Harvard Sailing Team, Newport's Sail to Prevail, Announce Partnership

NEWPORT, RI—The Newport-based nonprofit, Sail to Prevail, and the Harvard University Sailing Team have announced a partnership that will bring student athletes and children and adults with disabilities together to sail with each other.

The partnership is the culmination of a three-year pilot program at Harvard and will allow Sail to Prevail participants and instructors to sail on the Charles River in a specially-equipped Catalina 20 right next to members of the varsity sailing team.

The Crimson's head coach, Michael O'Connor, believed that his student-athletes can share their skills with others who likely wouldn't have the same opportunities. Also, it's a chance for his sailors to contribute to society as part of their education.

Sail to Prevail CEO Paul Callahan, a Harvard grad himself, "has brought a new dimension to the Cambridge campus, as well as the local disabled community," according to a news release.

With O'Connor integrating the program into regular practices, the disabled participants are able to feel that they are part of the team and the Harvard sailors learn firsthand how to teach sailing to people with disabilities.

The mission of Sail To Prevail is to utilize sailing to teach people with disabilities how to use the acquired sailing skills – including teamwork and leadership – in their daily lives to overcome adversity and gain self-confidence. Recently, Sail To Prevail has found that the program has a similar effect on the able-bodied people who have come in contact with the organization.

“Michael O’Connor has designed a program that results in maximum outcomes for both the Harvard sailors and the disabled participants alike,” said Callahan who explained that the new program is allowing Sail To Prevail to expand into another geographic area and offer its model to more people. “People with disabilities who drive along the Charles River and wish they could somehow get out on it, we provide that opportunity for them.”

Sail To Prevail has helped over 18,000 individuals since the organization was founded in 1982. From its base in Fort Adams State Park in Newport, R.I., the organization coordinates a wide variety of sailing opportunities including daily sailing sessions and competitive racing on Wednesday nights throughout the summer; sailing clinics for veterans in cooperation with the Boston Veteran’s Administration for rehab patients and their families; the Confidence is Cool summer day camps for children aged seven to 17; and out-of-hospital therapeutic sailing experiences provided to pediatric cancer patients, their physicians and parents through Sail Away From Cancer. Additionally, a satellite program runs in Nantucket, Mass., also during the summer. For more information, please visit: sailtoprevail.org