Sailing Anarchy wishes all free-thinkers a Happy Independence Day; Mudratz co-founder and sailing cheerleader Brandon Flack sent in a great piece celebrating the shared history of the US and England on this special day. Billy Black photo.
What better way to appreciate Independence Day than to celebrate the success of the WARRIOR SAILING PROGRAM?! In the short time since its founding, the WSP has introduced more than 150 wounded active military or veterans to the sport of sailing. Warrior Sailing program also has a competitive race team participating in both adaptive sailing and open racing throughout the US. These sailors are graduates of the WSP program camps.
Last week’s program concluded with a big first place win for the Warriors in the Newport Sonar fleet at the Clagett Regatta, and some of our former colonial masters in Britain – the boys at Musto – have rewarded the Warriors’ success (and our “First Big Win” in 1776) with a donation of exactly $17,760 of Evolution Dynamic shirts to the program! These shirts will be given out to participating wounded veteran and active military personnel that attend our camps, and we thank Musto for the generous gift!
Program Overview: The Warrior Sailing Program is focused on introducing wounded, ill and injured military Service Members and Veterans to sailing and basic sailboat racing. The program is open to members of the Armed Forces; active duty, reserve, guard, or veteran. We offer basic and advanced training camps where we introduce participants to the sport of sailing, teach basic sailing skills and learn how to compete within the context of the sport of sailing. Additionally, we will provide resources to participants to be involved with the sport of sailing in their hometowns and how to advance in the sport, if they choose to do so. All instruction is facilitated by professional instructors and on equipment that is adapted to meet the individual needs of the qualified participants who meet the applicant requirements. For those that show a high level of skill, a commitment to training and an ambition to participate in competitive regattas, we offer the opportunity to try-out for the Warrior Sailing Team. The team participates in a variety of training camps and regattas around the country and works to open the sport of sailing to other Service Members and Veterans as they go.
Program Needs: Our goal is to cover all costs of attending the camp for our Service Members and Veterans. This includes coaching, lodging, travel, meals, equipment and so on. We cannot do this without local sponsors getting involved. Likewise, a goal of the program is to introduce our participants to local clubs/club members to reduce any potential anxiety over getting involved with their local Sailing Centers and Yacht Clubs when they head home. We want sailing to be a lifetime sport for these people and social aspect is paramount to keeping them engaged.
General Program Donations: Funding to support travel, lodging and overhead costs can be provided by making a donation to the foundation and is extremely helpful. Donations can be made to cover a single participant, multiple participants, or to generally support the program.
Watch a great video intro to the WSP here, and please support your sailing veterans with a donation here.
