We Interrupt this Program for an Important Announcement

The Sharon High School Sailing Team at the 2014 State Regional Championships
(Photo by Laura Henze Russell)

We interrupt our usual parade of race results and other Sunfish related news to pass along a request.

Sharon High School has long had a stellar sailing team. In fact, two weeks ago, they came in 4th in the state championships.  They have done all of this with an aging fleet of 420 sailboats, kept afloat through the herculean repair and maintenance efforts of their coach, Gary Werden.  (Gary is also the Race Committee Chair at MYC, and is occasionally known to race Sunfish.)

This year, the sailing team has an opportunity to replace their aging fleet of 420 sailboats.  We received this note today from Gary, which we are passing along to all of you verbatim. Please take a moment and consider donating to this worthy sailing program.

The Sharon High School Athletic Director, Bill Martin, and I are vigorously pursuing the purchase of 6 newer boats (2007) in excellent condition to replace our oldest set of boats (1994) in deteriorating condition. These boats have just come on the market this week. They are in almost new condition, having been professionally maintained and used only nine weeks a year. Boats of this quality are rarely available at this price. It is our expectation that the newer boats would give us 7+ years of trouble free service with first class equipment. This is a far better option than buying new boats at $8,500 each. It is also a better option than buying boats at a lower cost that would likely require serious maintenance and sooner replacement.
The purchase price of the new boats is $20,000. We should net $6,000 from the sale of the old boats. The team has $10,000 in our fundraising account. That leaves us $4,000 short.
The tremendous effort of the kids in fundraising has gotten us this close, but given the meager support from the school and the real costs of a sailing program (even a frugal one), we need a little more to bridge the gap.
Mr. Martin is working every angle within the school system and the town to make this happen, but as of right now, we don’t have any firm commitments to bridge the gap. It is up to the students, parents, coaches, and the community involved in the program to push us over the hump.

Please gather up all your spare change, break into your piggy bank, or just write a check to help build the program that is an important part of your kids’ high school experience. All donations are tax deductible and should be put in a sealed envelope and given to Mr. Martin. Mr. Martin will keep the amount of individual contributions confidential. Checks should be made out to Sharon Sailing Team and will be put in the team account.

Thank you for your support in building a first class program. 

Gary Werden, SHS Sailing Team Coach