Parent Orientation Night
Huntington Beach Sailing Foundation would like to answer any questions you may have. If the question you are looking for is not answered above please feel free to call or email our HBSF Summer Sailing Director info@sailhb.org.
The HBSF is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization located in Huntington Beach, California. For over 45 years, the HBSF and its predecessor have provided summer sailing lessons to children age 6 to 18. Based on available funding, each summer the foundation strives to fill at least 10-20% of its enrolment by granting tuition free lessons to children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, with physical handicaps, or from military families with a parent deployed overseas, including children from the nearby Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.
HBSF’s fleet of 36 sabots is over 40 years old and often in need of repair. Each year almost 20% of the foundation’s budget is spent on maintaining and repairing those boats, their sails and rigging – just to get them seaworthy enough to send children out on the water safely. To improve and continue a successful sailing program, new and better equipment is necessary. Obtaining some racing sabots and larger two-person sail boats will help keep kids more involved in our program as they grow older and help them develop more advanced skills.
On April 27, 2015, the Foundation received a shipment of 16 new Optimist Cube beginner sail boats from McLaughlin Boat Works in Tennessee. These boats, which were purchased at a cost of $36,500 from donations to the Capital Campaign, launched our 2015 summer sailing program and are the first new boats in over 40 years. This is just the first phase of my campaign to replace all of the sail boats for the youth sailing program. Generous donors such as you are making all of this possible and will help assure continued operation of the sailing program for many more years to come.
I urge you to support this worthwhile program by giving generously to our campaign. Each of you can make a significant difference for the children of our community. Every donation, large and small, is greatly needed and is fully tax-deductible. 100% of all funds received will go directly to the campaign -- no funds will be used for operating expenses. While checks are preferred, for your convenience all major credit cards are accepted.
Our purpose is to expose children to an experience most never get -- a chance to learn to sail. Statistically, less than 2% of all Americans have ever sailed. Public perception is that sailing, is considered a sporting activity reserved for the rich or affluent. Most prominent yacht clubs in Southern California operate youth sailing programs that are restricted to children of club members or designed to serve kids whose families are heavily into boating and sailing; most of these clubs require students to purchase their own sabots. In contrast the HBSF sailing program is directed primarily toward children from the general public and from families not involved in sailing. We provide students with a sabot since the cost of purchasing one would otherwise prevent or deter most parents from considering sailing lessons for their child. An overwhelming percentage of our students are the first in their family to ever set foot on a sail boat, let alone steer one in the water! But after 40 years our sabots need replacing
HBSF's open-community sailing program is intimate and relies on public contributions to fund its operations. Our programs are entirely run and operated by volunteers, except for the certified sailing instructors we hire to teach the summer sailing classes (many of our instructors are graduates of our program who return during the summers to teach the next generation of sailors). Summer classes are limited to about 50 children so that individual instruction and attention can be given to each student, but class size is also restricted as a result of the age, condition, and availability of sabots. The number of tuition free lessons we can grant each year depends on our limited financial funding.
Over the years over 4200 children have successfully completed our program, many who return year after year. Several children have gone on to competitive sailing and to pursue successful sailing careers.
501(c)(3) charitable organization
IRS Tax ID 27-0326994
California Registry of Charitable Trusts
#CT0197367
Who we are
The Huntington Beach Sailing Foundation was established to promote the sport of sailing among youths. By doing so, the Sailing Foundation seeks to create an interest in, and develop youth enthusiasts of, local, national and international amateur sailing, competition, maritime education and stewardship of the environment. To achieve this goal, the foundation provides instructors, sailing equipment and facilities, and trained instruction to encourage youth participation in such maritime activities. Its activities are focused in and around Huntington Beach and its surrounding areas of southern California. The foundation reaches out to all youths in the area, including underprivileged, economically disadvantaged, and physically challenged youths, who would not normally have access to the sailing experience.
Through its summer sailing program, the Sailing Foundation seeks to develop the skills of individuals to sail; to foster confidence and self-reliance in a way that enhances self-esteem and mental, spiritual and emotional development; to promote competition in a manner that encourages teamwork, leadership, good sportsmanship and honor; and to provide a structured environment and fun summer activity for children as they grow and develop into young adults.
Sailing provides children (and adults) a unique sense of independence and freedom, while requiring responsibility, safety, teamwork and respect for the environment. A day on the water can create memories that last a lifetime. A summer on the water can build self-esteem, self-reliance and lifetime friendships.
The Sailing Foundation=s primary activity is its summer sailing program. Children ages 6 to 18 participate in four to eight-week sessions where they are taught water safety, rigging of sailboats, and sailing techniques and strategies. They then apply this knowledge by taking to the water in individual sailboats under the watchful eye of certified instructors. The foundation primarily uses Naples-class sailboats intended for single sailors. As students progress during the summer and from year-to-year, they can advance from beginning levels to intermediate and advanced sailing categories, where the opportunity to sail larger, two-person sailboats is available.
During the summer sessions, all young sailors (including beginning sailors) will develop adequate sailing skills and command of their sail boats to participate in organized regattas in the southern California area. Each year more than 90% of the foundation=s students compete in and successfully complete a 3-1/2 mile, 1-1/2 hour, open ocean water regatta along the Long Beach coastline.
The foundation hires U.S. Sailing certified instructors for its summer sailing program. In 2009, the foundation reached across the pond to the UK where it secured two Irish Sailing Association Senior certified instructors to join the instructor staff. The addition of those two instructors furnished a sharing of knowledge, teaching techniques, and organizational approaches between the U.S.-trained and Irish-trained instructors B enhancing the effectiveness of the training offered to the students. The foundation hopes to continue to recruit instructors from other areas of the country and the world to broaden the level of its program of instruction.
The Sailing Foundation also hosts educational seminars open to the public throughout the year on such issues as marine wildlife conservation; environmental preservation of, and concerns for, our local waterways; public classes in CPR and first aid; boating safety; marine weather and navigation; racing techniques and strategies; and other sailing related topics of interest. Classes are regularly held by the U.S. Power Squadron, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and the Red Cross. The foundation also sponsors trips to Catalina Island for sailing and encourages its students to participate in clean-up programs for the local beaches and the Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge, which borders the waterways where the foundation=s summer sailing program is held.
Since the students in the summer sailing program ARE children, its activities are designed with that fact in mind. Weekly, the classes sail to a local island beach where the kids take time out for swimming and other water activities (i.e., water fights). The children also are treated to a day at a local water park during the summer. And each week the Sailing Foundation hosts a burger bash, where the students compete in sailing races for trophies and later share tales of their experience over a hamburger or hot dog. At the end of each summer, all students and their parents are invited to the awards banquet, where all sailors receive their certificates of achievement and other awards and prizes.
Participants in the Huntington Beach Sailing Foundation=s summer sailing program learn a unique talent and, in doing so, develop skills and confidence that will benefit them throughout their lives. Because of the restrictive and costly nature of sailing (high capital cost of boats, requirement of proximity to waterways, limited availability of instruction to the general public), sailing is an activity that is enjoyed primarily by the wealthy and affluent. As a recreational activity, the percentage of Americans who have ever sailed is less than 1%. The Sailing Foundation offers every child in the Huntington Beach area a chance to participate in this very rewarding activity.
Each summer the Sailing Foundation sponsors economically or physically disadvantaged children who desire to learn to sail. Such sponsorships are available to any person over the age of six who applies, regardless of where they live, their sex, religious background, or ethnic origins.
o be considered for a sponsorship, the parent(s) of the child need only submit a letter describing their financial situation and economic need. The board of the sailing foundation then determines whether to sponsor that individual. If granted, the child participates in any of the sailing sessions at no cost.
To date, no applicant for a scholarship has ever been turned down. The only limiting factors to the number of sponsorships available each year are the number of instructors the foundation can afford to hire, the number of sail boats in seaworthy condition, and the donations received and available to fund such sponsorships.
While the summer sailing program has not been able to accept tax deductible donations in the past, many individuals have made cash donations to sponsor needy children. The continued generosity of such donors will allow the sailing foundation to grant further scholarships.
562-592-2186
info@sailhb.org
