Olathe, KS. The Olathe Sailing Club announced that it is forming effective immediately for the fall Frostbite Season which begins October 1, 2010 at Lake Olathe, Kansas. The Club is being formed by David Gibbin, an active sailor with several sailing clubs in the greater Kansas City area and will act as temporary Commodore until the Club structure is fully formed.
“The area is missing a true community sailing program”, says Gibbin and he hopes to work in conjunction with existing youth and family sailing programs that work out of the Olathe Sailing Center on Lake Olathe in western portion of Olathe.
“Cliff Benke has done a marvelous job at getting families on this beautiful water resource and exposing them to the sailing arts,” says Gibbin, “however, we want to expand on his efforts by creating a club that offers more than just lessons and strives to promote and prolong the life of one of the great sports in the world.”
The Olathe Sailing Club will feature a fall racing schedule that is run each weekend in October and early November, weather allowing, and will also start a Spring frost bite series beginning in late March. In addition to sailing, there will be educational offerings that will seek to promote sailing and the activities around sailing in the Midwest.
The Club plans an bi-annual regatta as a consensus builder around the Kansas City area’s 12 active sailing clubs. Additionally, the Club will feature an annual women’s only regatta beginning in October to further involve female sailors at the individual boat level. “Women tend to avoid the skipper’s role,” says Gibbin, “and we want to recommend and build on that role so that they rise above the critical level of support that they often provide their husbands and significant others in this male dominated sport,” says Gibbin.
The Parks and Recreation Department at the City of Olathe has been instrumental in supporting the initial efforts of the Club. They are always looking for ways to allow residents to enjoy the various park amenities that are available to all residents in the City and this is one more example of an opportunity for residents to participate.
The emphasis is not solely on City residents, though, as membership in the Olathe Sailing Club is open to any individual that has an interest and is willing to meet the membership requirements and pay the dues associated with the Club. City of Olathe residents will receive a significant discount on their membership fee. There are also corporate memberships available for the interested business entities that want to lend support to this family oriented activity.
“We plan on becoming the destination for sailing information and programming in the Midwest by the time the Club has reached full growth potential,” says Gibbin.
For further information contact:
David Gibbin, Acting Commodore at 913-980-5316 or email at olathesailing@
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Membership only sailing club in the midwest featuring the best of dinghy sailing and education available to the area. The club will provide its members with significant opportunities to participate in the sailing sports, either as a sailor, official, builder or observer.
