- September 8, 2024
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May Tal Gongolevsky didn't have a passion for sailing when she enrolled her son in a summer camp at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron, but after seeing his passion for it, she yearned to learn herself.
“It is the coolest thing to see my son sail,” said Gongolevsky. “So when I found out I could learn at the same time that he was, I thought it would be a great way to connect with him.”
Instead of finding ways to fill her time while her son was at camp, Gongolevsky signed up for the first adult sailing camps introduced to the squadron this year by the new general manager, Eduardo Sylvestre.
After a week of sailing over the waves of Sarasota Bay, Gongolevsky has already signed up for another week to get certified to join the boat-sharing program at the squadron.
Sylvestre hopes that these camps will provide opportunities to locals and tourists like Gongolevsky to master the skill in one week.
Throughout the year, the squadron offers adult sailing lessons spread out over a long period. Sylvestre said they will usually start with a theory class first and then go out to the water on the next lesson.
Sylvestre hopes these one-week camps make learning to sail affordable and more accessible. Adults attend a nine-hour crash course that teaches the basic skills of sailing split between Tuesday through Thursday. According to Sylvestre, most beginners finish the week ready to sail on their own.
With Alan Staniforth as their instructor, campers start the course by learning the different parts of the sailboat and their purposes. Then, they head out on the water that same day and work as a team to build their sailing skills and become familiar with the boat.
Sailors have the opportunity to take the camp multiple times in the summer to practice but by the end of the first or second week, they usually feel confident in their skills.
Sylvestre said the adult sailing camps are open to more than just the SYS parents. David Zilinskas decided to learn this summer because it reminded him of his childhood of windsurfing.
“It wasn’t exactly smooth sailing at first, but since today is the last day, I have definitely learned a lot,” said Zilinskas. “It was also so fun. There was one day when we were in the middle of the kids’ races and Alan decided to join the race. Small things like that made the whole experience."
After living near water his whole life, Christian Santa Cruz was surprised he hadn’t learned how to sail sooner. Learning to sail with Gongolevsky and Zilinskas, he said the biggest challenges from the week were the technicalities and timing of sailing. For him, it was at first tricky to know when to how to multitask on the sailboat.
Originally from Brazil, Sylvestre started working at Sarasota Sailing Squadron in December. His father gave him his first sailboat when he was 10 years old. Sylvestre inherited his father’s sailing school in San Paulo, Brazil, and made a name for himself in the sailing world. He taught in South America, Africa and Asia and became an expert for the International Sailing Federation.
Sylvestre came to the U.S. to teach sailing at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. He also taught at multiple yacht clubs across the country such as the Manhattan Yacht Club and the California Yacht Club.
Sylvestre said many of the adults who have taken the camp became members because they fell in love with sailing after their first week. He hopes to hold an intermediate camp in the fall to follow up with these new sailors.
“Growing up sailing and being on the water, that was my backyard,” said Sylvestre. “So discovering it as an adult gives you a whole other meaning to it. It means that you can control your own narrative. When you master it, you feel the king of the world.”
