Sunlight sparkles off Lake Nighthorse on a warm July morning as a group of students gathers at the shore, strapping on life jackets and listening attentively as their instructor discusses weather conditions and wind speed. Minutes later, like a flock of large geese, sailing dinghies glide out into the water, heading for the breezes that nip across the middle of the lake.
These young sailors are part of Sail Durango, an organization founded in 2016 at Lake Navajo with a small fleet of keel boats and a passion for building a sailing community in the Durango area. The organization began as an adult program under U.S. Sailing. Katie James, director of Sail Durango, established the youth program to ensure her own children could be part of sail camp and learn to sail with their peers.
Sailing is a gear-intensive sport, and Sail Durango provides all the gear—including life jackets—to anyone who wants to learn. A generous donation in 2021 allowed Sail Durango to purchase new dinghies and create performance-oriented pathways in racing and competition. Just last year, three of Sail Durango’s teenage sailors traveled to New York and raced from Marblehead, Massachusetts, to Halifax, Nova Scotia. This year, Sail Durango took several teams to Mexico for Spring Break for experience on a bigger keel boat.
Learning to sail on a lake has its unique challenges.
“Conditions here can be highly variable,” James noted. “The topography of the land around the water affects the air flow, and you have fluctuating conditions you’re maneuvering through; it’s very active. In a single day on Lake Nighthorse, you might encounter more points of sail than you would in June in the Bahamas.”
As young sailors learn to navigate these conditions, they also hone additional skills in tandem. Peer-to-peer mentorship provides opportunities for sailors as young as 10 to begin as junior leaders, progress to intern status, and eventually become junior captains. Mentors start with equipment upkeep and learn how to deliver “chalk talks”—little mini lessons on physics, sailing, knots, and STEM—eventually becoming junior captains who drive the safety boats.
“What’s really great is we are able to put kids who have some sailing experience with us on boats with new kids,” James explained. “Equipping our leaders with assurance, practicing how to speak like a leader, inspiring confidence in other sailors, ensuring that they’re being inclusive—these are all important life skills. They are also learning how to stylize a curriculum for a certain day or weather conditions. It’s pretty intensive, and the proudest thing we’ve developed with the program.”
James mentioned another unintended outcome of the youth program is cultivating awareness, allowing kids an opportunity to interact with cultures you usually find closer to the ocean—a level of stewardship they might not normally encounter in our area.
“We also want to build appreciation for where our water comes from and where it goes,” James emphasized. “We are building a relationship with the water through water sports, but also stewardship of the land and our role as recreationists in protecting it.”
The hope is to build a sustainable sailing community long after James retires.
While very youth-focused, there are also opportunities for sailors of all ages. Sail Durango offers charters and lessons on the larger keelboats or dinghies.
“We’ve had wedding proposals out on the lake; we’ve had grandma/grandson dates, family outings, corporate team building, or groups of friends,” James said.
On Lake Navajo, introductory-level sailing can help adults become charter-ready by building foundational skills without traveling elsewhere. Sailing is the fastest-growing U.S. sport, and Sail Durango has wing-foiling (boards that fly above the water on a hydrofoil) gear for users to try out, as well as several instructors who are avid enthusiasts. Sail Durango is also hoping to host a regatta in the near future at Lake Nighthorse. Recently, they purchased two multigenerational racing dinghies (Called M15s in the sailing world), and James is hopeful of bringing in more adults and kids from clubs around the country to continue to build the local sailing community.
There are many opportunities to get involved with Sail Durango, including supporting events at the lake, volunteering in first aid, timekeeping, and much more. Find more information on their website: saildurango.com. Sail Durango is always looking for community members who are seeking to invest in the next generation of sailors and help kids (and adults) level up their sailing game.
By Elizabeth Miller
