Our Impact
Our Impact
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Getting Youth & Adults Safely on the Water,
Getting Youth & Adults Safely on the Water,
& Building Them Into Lifelong Sailors
& Building Them Into Lifelong Sailors
Augusta Community Sailing measures success in people, not just boats. Every season, more young people and adults across the CSRA learn to sail, earn safety certifications, and gain the confidence that comes from mastering a new skill on the water. Here's what that looked like across 2025 and 2026.
BY THE NUMBERS:
120+ youth served in 2025
17 youth earned Georgia Safe Boating Certificates through our Spirit of America program
12 community members earned or renewed Georgia Safe Boating certification at our 2026 DNR course (with exam scores averaging above 96%)
10 new sailing instructors certified through US Sailing Level 1 training (ages 15 and up)
6 area high schools represented on our high school sailing teams
70+ boats now tracked for safety through RigReport, a tool built by one of our own high school sailors
SAFETY IS WHERE EVERYTHING STARTS
Before anyone races, explores, or falls in love with sailing, they learn to be safe on the water. It's the foundation of every program we run.
Every participant trains to recognized state and national safety standards. Youth practice drowning prevention and capsize recovery, learn to right a boat and help a crewmate, and earn the Georgia Safe Boating Certificate — a credential legally required in Georgia and South Carolina to operate a motorized vessel. Our instructors are US Sailing certified, and on-water sessions are supervised from a dedicated safety boat that lets coaches reach any sailor quickly.
We also extend safety beyond our own programs. In partnership with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, we host boater education courses open to the whole community, helping local families meet state certification requirements and making Clarks Hill a safer place for everyone who shares the water.
For parents, it comes down to this: your child will be taught by trained instructors, watched closely, and given skills that protect them for a lifetime.
CONFIDENT YOUNG BOATERS
Through our Spirit of America youth program, local middle and high schoolers spend full days learning to operate sailboats, kayaks, canoes, paddleboards, and motorboats — and practicing the drowning-prevention and capsize-rescue skills that keep them safe for life. In 2025, 17 young people earned their Georgia Safe Boating Certificate, a credential legally required in Georgia and South Carolina to operate a motorized vessel. For some, it was their first time ever on the water.
HIGH SCHOOL SAILING: COMPETING & LEADING
Our High School Sailing team brings together student-athletes from six area schools — Aquinas, Lakeside, Evans, Greenbrier, Harlem, and homeschool families — across Richmond and Columbia counties. Sailors train weekly and travel to regattas throughout the Southeast. The program builds leadership: many of our high schoolers give back by volunteering 40+ hours each summer at youth sail camps. In 2026, three graduating seniors carried their experience on to Clemson, Texas A&M, and Georgia Tech.
INNOVATION FROM WITHIN
When high school sailor and Youth Advisory Board member Millie Smalley saw that our club tracked boat maintenance through spreadsheets, she built RigReport — a website that lets anyone check a boat's safety status before heading out. It now tracks 70+ boats across our fleets and is drawing interest from other sailing organizations. It's proof of what happens when young people are given real problems and the confidence to solve them.
FLEET & SAFETY INVESTMENT (THE TOOLS BEHIND THE PROGRAMS)
FLEET & SAFETY INVESTMENT (THE TOOLS BEHIND THE PROGRAMS)
None of this happens without safe, reliable equipment. Thanks to our donors, 2025 brought a new Zodiac safety RIB that gives instructors faster response times and safer oversight, a dedicated trailer that protects our 420 fleet and gets sailors to regattas, and in 2026 a modernized fleet of Fulcrum Rocket training boats. These investments exist for one reason: to put more people on the water, safely.
New Zodiac Safety RIB, delivered 2025
New Fulcrum Rockets, 2026
New High School Sailing trailer, delivered January 2026
Augusta Community Sailing remains a community-funded, mission-driven 501(c)(3). Every contribution and every volunteer hour goes directly toward safer, more accessible sailing for families across the CSRA. Thank you for building this with us.
BE PART OF IT
Want your child on the water? Explore our youth and high school programs.
→ [See Programs]
Want to help more kids sail? Every gift keeps sailing safe, accessible, and affordable.
→ [Donate]
Want to give your time? Our programs run on dedicated volunteers.
→ [Volunteer]
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