MDI Community Sailing Center

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MDI Community Sailing Center

Non-profit local sailing club in Southwest Harbor, Maine. Offering programs to both youth and adults! In the late 1980s Ted went to his alma mater, St.

The seeds of the MDI Community Sailing Center were planted in the mid-1980s on the Manset shore in Southwest Harbor. This is when a local sailor by the name of Ted Welles created an ad hoc summer junior sailing program in his own back yard. With the hope of supplying a means for both his children and others to connect with the marine environment, Ted decided to launch a non-profit organization cal

led Oceanus Institute Inc. He then purchased two Cape Cod Bullseyes, hired a few teenage instructors and began what he named The Boating School. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island, purchased their retired fleet of 12 Dragon Firefly Dinghies, brought them back to Mount Desert Island and started the first ever high school sailing team in the state of Maine. During this period the Harbor House Community Service Center in Southwest Harbor became a partner by providing administrative support as well as a meeting place for the growing school. Over the next several years The Boating School was overseen by Harbor House, with instructors hired by Ted and with help from a local sailing club called the Southwest Harbor Fleet, which loaned the program their Cape Cod Bullseyes. However, it was obvious that the program needed to find its own home and identity, and it was in a state of uncertainty in the early 1990s when Ted sadly passed away. In 1995 Glenn Squires took the reins after attending a national US Sailing Symposium, where he learned of the concept of community sailing and networked with organizers of such programs from across the country. He then brought that concept home to Mount Desert Island, and the MDI Community Sailing Center (MDICSC) opened for its first season in a small office and classroom space at the Hinckley Great Harbor Marina in Southwest Harbor. After this first year it moved up the street to its second seasonal space, which was a bit larger, but was also quickly outgrown. He then formed a steering committee of local marine professionals who began a thorough search for a more suitable long-term home. In 1999 MDICSC’s current home was found, and a lease was signed for classroom, office, and shop and waterfront space at the Southwest Boat Marine Services complex on Clark Point Road in Southwest Harbor. Attendance has grown from 25 youth each summer to more than 200. The MDI High School Sailing Team has called the center home throughout this journey and now has more than 30 sailors participate each spring and fall. They have also won the Maine State Championship Regatta three times. The fleet of boats has grown from four to more than 40, and the adult and family memberships have grown as well. In 2004 The MDI Community Sailing Center and Director Glenn Squires were both recognized by the National Community Sailing Council of US Sailing as Outstanding Seasonal Program and Outstanding Director of a New Program. For a complete list of Community Sailing Awards, visit www.ussailing.org. In the winter of 2007 MDICSC incorporated and became a non-profit tax exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Stay tuned, as the story has just begun…

01/22/2025

Our prayers and thoughts go out to the Chalmers family.
Danny Chalmers was always a big supporter of The MDI Community Sailing Center.
He helped us in so many ways. Giving free boat storage, mooring and float work and championing our cause on the harbor.
His smile and positive encouragements will be sorely missed.
He will be in our thoughts everyday when we walk past "Rita Ann" his beautiful Lobster Boat which has been docked next to our floats for many years.
Thank you Danny.
R.I.P

Share Memories of Daniel & Support the Chalmers Family

11/04/2024

That’s a wrap on our 2024 sailing season. We hauled our last sailboat today. Always bitter sweet but what a great year we had!

10/02/2024

This past Saturday we hosted a full day of racing with schools from the PenBay Sailing League. MDI sailor Seth Dow took 2nd place out of the six boat fleet! This coming weekend The MDI Sailing Team will be headed to Rockland to compete. Then the season will wrap up on Oct 12th back here at MDI Community Sailing Center with the final races on the Great Harbor!

09/05/2024

A big thank you to the MDI School’s Fall Sailing Team for helping to put the Turbo 420s into storage today.
They will begin practicing and competing in the months ahead on the new Club 420s against teams from across Maine and New England.
Team work is everything.

08/20/2024

Ahoy, adventure seekers! 🏴‍☠️ Our treasure hunt was a hit—thanks to our amazing instructors for putting on such an incredible morning! We learned, scavenged, rowed, had a few sea w**d fights and -most importantly had fun (our most important rule here at the sailing center)! Here's to finding treasures both on and off the water! ⛵💎

08/09/2024

This year's annual MDI Longboard Regatta hosted by MDI Community Sailing Center brought a record number of RS Tera sailboats with 19 youth competitors taking part from the Northeast Harbor Sailing School, Seal Harbor Yacht Club, and MDI Community Sailing Center. With only a variable 5 knots of breeze from the north-northeast, the wind was light for the event, however we still managed to get off three races.

The Regatta was created by Steven Lindscott who sponsors the event and generously donated three beautiful handcrafted longboards from his company MDI Longboards.
This is the fourth year of this event and we hope it will occur next summer with even more competitors and sailing schools taking part.

Valentino Croce placed third with eight points, Adrian Jankins placed second with six points, and Otto Smith won with a score of only four points out of three races. Congrats to all sailors!

08/08/2024

Our Monday Women’s Sailing Club was started in the early 1990’s and is still rocking the dock. The first summer at our new location at the Upper Town Dock in Southwest Harbor has been a win!

08/06/2024

This past Sunday we hosted the 13th Annual Hinckley Dock Party Fundraiser. This years Hinckley Leadership Award went to MDI
High School Sailor Seth Dow!
Mr. Stephen Homer was awarded the first ever Golden MDI Burgee for his lifetime of commitment to fostering sailing education and sailboat racing on Mount Desert Island. If you were unable to attend and would like to support the MDI Community Sailing Center please visit our website www.mdisailing.org

08/01/2024

A HUGE congrats to Riley and Alex Donahue for a 3rd place podium finish at the Maine 420 State Championship.
Hats off to all the junior sailors from Mount Desert Island for a great showing in Blue Hill Maine!

07/25/2024

We took over Southwest Harbor today with our rowboats. No wind but lots of smiles!

07/19/2024

Calling all of our junior tera sailors!

We have the longboard regatta coming up-
top 3 places will get a custom MDI sailing center longboard! We will be hosting it, and expect to see a great turnout this year!

Here is the link to sign up - https://theclubspot.com/regatta/A5oBShuFB6

07/07/2024

We still have open spaces in our afternoon junior sailing camp this summer!
Also private lessons for Mom and Dad while the kids sail are always a great option! Call our office 207-244-7905 or email [email protected]

07/02/2024

Adult sailing is underway at our new facility!

Our women’s sailing club is our longest running adult program, started in 1996, designed for women who already know how to sail. We create a safe and fun environment where women can gather and empower each other as they sail together. With no instructors in the boat they have to work together and use their combined skill set to navigate the waters of Southwest Harbor! This year we have the largest group ever, with 20 lady’s joining a few of our instructors every Monday night.

We look forward to the rest of our adult programs starting next week!

06/24/2024

Day one of junior sailing. Sun came out and the breeze came up! …Away we go.

04/05/2024

Flashback 2011 MDI High School Sailing Team. Déjà vu. April snow!

03/26/2024

MDI High School Trojan Sailors are on the water! The weather windows for sailing are hard to find in late March but we take what we can get. Sunny days are just a week away.
Thank you Fiona St. Germain for the great pictures!

Address

168 Clark Point Road
Southwest Harbor, ME
04679

Website

http://www.mdisailing.org/

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A big thank you to the MDI School’s Fall Sailing Team for helping to put the Turbo 420s into storage today. They will begin practicing and competing in the months ahead on the new Club 420s against teams from across Maine and New England. Team work is everything.