As the Mattapoisett Community Sailing Association enters its eighth year, leaders admit they’ve had some rough seas, but they are looking forward to another summer on the water.

“We’re still operating at a little bit of a loss, two to three thousand last year,” said MattSail board member Pat Donoghue. “That eats into our capital.”

Donoghue, Bob Goguen and John Cornish met with Selectmen to update the town leaders on the organization’s progress.

The nonprofit organization trains kids ages 6 to 14, as well as adults, to sail. Each two-week session gives students about 40 hours of instruction. Cornish said their certified instructors work with an average of 80 students a year, though the numbers have dipped slightly in recent years.

Said Cornish, “I think we’ve suffered the recession too.”

The program is largely funded through donations, many of those memorial donations, said Donoghue. The group also holds fundraising events.

Goguen said the program costs $73,000 to $88,000 to run each year but only receives $27,000 to $35,000 in program fees.

“All the support that comes in for MattSail is from the general public or in-kind services,” he said. “Without these donations, we couldn’t stay afloat.”

The town also donates moorings for MattSail’s boats and allows the organization to use the beach house.

Selectman Jordan Collyer suggested that MattSail could provide more of a trade-off with the town by adding in-kind services, such as letting more kids who can't afford the tuition join the program for free. That would also fill empty slots.

MattSail offers scholarships for kids who cannot afford the program, but also has a lot of last-minute participants who summer in town. The program's leaders hope to reach 90 kids this summer.

One issue that hinders participation is that working parents can’t pick up children once the half-day program is over. Donoghue said MattSail is working with Mattapoisett Recreation, which has a summer program, to see if a solution can be found.

MattSail members are also hoping to restart a program at the high school. Past efforts sunk without a consistent leader from within the school, said Cornish.

“We're working hard at the school to establish that as a sport,” he said.

Selectmen said they were glad to have the organization in town.

“We’re all here for the kids and the experience they get to have,” said Goguen.

Registration is open for summer programs as well as Tuesday night races. For information, visit www.mattsail.org.