Our 2026 Junior Sailing Program would not have been possible without an incredible amount of collaboration from our volunteers and community partners. What started as an idea to introduce more local kids to sailing came together through months of planning, boat preparation, relationship building, and a lot of work behind the scenes.
It takes a village to pull together a program like this that is 100% volunteer run. We want to take a moment to recognize the people who helped make the program possible.
Building the Program
The 2-week program has been months in the making! In January 2026, we began to tackle the realities of bringing this program to life. Throughout the early months of the year, the pieces began to fall into place: the partnerships with Richmond Yacht Club and Tahoe Keys Marina, the donation and procurement of 5 Optimists dinghy boats, and the marketing
Alex Gross developed the lesson plans that gave our instructors a foundation for the week and helped shape the structure of the on-the-water program. He led the work parties to assess and repair the Optimist dinghies and worked tirelessly to procure missing parts. Alex also spent an entire Saturday traveling to Richmond Yacht Club to bring the coach boats to South Lake Tahoe. Getting the boat here was not as simple as hitching up a trailer, he and Sam spent an entire Saturday getting the trailers repaired and road-ready before making the trip back and getting everything properly tagged.
Sam Corso was instrumental in establishing our relationship with the Richmond Yacht Club Juniors Program. That relationship resulted in the donation of four Optimist dinghies and gave us access to two RYC Whalers as coach boats throughout both weeks of camp, at no cost to the club! Sam personally procured and delivered the Optimists to RYC and, several weeks later, worked with Alex to transport the coach boats.
Ashley Farr established the relationship with Tahoe Keys Marina that gave us a place to host the camps and store the club’s dinghies. She designed the recruitment flyers for the program and the landing page for sltwyc.com and created the registration link for participant sign-ups. Ashley also established a partnership with Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe, which helped fill the second week of camp. Ashley served as the primary communicator for parents and partner organizations throughout the program.
Susan Chandler donated an Optimist that she had purchased and helped get our fleet ready for camp. Additionally, Susan opened up her yard and home to store the Optimists, hosted several work parties, and helped us assess the boats and determine what parts and repairs were needed before the kids ever stepped onto the beach. She also loaned her tent and cart which allowed camp to be easily set up on the Cove East beach each day.
Eric Villadsen built the dinghy storage racks at Tahoe Keys Marina and helped with the transportation and logistics of our coach boats, including returning a borrowed Whaler to RYC.
Ron Maloney also helped with the transportation of the RYC equipment, making the drive to RYC on a Saturday to return one of the coach boats after camp. Ron also donated USCG approved PFDs that were used throughout the camps to keep volunteers and kids safe on the water.
Russ Noorda repaired an Optimist sail that would have been otherwise unusable for the camp.
Laura Fichet took on the important job of organizing volunteers throughout both weeks, making sure we had the people we needed on shore and on the water each day. She also led the marketing charge by posting recruiting flyers around town and driving interest on social media.
Pre-Camp Work Party
A few weeks before the first group of kiddos arrived, volunteers came together to assess the readiness of the Optimist boats. The boats were rigged on-shore, inflatables filled and tested for reliability, and a parts list created for replacements. None of this work was particularly visible to the kids who arrived at camp. They simply saw boats waiting on the beach and coaches ready to sail. Getting to that point took a tremendous amount of work.
- Alex Gross, organizer
- Susan Chandler, host
- Maegen Drever
- Mike Robinson
- Ron Maloney
- Connor Gross
- Lisa Hodges
- Jane McNaboe
- Eric Villadsen
- Sam Corso
Our Community Partners
A special thank you goes to the organizations that helped make the program possible.
Richmond Yacht Club Juniors Program generously donated four Optimist dinghies and loaned us two coach boats for the duration of both camps. Their willingness to share equipment and support youth sailing made an enormous difference as we built this pilot program from the ground up.
Tahoe Keys Marina provided the location for our camps and space to store our boats, giving us a home base for the program and making it possible for the kids to sail right here in South Lake Tahoe.
Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe helped us bring more local kids into the program and was an important partner in filling our second week of camp.
The Volunteers Who Made Camp Happen
Of course, none of the planning and preparation would have mattered without the people who showed up each day and worked with the kids.
Our two sailing instructors (Alex Gross and Sam Corso) combined to volunteer over 150 hours of their personal and professional time to teach the kids both weeks. Our assistant instructors, on-shore staff, and Whaler drivers consisted of over a dozen additional volunteers, who each took time from their own busy schedules to support the program. Most of these volunteers took time-off from their professional jobs to be present and ensure the kids had a fun and safe week.
Week 1
- Alex Gross — daily instruction
- Sam Corso — daily instruction
- Connor Gross — on-shore support
- Laura Fichet — on-shore support
- Ashley Farr — on-shore support and daily parent communications
- Susan Chandler — on-shore support and daily beach setup
- Eric Villadsen — instruction support and Whaler driver
- Steve Katzman — Whaler driver
- Debbie Noorda — on-shore support
- Molly Disbrow — on-shore support
- Lisa Hodges — Whaler driver
- Maegen Drever — on-shore support
Week 2
- Alex Gross — daily instruction
- Sam Corso — daily instruction
- Connor Gross — on-shore support
- Laura Fichet — on-shore support
- Ashley Farr — on-shore support and daily parent communications
- Susan Chandler — on-shore support and daily beach setup
- Eric Villadsen — instruction support and Whaler driver
- Steve Katzman — Whaler driver
- Debbie Noorda — on-shore support
- Adele Lucas — on-shore support
- Ron Maloney — Whaler driver and on-shore support
- Jerry Lucas — Whaler driver, rudder repair for Optimist
- Christine Kaplan — on-shore support
- Alex Ingerman — on-shore support
Every person who volunteered gave their time to make sure the kids could safely get on the water, learn something new, and have a great week at camp.
This program was truly a team effort. It took donated boats, borrowed equipment, community partnerships, countless hours of preparation, and a group of people willing to show up and make it happen. We are proud of what the South Lake Tahoe Windjammers Yacht Club was able to accomplish this summer, and even more excited about what we can build from here!
