United
States Sailing Center - Long Beach Youth Learn
The Ropes Of Sailboat Racing
July
12, 2004 For immediate release
LONG
BEACH, Calif.---Young people in the Long Beach
community are experiencing the dynamic and exhilarating
sport of sailboat racing through the collaborative
efforts of several local sailing foundations.
The
United States Sailing Center-Long Beach, CA and
the Long Beach Yacht Club Sailing Foundation have
combined resources to teach children from the
Long Beach chapter of the NAACP the basics of
sailboat racing. The LBYC Sailing Foundation provides
the boat, while the US Sailing Center administers
the program and provides training staff and racing
crew for the boat.
The
children are participating in the Long Beach Yacht
Club’s Wet Wednesday races, a summertime
midweek series that attracts many of the regions
best sailors. The children participating are able
to compete at the top level.
For
the kids participating, each day’s racing
is preceded by a classroom session in which the
intricacies of sailboat racing, some theory of
hydro and aerodynamics and some oceanography are
explained.
“We
want this to be a fun, safe, and exciting experience
for the kids,” said Jim MacLeod who runs
the program on behalf of the US Sailing Center.
“We also want this to be an educational
experience so the kids can take something away
with them when the program is over. That’s
why the classroom component is so important.”
This
is the second year of the program and all those
involved, from the directors of the two foundations,
the Long Beach sailing community and certainly
the kids participating have all been thrilled
with the results. During last year’s Wet
Wednesday series, the program took out several
dozen kids from Long Beach Jordan High School
and the Boys and Girls Club of Long Beach. This
year’s program has exceeded the previous
year’s success.
“The
children we have participating have traditionally
been underserved by the aquatic and sailing community,”
MacLeod said. “With the LBYC Sailing Foundation
making one of its Catalina 37 sailboats available
and the US Sailing Center’s ability to implement
such a program, it’s natural for our two
organizations to come together to offer this.”
Not
all of the participants’ time is spent in
the classroom or hard at work on the boats however.
Thanks to the LBYC Sailing Foundation, the kids
are treated to a dinner at Long Beach Yacht Club’s
Burger Bash after each evening’s race. The
US Sailing Center’s roll in the program
is supported by a grant from the California International
Sailing Association through funds donated by Roy
Disney (famous yachtsman and nephew of Walt Disney).
Photos
of the program are available upon request.
The
U.S. Sailing Center is operated by the Pacific
Coast Sailing Foundation, a non-profit public
benefit corporation that provides facilities,
equipment, programs and other enhancements that
improve education in the sport of sailing in the
Western United States.
The
mission of the Long Beach Yacht Club Sailing Foundation
is to promote national and international amateur
sailing, maritime education and competition. This
is accomplished in two ways. The first is by owning,
maintaining and chartering a matched fleet of
sailboats for racing charter and by training racing
sailors through outreach and educational programs
for children. The second is through the provision
of sailing equipment and facilities and the encouragement
of participation in local, national and international
nautical activities.
CONTACTS
Jim
MacLeod
Program Development Director
(562) 433-7939
jimmacleod@ussclb.org
Naomi
Rainey
NAACP
(562) 856-7586
PUBLICITY
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richsail@earthlink.net
