Skippers and Crewmen From Past 50 Years Celebrate Longshore Sailing School

"This is just like the old days," Wendy Kelley said as she she watched Longshore Sailing School alumni compete in the Laser regatta Friday afternoon.

The regatta kicked off the sailing school's 50th anniversary party and employee reunion that brought in about 200 former staff members from throughout the school's history.

Kelley, a resident of Denver, Colo., took part in the regatta, sailing in a few races and then keeping score on the committee boat.

"I worked at the sailing school from 1977 to 1984," she said of her time as a dispatcher and later instructor. "I was fortunate enough to also learn how to sail here. Sailing is still a passion for me and I love being back here on the water."

Kelley said she has kept in touch with sailing school owner John Kantor over the years and has gone on alumni get-togethers in the British Virgin Islands, some of whom she expected to see at the anniversary party.

Kantor said people were coming to Westport from 23 states and two countries to participate in the anniversary bash. He used Facebook and viral communications to reach as many of the 1,100 former staff members as possible. "We spent about two years planning this event," he said.

Pam Gilg, who now lives in Casa Grande, Ariz., came to Westport Friday to attend this event. "I worked at Longshore Sailing School from 1979 to 1983," she said. "I had a lot of fun working here. I was a dispatcher during the summer while I attended Staples High School. I have kept in touch with John all of these years and I have friends who will be here tonight too. It's great to be back here."

Other states represented at the 50th anniversary celebration were California, Florida, Hawaii, Virginia and Oregon. "The prize for traveling the farthest distance goes to alumni from Australia and New Zealand," Kantor said.

The regatta was followed by cocktails and dinner catered by Bobby Q's of Westport. Oldies music was played, followed by some homespun (staff alums) entertainment. Musicians and a professional improv comedian  from Texas also performed.  The entertainment paused only for the fireworks display just after dark, and then the band played on.

Throughout the evening, the school was showing five separate — one for each decade — slideshows of the sailing school and staff alums running on continuous loops. 

As part of the festivities, the sailing school also offered a $25 discount on the personalized engraved bricks for the Memorial Brickwalk, which now sell for $50, as opposed to $75. The Memorial Brickwalk was donated to the sailing school in 2002 by the Friends of Longshore Sailing School. This summer, 50 percent of the proceeds will go to the Friends' kids scholarship fund, which gives less fortunate children an opportunity to learn how to sail at Longshore. The other 50 percent will go towards Westport's public celebrations and research of Longshore Club Park's history, being collected by the 50th anniversary committee.

Throughout the weekend, the school will air the official 26-minute Longshore Club Park video history in high-definition on continuous loop. The public is welcome to drop by for a free showing anytime all weekend. 

Kantor has been involved with the sailing school since 1965 when he needed a summer job.  He wanted to be a Longshore caddy — but was rejected.

He walked across the parking lot to the sailing school.  They hired him and he remains with the school to this day.

During Kantor's  many years at the helm of the school, one former alumnus marveled, the school has evolved from working out of a shack to becoming an impressive, high-established sailing school.

Here are a few fun facts provided by Kantor:

• If all (nearly 60,000 in 50 years) Longshore Sailing School students were laid end-to-end they would reach from Longshore to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
• If all (nearly 100,000) boats rented in the past 50 years were laid end-to-end, they would reach Washington, D.C. or the Canadian border.
• If every boat (1,566 in all) ever owned by the sailing school were laid end-to-end, they would reach from Longshore to Cockenoe Island three and a half times.
• If every employee of LSS over 50 years were laid end-to-end they would reach from the Longshore pool to Elvira's Deli at Old Mill. 

A Brief History of Longshore Sailing School

The school traces its roots to 1960, when Longshore Club Park first opened. Westport's Recreation Commission sponsored a public summer boating safety course for children, called Basic Boating. With no funding, a few borrowed rowboats, and volunteer instructors, students learned about safety and seamanship while rowing in the Saugatuck River entrance. The program was based in what is now known as the Rev. E.R. Strait Marina.

In 1962, the Recreation Commission obtained new plywood skiffs to replace the borrowed boats, and one year later, Westport acquired a fleet of 8' fiberglass sailing dinghies for public sailing instruction. This step made Westport one of the country's earliest pioneers in public access sailing programming.

In 1963, the American Fiberglass Corp. of Norwalk, makers of the 12-foot Aqua-Cat catamarans, loaned a fleet of boats to the Town of Westport to provide advanced instruction and boat rentals. Longshore was the first public access program in the country to incorporate multihulls into its curriculum. By 1969, the Basic and Advanced programs merged and moved to pool cabanas where the school is located today. As enrollment swelled to more than 400 students per summer, LSS quietly became the country's largest public sailing program of its kind, a distinction it maintains.

Despite its popularity, the program nearly collapsed in the recession of the mid-1970s. With Westport's recreation budget slashed and its well-used boats falling into disrepair; lack of funding brought the program to the brink of extinction. To save it, in 1975 the town outsourced the school to Kantor, a 10-year veteran supervising the program. He gave it the name Longshore Sailing School. Longshore has flourished ever since, outgrowing four buildings, leading to its current, two-story boathouse built in 2001.

Today, Longshore teaches about 2,000 students a year on its fleet of more than 100 sailboats and kayaks.