The 12 Metre Yacht Club, Newport Station, representing the North American fleet of 12 Metre Yachts is proud to announce the partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Rhode Island.
The Boys & Girls Clubs in RI serves over 25,000 kids. There are seven clubs in the state that serve to inspire and enable youth to reach their full potential. They offer a wide variety of programs focused on academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. This is the start of a great effort to support our mission of education and history. We are developing educational programs with the guidance of Sail Newport for the younger children and giving the older teens some onboard experience as well as providing some history of these iconic boats, career inspiration, and encouragement. The 12 Metre Yacht Club has a wealth of talent, with many icons in the sailing world and marine industry. It’s our hope to extend this partnership down the road to Boys & Girls Clubs in other home ports of the 12s, including NY, CT, MD, and SC. We look forward to giving back to our community here in Newport and beyond.
The first of these partnership programs kicks off this Friday, June 15th with a trip to the new Sailing Museum in Newport, a state-of-the-art interactive museum that will give kids a better understanding of how and why sailboats work and how vast the world of sailing can be…from little Optis to ocean-going vessels. They’ll also see the deck outline of one of the most iconic of the 12 Metre yachts, Courageous, which is drawn the length of the floor of the museum. From the museum, the kids will travel to the docks at Fort Adams to climb aboard Courageous and another 12 Metre yacht, Weatherly. Both of these sailing yachts have won the America’s Cup. The kids will learn first-hand from legendary sailor, Gary Jobson, who served as tactician aboard Courageous in 1977 and a member of the America’s Cup Hall of Fame.
We will continue to bring sailing to life for the Boys & Girls Club youth later this summer and beyond.
This regatta celebrates the heritage of the 12 Meter Class and will introduce more people to the beauty and thrill of these incredible yachts. 12 Meters are the most iconic sailboats in our country, and they represent the pinnacle of American yachting tradition. Sailing on a 12 Meter or watching these races is a magical experience.
Opportunities to charter entire boats or single passenger tickets available!