Veterans will once again take to the water this spring when the College of Charleston hosts the Wounded Warrior Sailing Squadron Regatta on May 9, 2015, at the J. Stewart Walker Sailing Center at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.
Jacob Raymond ’14, Iraq War veteran and the College’s director of sailing education.
This is the second year the College is welcoming veterans interested in sailing on Charleston Harbor. In 2014, Jacob Raymond ’14 and two other College sailing instructors volunteered to teach a three-day sailing clinic to more than a dozen veterans associated with Hope for the Warriors, a national organization that helps physically and psychologically wounded veterans.
Raymond, the College’s director of sailing education and a veteran of the Iraq War, credits sailing with helping him reintegrate into society. As he told the Charleston Post and Courier, he’s eager to help let sailboats do the same for other veterans.
“A program like this means the world to me,” Raymond said in 2014. “I know what sailing has meant to me and how much it helped me. … To be able to give something back to these guys has been a huge privilege and honor for me.”
Through the use of a modified J/22 sailboat, the College is able to offer disabled veterans the chance to sail as well, including those whom have lost the use of their legs. This modified sailboat was donated to the College by local sailor Doug Peterson. Then Kurt Oberle ‘94, owner of High and Dry Boatworks on James Island, installed a bench seat and handles in the cockpit of a sailboat – improvements that make it possible for paraplegics and amputees to more easily switch positions during a tack or jibe, when the boat’s mainsail is switched from one side to another as the skipper changes direction. Oberle donated the labor free of charge. The U.S. Sailing Association also gave $5,000 to pay for materials.
The College is partnering with the National Sailing Hall of Fame to organize the Wounded Warrior Sailing Squadron Regatta, and Patriots Point is sponsoring a barbecue dinner for participants aboard the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier.
