Kids hoist sails, navigate windy conditions in annual sailing program

MATTAPOISETT — For the past 17 summers, shouts of “starboard!” and “port!” have rung through the air as kids take to Buzzards Bay to learn the fundamentals of sailing and sailboat racing.

And so far, this year has been no different. Nearly 100 kids between the ages of 6 and 15 are enrolled in MattSail’s youth sailing program, which is held in three, two-week sessions throughout the summer.

The two-week program is broken into morning and afternoon sessions. The morning session teaches the basics to kids ages 6 to 10 and the afternoon session teaches kids ages 11 to 15 how to race. 

“It’s teaching them something they can do for their whole life, and it’s enjoyable, which I think is worthwhile,” said TJ Stellato, the program’s head instructor.

Ellie Cowles, 13, has been participating in the program since she was six or seven years old and said she returns each year because “the people here are really nice — it’s a good environment.”

TJ, who first became involved with the sailing program as a student nearly 12 years ago, explained that the kids first learn what to do if their boat capsizes, then how to steer the boat and how to move the sail.

“Individual kids will learn at different speeds, and once they know what’s going on, we’ll send them out in their own single-person boats to just play around and have fun with it,” he said.

The small, single-person plastic boats are called “bugs” and are self-bailing, easy to upright if they capsize and cause no damage if they bump into each other.

“We put a child in each one, and basically now they’re thinking for themselves,” said Jack Stellato, TJ’s uncle and the program’s director.

He explained how the kids have to figure out what way the wind is blowing and to move the sails accordingly to get the wind to propel them where they want to go.

“We’re right there to help them with that, but so far we’ve gotten almost every child in the morning class into one of these, so much so that we ran out of boats,” Jack said. “I had to go pick up two more.”

He noted that this is something parents want to see their kids get out of the program.

“They stand at the end of the pier and they watch their child sail their own boat and they’re just so happy about that,” he said.

The MattSail program also gives those who aged out of the program an opportunity to come back as volunteers and instructors, including Marion resident and high schooler Jonah Hobin.

“I had a kid that told me that I made sailing his favorite, and it felt really nice to know that,” Hobin said.

The kids progress to the afternoon session once they’re 10-years-old and physically able to handle stronger wind, which Jack explained picks up throughout the morning as the land warms up.

In the afternoon, kids learn how to sail 420-class sailboats, which are two-person dinghies often used in races.

Jack explained that while the purpose of the morning session is to teach kids how to sail, the afternoon session is designed to teach kids how to race and how the Old Rochester Regional High School’s sailing team — which he helps coach — works.

“Instead of just going out there and racing one on one, we’re going to teach them how to do team racing,” Jack said.

Cowles, who competes on the high school team, said her favorite part about the MattSail program is getting to compete against the other kids in the session.

“I just love racing,” she said.

According to Jack, “[Ellie’s] so fast that for each race, each time around the race course, we made her do one spin just so that she wasn’t that far ahead.”

While the program prepares kids to compete in races, Jack noted sailing is something the kids will be able to do even after they’re finished with competing — or if they choose not to compete.

“Sailing is something you can do until you can no longer get on a boat,” he said. “You don’t have to be muscular — it’s not a physical thing.”

He noted, “This is something that follows you for your entire life, and it’s just such a nice opportunity to come down here and say, ‘Well, let’s get in a boat and go.’”