Seawanhaka Corinthian Junior Yacht Club (and the subject of our October On Watch article), embarked on his journey to raise funds for a bioextraction project to help restore the Long Island Sound ecosystem.

I started my day early in the morning with a good breakfast. Most of the preparation for my solo sail across the Long Island Sound in my eight-foot Optimist (“Opti”) had already been completed the evening before. After loading my Opti on the car with my father, my mother drove me to Stamford Yacht Club in Stamford, CT, where I would begin my adventure. My dad went to meet my coach, Ben Benfield, at The WaterFront Center in Oyster Bay to prepare to travel across the Sound by boat to meet me in Stamford.

One lucky sailor won a boat. On October 28, my father, Jim Koehler, held a jar full of tickets. A bunch of young sailors, each holding a match to those tickets watched eagerly as he shook up the jar. Every sailor there (young and old) wondered, “Will it be me?” “Will I win the new boat?” This year, to commemorate the 15th Dinghy Shop Fall Series, one lucky sailor won a custom Pro Race McLaughlin Optimist with a very cool design on the stern! (The stern has a stylized chart of the Great South Bay on it.)

All summer we worked out the mechanics of how sailors could win tickets. The goal was to encourage kids to keep sailing and to motivate them to sail well. So, there was an incentive to compete, an incentive to perform, and an incentive to be a good sport on the water.

In preparation for the Summer Olympics taking place in London, the Olympic spirit shined through on Thursday, July 19 at the annual Larry White Junior Regatta, held at the Niantic Bay Yacht Club in Niantic, CT. This regatta is one of several held throughout the country as part of US Sailing’s Junior Olympic Sailing Festival. An instrumental advocate and contributor to junior sailing, Larry White is responsible for the growth of high school sailing throughout the USA, including starting our own local sailing team at East Lyme High School. For his efforts, White was awarded US Sailing’s most prestigious award, the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, in 2005. White also held many roles as a US Sailing volunteer, serving many positions on the committee and is most known for his successful 15-year presidency of the Interscholastic Sailing Association. We were honored to be in his presence as he draped Olympic medals from the necks of our young sailors.