"Many folks are not aware of the high school sailing teams in our area," Morrow said. "There are a total of 28 high schools in the metro Detroit area that have sailing teams as a varsity sport."
Among them are Grosse Pointe North and Grosse PointeSouth high schools, as well as University Liggett School. Noland, the head sailing coach at South, said high school sailing is easier with students who have experience.
"It's more training vs. teaching for high school," she said. "We have back-to-back regattas. I'd love to see more kids in the junior sailing program so they can feed into the high school program."
Those who stick with it in high school have the opportunity to travel the country. South' steam this year raced in Miami, Annapolis, Chicago and other cities.
"They've gotten to see a lot of really cool places being involved in the sport on a national level," Noland said.
"There's a STEM element to sailing, too," Morrow noted. "They get an understanding of some of the things they learn in school."Not everyone sticks with sailing after learning how, but the skills they learn are good for a lifetime.
"After Learn to Sail, you can go three routes," Morrow said."You can choose football, basketball or another sport; or you can like sailing and move to a racing program; or you don't want racing, but you want adventure sailing, where you just go out and have fun. Not every kid that gets into junior sailing is going to be in a racing program." Noland agreed.
"About half of them love it and want to race," she said. "The other half want to goof around and hang out with friends.We do long sails, too, that are educational, fun and with less racing focus."
Possessing sailing skills not only pays off for locals living lakeside, but also for graduating seniors.Each year, the YNEF offers 12 $2,000 scholarships, funded in perpetuity, to students with sailing experience. They could be lifelong sailors or someone who went through Learn to Sail before turning to another sport.
"I encourage parents to put kids in these programs," Morrow said. "Maybe they train for two years, but then they turn to soccer.They're still eligible for a scholarship."
Though the foundation doesn't provide Learn to Sail scholarships, it does things like sponsor South grad Liam Walz, who is training for the Olympics.
"We provide them with fundraising opportunities," Morrow said. "They have to raise funds themselves, but then they funnel it through our foundation to get the tax advantage. We also sponsor regattas and special clinics. Last year we brought 20 new boats to Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. We provide different funding and continuing education."
The foundation also helps the Detroit CommunitySailing Center program, by providing facilities, boats and docks, among other help.
"We have a wide wing span, but our objective is to foster youth sailing and education in the community," Morrow said.
Morrow believes if he surveyed the community, most people would not know about the sailing opportunities available to young people.
"It's a $5,000or $6,000 investment to buy one of these boats," he added. "But you don't have to buy one. The clubs have them. Just pay the (program) fee. It really opens the door for opportunities for kids.. All those kids that are really good at sailing got into a boat for the first time when they were7, 8, 9."
For more information aboutLearn to Sail programs, contact a participating yacht club. For information about the foundation, visit ynef.org