History

Englewood Sailing Association is a spin-off from the Lemon Bay Rag Haulers, a sailing and social organization founded in 1990. The Rag Haulers started a very successful youth sailing program in 2002. Working with the Englewood YMCA, 34 volunteers worked with 19 children in a 4-week learn to sail program. At the end of the four weeks, two things were clear: sailing was a very positive experience for kids, and hosting the program was beyond the scope of the Rag Haulers.

Our founder, Warren Spear, saw an opportunity to continue youth sailing in Lemon Bay. In July 2002 he established Englewood Sailing Association, Inc., as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation for the purpose of instructing youth in sailing. He found small boats for instruction and raised $10,000 in just one week to launch ESA.

In the early days of ESA, we stored our boats at members' houses and towed them to Indian Mound Park each sailing day. In 2011 Sarasota County agreed to lease us a space at the park where we could store everything we needed and teach right from the shore.

From our modest beginnings, we've grown to over 40 boats and opened up year-round learning opportunities for both youth and adults.

Warren Spear passed in 2020, but he left us with his memories of ESA's first ten years. We hope you find it as inspiring as we do.

The First Ten Years.pdf

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