Hansa 303 boats with brightly colored sails

2024 Ya Gotta Regatta

The Baltimore Downtown Sailing Center’s mission for the past 30 years has been to make the joy of sailing available to everyone. Our community outreach programs in particular enrich the lives of over 2,000 individuals annually, many of whom live with physical and neurological disabilities or are limited by economic hardships.

Please just imagine the joy that a person with quadriplegia can experience when, by just puffing and sipping a straw, they can navigate their sailboat around the Inner Harbor. As one individual stated, “A wheelchair liberates my body, an access dinghy at the Downtown Sailing Center liberates my soul”. Over 1,000 persons with disabilities sail with us each year without charge.

The Downtown Sailing Center reaches out to youth experiencing economic challenges as well. Each year we provide summer sailing camp scholarships to enable underserved city children the opportunity to learn how to sail. In 2023 alone, we provided 50 children with scholarships to cover the bulk of the regular summer camp tuition. The pride and sense of accomplishment that they take with them is priceless. We also run a summer long workforce development program for Baltimore city public-school teenagers called The Young Mariner Institute. This program provides life skills together with a guaranteed opportunity as a sailing instructor after completing the curriculum.

In addition the DSC provides sailing education to over 500 youth and adults annually. When our boats are not being used for these many programs, they are available to a diverse adult membership. Our members are offered affordable access to sailing in exchange for their commitment to volunteer to support our many programs as well as the repair and maintenance of our boats. We are a community of sailors helping to lift up and improve the fabric of life for the community we live in.

Your contribution no matter how great or small is a greatly needed investment for this worthiest of causes. Our annual “Ya Gotta Regatta” fundraising event held on September 28, 2024 is critical to our ability to continue these community outreach and accessibility programs. Our goal this year is to raise $150,000 for these programs through individual and team donations, as well as through many sponsorship opportunities.

2024 Ya Gotta Regatta

22nd Annual