North Cove Sailing, the new entity that will offer community programs at North Cove Marina this year, previewed its options at the Tuesday meeting of Community Board 1’s Battery Park City Committee.
“This won’t be just a sailing school,” said Meg Reilly, North Cove Sailing’s director, “but also a community center and a club. Our four pillars will be community, club, courses, and kids.”
“We plan to offer a lot of programming that will be introducing a lot of people to sailing,” she continued. “And we’re excited that it’s going to be affordable and inclusive.” Ms. Reilly added, “this starts at ground level with free community sailing every Saturday and Sunday from May until the end of October, that is exclusively for Battery Park City residents.” This program consists of an introductory, one-hour excursion sail, starting at 9:00 am, which each participant is welcome to try once per season.
“And we will be running kids programming during the summer, so that’s like a camp,” Ms. Reilly added. “It will be a Monday-through-Friday activity,” she said, explaining that this program will be divided into two half-day sessions, starting the first full week after New York City public schools close for the summer (meaning the week of July 3), and continuing through the end of August. “We have two boats set aside for this program,” Ms. Reilly added, “which will let us take 20 kids per week, but we can expand if there’s more demand.” The Kids Summer Sail program is priced at $590.
North Cove Sailing is also exploring the possibility of creating a spring teen racing program for local high school students to join on weekday afternoons, Ms. Reilly said. “This would be at no cost to the schools,” she noted.
“And we’ll have very competitive pricing on other programs,” she noted. North Cove Sailing plans to operate a club, using its fleet of 12 boats. Individual membership for crew sailors is priced at $1600 for the season. Those wishing to captain a boat would pay an additional $150, and must pass an evaluation. Participating in a racing program costs an additional $75. These are also discounts available for members under 30 years old ($800 for the season), juniors ($600 for the season), and families (who will pay $3800 for two adults and three children). Lessons for non-members are priced at $525 for introductory courses in basic sailing and racing, or for a more advanced course in coastal navigation.
For more information, North Cove Sailing’s website is northcovesailing.com, or call 212-766-4302.