Seven Days – Sail Away: Community Sailing Center Launches Free Program
August 20, 2019 | Dan Bolles
An old chestnut in sailing circles is that the best two days of a sailor’s life are the day he or she buys a boat … and the day he/she sells it. For landlubbers, the joke is that, while sailing can be a blissful pastime, it’s also a notoriously expensive and consuming hobby.
This week, the Community Sailing Center in Burlington announced a new initiative that will take away much of the hassle and virtually all of the expense of sailing for those looking to get out on the water.
Beginning in September, the CSC will offer weekend sailboat rentals gratis through its new Free Sailing Program, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.
The pilot program grew out of discussions in June at the CSC’s New Horizon Summit, a gathering of sailing center supporters to brainstorm ideas for the nonprofit organization’s future.
“One of the big ideas was this notion of, could we figure out how to make sailing free?” said CSC executive director Owen Milne. “More specifically, making it possible for people who know how to sail to just rent a boat and get out on the lake in the same way anybody can go on the bike path or the skate park.”
