PORT TOWNSEND — Supporters of the Port Townsend High School Sailing Team are offering their vessels to members of the community who want to sail for a day and asking for donations to help teach students to sail for a lifetime.
A $100 donation to the sailing team will provide a chance, just before the Wooden Boat Festival in September, to work along with crew members during a voyage in the waters surrounding Port Townsend.
Owners of the sailboats Martha, Alcyone, Annie Too, Sumatra, Crusoe, Lotus, Bryony, Grail and Pleiades are donating their time and use of their vessels to help raise money for a club sport that is inspiring a new generation of sailors.
“Port Townsend is a sailing community and surrounded by water,” said 14-year-old Darby Flanagan, who is being promoted from the junior to the senior team this year.
“It’s funny, because not that many kids who live here get the chance to learn how to sail,” said Flanagan.
“This gives you the chance to do it. I think kids that grow up here really ought to learn how to sail.”
The fundraising sailing will be at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 10, just before the three-day 33rd annual Wooden Boat Festival begins Sept. 11.
The boats will launch from different locations to sail into Point Hudson Marina for the festival after touring Port Townsend Bay.
Fourth year of competition
The high school sailing team — which operates with the help of the Port Townsend High School, the Northwest Maritime Center and the YMCA — is entering its fourth year of competition on the waterways of Washington state.
The program teaches students basic sailing, how to stay safe on the water and racing techniques — and then allows them to compete in races with other schools.
Leslie McNish, a mother of students on the team, is organizing the fundraising operation.
Sailing is an expensive sport, she said.
“The Northwest Maritime Center provides things like the boats, the docks, the insurance and liability,” McNish said. “But it still costs money to transport the kids and boats to the regattas. It takes money to repair the boats.
“Also, we don’t have a trailer to tow the boats right now, and we hope to use this fundraiser to pay for all of that.”
McNish said the goal of teaching students safe sailing practices is worth the cost.
“One of the most important things is teaching the kids to get out of trouble on the water,” McNish said.
“If you do it by practicing, you know how to do that when you are really in trouble. As a parent, that is exactly what you want from a program.”
Rob Sanderson, manager of the program for the Northwest Maritime Center, said that knowledge is priceless.
Water playground
“We live in a water playground,” Sanderson said. “It’s so important to teach people how to be safe on that water.
“Every year, there are accidents out on the water with both youth and adults.
“It’s important that every student who goes through our program knows what to do in those situations.”
Sanderson said that, while safety is a cornerstone of the program, it’s also important to have fun on the water and instill a love of sailing in a new generation.
Milo Steimle, 12, said fun is what the program is all about.
“I love sailing, and joining the team is a way to sail a whole lot,” he said.
Steimle, who will be in seventh grade in the fall, will join the junior team this year.
This week, he has been out on the water, practicing advanced sailing techniques with instructors at the Northwest Maritime Center, “getting ready for the team,” he said.
“It’s just a really fun thing to do all around. “It’s fun because you get to go fast at times and race with other boats.
“But also, it’s nice being out on the water, where it is completely quiet.”
Anyone interested in taking a ride on one of the ships and supporting the sailing team can phone 360-385-2043, e-mail martine@relcast.com or click on www.relcast.com/.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
