Starting Them Sailing Young

Published: Saturday, April 10, 2021
By: Ken Quant

Sailing is a sport you can spend a lifetime mastering, so what better time to begin that journey than when you’re young? That is exactly the approach of the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (MCSC) with their Prams in the Park program each summer. Offered only to kids ages 8 to 11, this truly entry-level course introduces kids to the fun and wonders of lake sailing in a safe, controlled environment.

Established in 1985, Prams in the Park is the Center’s oldest continuous running course. Offered in either morning or afternoon sessions over separate one-week periods, it is taught in a well-protected lagoon adjacent to a spectacular lakefront museum called Discovery World. It’s a perfect location that allows kids to experience the fun of sailing without the hazards of truly open water, all within the shadow of the downtown skyline. The course is also in-line with the overall mission of the adjacent museum, which is dedicated to helping children and adults “discover” the wonders of science and technology. Given all the real-life lessons that sailing can teach anyone, the two seem to be a natural marriage.

The cost for each week-long Prams in the Park session is $150, but the Community Sailing Center also offers numerous “needs-based” scholarships to help interested kids who are unable to afford that price. Despite the course name, students sail a mix of similar styled donated boats including Blue Dragons, Optis, and Prams. Class size is usually limited to 12 students, with two per boat, but during Covid, each student now sails a boat on their own which limits it to six. Weather dependent, students spend almost all their time on the water instead of in classrooms. For both safety and instruction purposes, two instructors oversee and teach the six boats from a chase powerboat inside the relatively small lagoon area. This ensures a lot of one-on-one instruction time.

According to MCSC Program Manager, Teresa Coronado, “The primary goal for the class is to show the kids how much fun sailing can be, but the lessons are designed to have each student be able to help with rigging, sail around prescribed buoys, and take the boat away and back to the dock by the end of the week.” Kids are allowed to sail as many courses throughout the summer as they like. Since MCSC standard courses begin at age 12, there is even a Level 2 zPrams class for kids who are already comfortable on the boats but not yet over the age of 11. From what I’ve seen, the program is just a great way for kids to meet others, have fun, and actually learn something that may change their lives, all at the same time.

As successful as Prams in the Park has been over the years, it is just one of the many sailing courses offered by the MCSC. MCSC was founded in 1977 when a group of local sailors got together with county officials to create a unique community organization. Their mission statement says it all: To promote sailing and make Lake Michigan available to everyone in the Milwaukee community through quality programming. Given the more than 600 members and 80 class options currently being offered from their spectacular newer building on the lakefront, they have obviously been successful in that mission no matter the student’s age. From the Pram kids to the experienced sailor looking to expand their knowledge, MCSC has shown thousands of people the joys of the sailing lifestyle—many of whom may never have had an opportunity to get their feet wet without MCSC’s efforts.

Find the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center at www.sailingcenter.org