2019 in Review

11/13/2019

First and foremost, we must apologize for the lack of updates this year. As many of you know, we are an all volunteer organization, so there are times when we get a little overwhelmed with all the activities (Foundation, Sailing school, work, life, etc.). On the plus side, it is good to be so busy as it usually means all sorts of good things are happening! Such is the case here, as we had a very busy year:

New fleet of racing boats:
Due to the generosity of the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust, the Foundation was able to assist the SLSC Junior Racing team with the purchase of a new fleet of Club FJ sailboats. In honor of Mr. Solomon and his generosity to our programs as well as the Saratoga community as a whole, the Foundation established the Alfred Z. Solomon perpetual trophy for the SLSC annual FJ Horse Race Regatta. The winning skippers this year were Senja Matson and Izabella Czajkowski, congratulations!

Sail Donation program:
Thanks to the many SLSC Club members and others from the community who donated old sails to the Foundation. We in turn traded them to the Sail Bags of Maine company who recycled them and turned them into new bags. In return, we received a number of tote bags which we were able to sell to raise money. We still have a few Flying Scot logo bags for sale. We are continuing to seek donations of old sails in any condition so we can continue the program next year.

Boat Donation program:
The Foundation is continuing to accept donations of sailboats for either use in local sailing school programs or for resale in order to raise funds. This year we accepted donations of a number of boats including but not limited to 2 Kestrels, a Laser, a Victoria 18, a 470, an O'Day Daysailor and currently finalizing the donation of a Herreshoff catboat.

While the season is winding down, we have sold several donated boats recently. We still have a number of boats which we are looking to sell, including the Victoria 18, several Flying Scots, a 470, a Hobie 16 and a Phantom. If you are interested in donating or purchasing a boat, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Volunteers:
As you can imagine, all of these programs take some time to administer and we are always looking for assistance. Currently the Foundation is actively seeking people to help with grant writing and also to help oversee the boat donation program. If you are interested, please reach out to us at [email protected].

As always, we appreciate all your support.