Sail Newport: Taking the Next Step

From the ashes of the USA defeat in the 1983 America’s Cup came Sail Newport, which has grown to to be New England’s largest public sailing center and is considered Rhode Island’s premier public sailing site.

And now it is ready to take the next step.

Brad Read, Executive Director of Sail Newport, has charted a bold course. He’s teamed up with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and is proposing a new marine educational and recreational facility in Fort Adams State Park.

Read said, “The new facility will enable Sail Newport to offer year round programming. We will have many classrooms and more room for instruction, coaching and meetings. The improved facility will better serve the community and allow us to manage more world-class sailing events in Rhode Island.”

A former World Champion in the J/24 class and College Sailor of the Year, Read’s dream is for every fifth-grader in Newport County to have an educational experience based on the water.

Elected officials are on board. President of the Senate M. Teresa Paiva Weed said, “The investments that Rhode Island has made at Fort Adams State Park have attracted world-class sailing events while also improving access to the bay for members of our community. This new facility will support the demand for the educational programs that Sail Newport will provide on a year-round basis. It will be an asset that makes Newport an even more attractive for residents and visitors.”

Known as the gold standard of public sailing programs, Sail Newport offers a wide variety of instructional, racing and recreational programs for sailors of all ages. As a result of their success, Sail Newport has outgrown its facilities and there are currently waiting lists for many educational programs.

The new center will enable Sail Newport to increase classroom opportunities for children and adults for sailing and marine education. It will also include multiple meeting rooms, offices, and a dock office for the adult instructional, racing and rental programs.

Heated, year-round restrooms will replace portable toilets that are normally in the Fort Adams mid-park area. The facilities will benefit sailors, rugby enthusiasts who play on the nearby field, and the general public.

The new administrative offices will allow for centralized regatta organization for major events such as the Volvo Ocean Race and other regattas that fuel the Ocean State’s economy. – Full report