ABOUT KSEA
100 Years of Junior Sailing
Teaching children to sail has had a long history on Blue Hill Bay, with the first races for young sailors dating back to the summer of 1922. In fact, the original founding mission of the Kollegewidgwok Yacht Club (KYC) was sailing education for its young participants and fostering a life-long love of sailing. This tradition has carried on for decades, evolving into the thriving junior sailing program that we know today.
Click here for more of the history of KYC >>
The Establishment of KSEA
In the late 1990s, members of the KYC Council recognized that truly fulfilling on KYC’s mission for junior sailing meant offering classes to young sailors outside the membership. Council members Jim Modisette and Shelley Kehl went about the hard work of establishing the Kollegewidgwok Sailing Education Association (KSEA) as a stand-alone organization with its own council, staff and facilities. Doing so allowed for two things, both critical to KSEA’s success:
As a separate entity from KYC, KSEA was able to offer sailing classes to all sailors regardless of membership status.
And as a non-profit, KSEA could accept tax-exempt donations from donors committed to KSEA’s mission for junior sailing - donations that we continue to rely on today to keep the KSEA lights on each summer.
In 2003, KSEA became official.
Under the watchful eye of then-Commodore Robin Clements (the mastermind behind the name “KSEA”), the Kollegewidgewok Sailing Education Association was established. And with countless hours of hard work by committed volunteers, led in large part by KYC member Ginger Peabody, KSEA made the transition to the program that we all know and love today - a program for members & non-members alike, available to all regardless of age, skill level or financial circumstance, committed to fostering a love of sailing.
Become part of KSEA history and help us fulfill our mission by joining a class, becoming a KSEA instructor, or generously supporting our work.