Youth Sailing Foundation’s tenth annual Summer Sailing Camp has experienced dramatic growth in 2023 with an increase of forty percent (40%) over 2022. Two hundred seventy (270) one-week camps were booked with many of the sailors booking multiple weeks. Founded in 2014, the camp has become a summertime institution in Vero Beach. About twenty-five percent of attendees come to Vero Beach from across the country to visit grandparents. Many are repeat campers who come to Vero Beach to sail the beautiful Indian River Lagoon.
The Summer Sailing Camp has a needs-blind admission policy with scholarship funds available to any family that cannot afford to pay the fee. In 2023 YSF awarded $27,300 in scholarships to ninety-one sailors from underserved homes. This represents fifty-three percent of the sailors attending 2023 Camp. The scholarships are funded by grants from Quail Valley Charities and the Wheels & Keels Foundation.
Each one-week camp runs Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 2 PM. Campers are issued a t-shirt on Monday and enjoy a Chick-fil-A lunch each day. The thirty-five sailors are divided into beginner, intermediate and racing classes. A staff of thirteen highly trained US Sailing certified sailing instructors and three volunteers provide close supervision and instruction. There is one instructor for every three sailors on the water. Ten of the staff are YSF sailors who grew-up in the program learning to sail and going-on to obtain the rigorous US Sailing Level One Certification to become professional instructors. These young high school and college age instructors gain valuable leadership and teaching skills earning money in a job they love. The camp pumps $90,000 back into the local economy with seventy-five percent paid to staff and the balance to local vendors.
Sailing requires resilience and perseverance. The capsize drill is the first exercise sailors are required to perform. The instructor intentionally capsizes the boat and requires the crew to right and bail the boat, dust themselves off, and keep on sailing. A true metaphor for real life. The goal is to provide a fun experience that also instills values that will help young sailors achieve their full potential.
Youth Sailing Foundation of Indian River County, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit devoted to eliminating cultural and financial barriers to sailing. Numerous youth programs are offered throughout the year, many of them free to participants. For more information or to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit: ysfirc.org.