With summer nearly upon us, the Washington waterfront will soon be alive with the boaters, pedestrians and the slew of tourists that come to Washington. On the water, the familiar sight of little white sails will once again become commonplace as the Little Washington Sailing School kicks off its tenth season on the water.

“It started out as a group of people looking at our waterfront and wondering how we could utilize it and get people out on that water,” Sailing School Director Kevin Clancy said. “The community has been awesome, letting us borrow space. The first year we had our boats in the water at the Estuarium and now we’ve got our own floating docks thanks to the city allowing us to use that space.”

Teaching kids to sail on spritsail Optimist dinghies and larger sloop-rigged Vangard 420s, the week-long programs offered by the sailing school have instilled thousands of young people with the confidence to pilot a small sailboat.

“We’re trying to pass forward what was passed to us by our parents and grandparents,” Clancy said. “Sailing is what brought people here in the beginning. It just has deep roots. It doesn’t require anything fancy. There’s no motor or gasoline; its just the wind, how to harness that and make your vessel go where you want it to.”

With a team of four qualified instructors, the staff of the sailing school is well prepared to share their knowledge with the young people in their care. Whether beginners, intermediate or advanced in their sailing knowledge, students of all levels can sharpen their skills at the school.

Registration is still available for all ten of the school’s 2018 sessions, and at a cost of $325 per session, a week with the Little Pamlico Sailing School falls well below the average rate for a week of summer camp elsewhere. The final week of class, regatta week, is reserved for returning sailors, culminating in a regatta in Chocowinity Bay.

A 501c3 nonprofit organization, the mission of the Little Washington Sailing School is not make money, but to rather share a love of sailing with the next generation. Financial donations can be made on the organization’s website, and opportunities are available to sponsor a full session for an aspiring young sailor in need.

For more information, or to register for a session this summer, visit www.littlewashingtonsailingschool.org or call 252-402-7878.