PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
From left, Haley Andreasen shovels snow while Grant and Nolan Adam dig snow out of the bow of a sailboat at the Pleon Yacht Club in Marblehead.
By BRIDGET TURCOTTE
MARBLEHEAD — Children at the Pleon Yacht Club are getting ready to sail into the new season.
The Pleon Yacht Club, located on Foster Street, is the oldest junior yacht club in the country and originated in 1887.
More than 200 child sailors participate in the yacht club’s junior sailing program each summer, said Lisa Adam, co-chair of the program committee. 13 different summer programs are offered to children ages 8 to 18.
The 2016 Pleon Sailing program will begin Monday, June 22 and end Wednesday, August 19 and include Learn-to-Sail programs, Optimist racing programs, Club 420 programs, Laser programs, and Keelboat programs.
“There are a lot of Marblehead kids (who participate) and it’s growing from other communities,” Adam said. “There are kids commuting who spend the whole summer on the water and come from (places like) Arlington and Belmont.”
The program is child-run by the sailors themselves. The children elect a commodore for the club who is typically re-elected for a second year. The current commodore is 17-year-old Ben Pitman, Adam said.
“The kids vote in a commodore, they vote in a vice-commodore, and they vote in the committees,” she said.
Among several committees, also comprised of children involved in programs, include a race committee, flag committee, and a house and entertainment committee.
The children organize different events throughout the summer, such as cookouts and a commodore’s ball at the end of the summer.
“It’s a kid’s club, a kid’s zone,” said board member Christina Pandapas. “Parents aren’t allowed past (the gate).
“It teaches them independence,” she said. “They also make friendships for life.”
The younger children also have the opportunity to learn from the older children, Adam said.
“It gives them a really good foundation of teaching sailing in a program,” she said. “A lot of them go on to teach sailing.”
“It gives them a lot of independence and confidence,” Adam said. “There’s a lot of problem solving and figuring it out together.”
“I started sailing here in the third grade,” said 14-year-old Haley Andreasen of Marblehead. “I remember it being scary, but then I learned that independence wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. It’s really fun.
“I’ve made a lot of friends who are not just (from) Marblehead,” she said.
Andreasen said one of the most important things she has taken away from the program is responsibility.
“You learn how to take care of your boat, especially when you go to regattas,” she said.
“I really like the social aspect of it,” said 13-year-old Nolan Adam. “Next summer will be my fourth year. I think it’s really fun and a lot of my friends are in similar classes.”
“My family sails a lot. I started sailing that way and liked it a lot,” said 15-year-old Grant Adam. “Racing is a lot of fun.”
“Taking care of the boats and if anything is broken, fixing it, is a big part of it,” Grant said.
Pandapas said many of the club’s alumni have gone on to race in college and beyond. The club has even had sailors compete in the US National Championships, she said.
“It helps when looking at colleges,” she said. “Colleges are looking for kids who have passion and ideas, who can differentiate themselves.”
Alumni of the program have been recognized on the All-Academic Sailing Team, which recognizes Junior and Senior Collegiate sailors who have achieved excellence in national and inter-conference competitions while also excelling at the highest academic level.
Pleon sailors and coaches who were named to the 2015 team include Jordan Bothwick, Brian Drumm, Michael Drumm, Alix Isreal, Grace Mason, Alex Romagnoli, and Gram Slattery.
Financial aid is available on a needs basis.
Online registration for the summer programs opens Feb. 22 at pleon.org with a discount offered to those who register prior to March 4.
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte