Stu Keiller, Bill Krueger and Chris Drake PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

A fleet of young sailors tacked into the wind as they sailed into Riomar Creek, the waterway that runs alongside the Quail Valley River Club, to demonstrate their skills during the ninth annual Rock the Boat fundraiser to benefit the Youth Sailing Foundation.

Proceeds will help fund the mission of the nonprofit to provide educational, recreational and competitive sailing programs for children and adults in a fun and safe environment. Youth Sailing was founded in 2009 by Charlie and Chris Pope, along with Varoujan “Pops” Karentz, to introduce local children to sailing, and it has continued to expand its programming ever since.

As guests enjoyed cocktails along the water, the Vero Beach Pipes & Drums heralded the opening of the youth regatta, before John Moore encouraged the crowd to purchase raffle tickets and bid on seaworthy auction items.

“This past year, we had almost 500 sailors on the water [during the school year and their eight-week summer camp]. We provide free sailing to any youth in the county. Sailing teaches resilience and teamwork and, most of all, builds confidence and self-esteem. We’re able to teach these life skills to everyone in the county,” said Bill Krueger, YSF board chair.

“We work really hard to make sure that sailing is accessible to all the kids in the county. Of our 500 sailors, half of those are from the underserved community,” he added.

Among those, he said 17 sailors were from the Homeless Children’s Foundation, and another 25 sailors participated in the adaptive program, which provides access to the water and to experiential sailing for persons with disabilities.

Their latest expansion, said Krueger, is the use of the Flying Scot, a recreational sailboat, utilized for adult and family sailing.

“Our paid adult programs support 100 percent of our free youth programs,” said Krueger.

Looking to the future, Stu Keiller, project manager for the planned Pat Harris Community Sailing Center, shared that the organization plans to break ground in March 2025.

“We’ve raised $4 million of our $4.5 million goal,” he said, noting that revenue from public sailboat rentals will create a revenue stream to help sustain YSF programs.

The facility is slated to have public restrooms, picnic pavilions, an educational pavilion, docks, boat ramps, a beach launch, and a maintenance and sailing office on the first floor of the building.

The second floor will have a large room that can be divided into classrooms or could be used for birthday parties, conferences and small weddings.

Additionally, he said that a donor has generously donated $100,000 through the Kiwanis Club for a children’s play area.

For more information, visit ysfirc.org.

Photos by Joshua Kodis