Sailing Group Welcomes New Members Aboard
Sailing Group Welcomes New Members Aboard
Queens Chronicle, 01/18/2007
By Jami Maday, Assistant Editor
The American Small Craft Association is dropping anchor here for residents interested in becoming sailing enthusiasts.
The nonprofit organization is encouraging new members to register for its seven week course in basic sailing training, which will start on April 28 at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park boathouse. The curriculum includes two classroom lectures on sailboat components, nautical safety and other subjects. Hands on instruction with the organization’s fleet of 11 14 foot sailboats ranges from knot tying to conducting maneuvers. A swimming test is also part of the course. Residents, ages 16 and up can either attend a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evening class or a daytime Saturday class each week. The deadline to apply is April 21. Class size is limited to 50.
Instruction costs $275, which includes books and material. Ana Sanchez, TASCA president, said the course is inexpensive compared with other training courses in the area. TASCA, which has 306 members, currently operates on a limited budget of training fees and membership dues.
“Sailing is for people with money,” Sanchez said. “This club makes it affordable for the average citizen who lives in New York City.”
Fifty instructors, many of whom are U.S. Sailing and U.S. Power Squadron certified and have years of experience, are members of TASCA and teach on a volunteer basis.
“We don’t want to get paid a penny,” Sanchez said. “We all just want to contribute our skills and knowledge to make this work.”
The course can be challenging, however. Out of 100 students in the spring and summer sessions last year, 63 passed. “It’s for the adventurous,” Sanchez noted.
Those who complete basic training can pay membership dues ($40 the first year and $25 per year following) and sail the 14 footers any time the lake is open. They can also obtain advanced navigational skills from TASCA instructors to charter boats around the five boroughs or navigate the organization’s 22 foot Catalina tiller steering sailboat named Pleasure, or the 28 foot Newport wheel steering craft, Precious Gem.
Both boats are docked at the World’s Fair Marina in Flushing, and members take advantage of cruising on national and international waters. Sailing season for TASCA is May 1 through the end of October.
“It is like a beautiful community,” said Gabriella Trumpy, a 23 year TASCA member and current head of instruction. “I’m emotionally attached.”
The organization was founded 40 years ago by East Elmhurst resident Patrick Beckles and four Queens College students. The group, which met at the 1964 World’s Fair, saw a small fleet of boats outside the park boathouse—a burger restaurant at the time—and offered to take patrons sailing. Soon, the group was given the boats and received backing from the American Red Cross to conduct training.
“We just wanted to sail the boats,” said Beckles, 79, who is still active with the group.
The restaurant went under soon after the fair closed, and the Parks Department tried for decades to attract other restaurants to the building, Beckles said.
In 1995, the department gave TASCA part of the building to store boats, conduct annual maintenance and hold board meetings. Before then, the organization lectured outside and stored boats under the nearby Aquacade arena at the park.
TASCA shares storage space with Girls Row New York (a rowing club for teenage girls) and the international Hong Kong Dragon Boat Association, which organizes the Annual Dragon Boat races at the park. TASCA members come to the boathouse year round to maintain the boats and plan events and trips.
While the Parks Department plans to replace the roof, build outside bathrooms and make other exterior improvements to the boathouse, TASCA members are seeking grants and donations to improve the interior. This includes indoor plumbing, a heating system and fixing the ceiling.
Anyone interested can download an application for the basic sailing course at www.sailtasca.org and mail it to The American Small Craft Association, P.O. Box 640152, Oakland Gardens, NY 11364 0152. For more information, call (718) 699-1951.