Fall sailing is well underway at YSF Community Sailing with 164 sailors venturing out onto the Indian River Lagoon. Community is the operative word when describing crews manning a fleet of sixty sailing dinghies. Children from 35 schools and 40 homeschoolers come together for fun on the water. More than half the sailors come from underserved homes and sail for free. Our minority communities represent 25 percent of the roster. The special needs community is well represented with over forty sailors, ages 8-60, venturing out on the Indian River Lagoon.
Two new programs are being introduced. A Saturday pilot program will bring twelve children from the Boys & Girls Club of Indian River County to YSF. B&G Club Executive Director, Elizabeth Thomason, remarked, “Sailing is experiential learning at its best. We are excited to partner with YSF to bring the joys of sailing to the Boys & Girls Club children.”
YSF and Keystone Educational Center partnered to introduce sailing to seventeen children, ages 8-13, “with autism, other communication disorders or related learning disabilities”. Special Needs teacher, Bethany Acosta, observed: “Sailing offers our children, who are dependent on others for many of the basic needs of everyday life, to experience an independence and empowerment that provides an incredible boost to their self-esteem and feeling of wellbeing.” The children of Keystone join twenty-five adult special needs sailors to give YSF one of the robust adaptive sailing programs in Florida.
YSF uses sailing as a medium to teach life skills. Lessons learned on the water – resilience, perseverance, and focus – are brought ashore to help children achieve their full potential. Sailing is challenging. With success, confidence soars. Children from across the socioeconomic spectrum leave their screens and anxieties on the beach as they concentrate on learning the sail. Teamwork is essential. Fail to properly trim sails or maintain weight and balance, and you are swimming instead of sailing.
Sailing impacts young lives in ways that can be transformational. A recent Duke University graduate related how sailing at YSF helped form his disciplined approach to problem-solving that provided a foundation for success in Duke’s rigorous engineering major. Another sailor who came to YSF on a bicycle from a troubled home environment learned to sail, became a certified instructor, and launched into a successful military career.
Youth Sailing Foundation (YSF) of Indian River County, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit that eliminates cultural and financial barriers to sailing. YSF was founded in 2009 to use sailing as a medium to help children achieve their full potential. We operate under the banner “YSF Community Sailing” to reflect that we now serve the entire community. We make it easy and affordable for children, adults, and families to enjoy the thrill of sailing. For more information or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit: www.ysfirc.org Contact: Email info@ysfirc.org Phone
