© Karen Miller

In June of 2015, the Clagett Boat Grant Program was established to increase the participation of sailors in disabled sailing. The Board of The Clagett, who endorsed the Boat Grant Program, recognized the need to assist adaptive sailors with increased access to boats and equipment. The first boat in this program, which is a Sonar, will be utilized by a program that has a similar mission to The Clagett which is to provide to adaptive sailors,”the opportunity to improve their skills and reach their personal goals through world-class coaching focused on Corinthian values.”

The first recipient of the Clagett Boat Grant Program is the Y-Knot Program, in Lake George, NY. The Y-Knot Program, which was founded in 1996 and is based at the YMCA Camp Chingachgook on Lake George states in its Mission Statement, ” Y-Knot Sailing strives to make all aspects of sailing accessible to individuals with disabilities by creating opportunities, providing education and promoting disabled sailing within the greater sailing community.”

“Even though there’s snow on the ground here at Y-Knot on Lake George, we’re excited to welcome the newest addition to our fleet: a brand new Sonar sailboat, thanks to the generosity of The Clagett Boat Grant Program. We’ll be taking advantage of the off-season to bring our sailors up to speed on this new boat with a series of chalk-talk sessions, and we’re looking forward to hitting the water running in the Spring. The Sonar gives us entry in to bigger-boat team based sailing, as well as the opportunity to integrate teams by putting both disabled and able bodied sailors on the boat together,” commented Spencer Raggio, Committee Chair of the Y-Knot Program.

The Oyster Bay Boat Shop, in Glen Cove NY, has donated a set of Sonar mast racks and a Sonar summer cockpit cover to the Clagett Boat Grant Program Sonar being used by Y-Knot.

Bam Miller, a member of The Clagett Working Committee, delivered the Sonar to Lake George and had this to say, “It was great to see a group of 20 people greeting us on our arrival with the Sonar in tow, including six of the Y-Knot sailors. The Y-Knot sailors are very much looking forward to utilizing the Sonar for both fleet and match racing and traveling to adaptive regattas especially the 15th Clagett in Newport, RI in June of 2017.”

“We at The Clagett are very happy that we have been able to assist the Y-Knot program in helping more adaptive sailors in to the Sonar boat, which we have granted to them and we look forward to seeing the Y-Knot sailors on the water at the Clagett events in 2017 and for many years to come, ” remarked Clagett President and co-founder, Judy McLennan.

2017 will be the 15th year of The Clagett with the clinic and regatta will be held June 22-25, in Newport, RI.

For more information about The Clagett visit www.clagettregatta.org