Sound Sailing Center in Norwalk, CT is celebrating their 20th anniversary in business with a Fathers Day Benefit event on Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15. Members of Sound Sailing Center’s shared use sailing club will be giving rides from 1:00 to 5:00 pm each day and collecting donations for various charities. For a suggested $30 donation, or whatever fits your budget, donors receive a 40-minute mini-lesson on a 23-foot Ensign. With a suggested $60 donation, you can go for an hour sail on a 32- to 36-footer. Life jackets and lunch will be provided.
“At 2:00 pm Saturday we will be introducing a revolutionary new SailCase main and jib sail handling system,” said Sound Sailing President Martin Van Breems. “These products, made in Norwalk at our sister company, Dutchmar, allow a much larger headsail to be self-tacking and self-vanging, an asymmetrical with a sprit to be deployed in a fraction of the normal time and effort, and a mainsail to be self-covering and easier to reef.”
At the wrap-up party from 6:00 to 8:00 pm Sunday, Van Breems will recount some of his adventures, including his first singlehanded race, the Bermuda One-Two, in which he finished second, and the OSTAR singlehanded transatlantic race where he finished second in a collision-damaged boat. “We also hope to enjoy a talk by Peter Wilcox, a Greenpeace captain, Sound Sailing instructor and Norwalk native, with plenty of stories of his own, including his recent three-month imprisonment in Russia for protesting Arctic offshore oil drilling,” said Van Breems.
“I’m proud of the impact Sound Sailing Center has had in the sailing community,” said Van Breems. “Single-handing is a huge confidence builder and the best way for students to gain experience, and our fleet was set up to make this possible.” Sound Sailing Center is located at 54 Calf Pasture Beach Road in Norwalk, next to Cove Marina. Visit soundsailingcenter.com for more information.
