By Airwaves writer Clinton Hayes
Mission and History
19 years old and Commodore of a large yacht club? At Pleon, that’s a reality and has been since it’s founding on June 29, 1887. Pleon can proudly claim the title of oldest junior yacht club in America. All members of the club are under 21 and amount close to 400. Pleon’s story is like many small clubs in America. A group of young men who wanted to race but were too poor to join the “big senior clubs” so they formed their own. Since then, Pleon sailors have been fixtures on the national sailing scene even dating back to 1921 when the Commodore at the time won the first ever Sears Cup, National Junior Sailing Championship, representing Pleon.
Their Clubhouse, located on leased property from Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA was originally built in 1950. Shortly after, Pleon added a Race Committee boat and its own docks, becoming a truly independent club no longer relying on infrastructure of others. In 2008, Pleon rebuilt to a more modern facility complete with workroom and elevator for handicap access. Although for alumni, who treasured the quirkiness of the old building, it was sad to see a piece of history torn down, the new building has cemented Pleon’s place in Marblehead. The new facility has allowed them to more fully fulfill their mission statement “to involve as many young people as possible in the sport of sailing.”
Pleon Clubhouse
Sailing Opportunities/Club Life
Pleon is a real JUNIOR SAILING club in every sense of the words. They even go so far as to not allow parents on club property, an unheard of policy by today’s standards. A typical day at Pleon starts with a “Commodores choice” song of the day and some dancing. He/she better choose well since the kids are the ones who elected them. Throughout the day, kids who were elected by their peers the summer before, have responsibilities to the club. These range from Flag duty at sunrise and sunset, garbage and cleaning, movie nights and entertainment, and race committee duties. Junior Instructors also organize and run “free sail” most Sundays where any Pleon member can go sailing. The Commodore’s job is full time in the summer working hand in hand with the program director to solve problems and keep Pleon running smoothly.
Pleon’s core is the summer program serving roughly 250 kids a year. Classes range from intro to Pleon for 7-8 year olds to travel race teams for lasers, Optis and 420s. Coaches are sourced from all over the country and even the world (recently many New Zealanders), all getting housing with local families. With over 50% (over 80% this summer) of instructors from out of town, lesson plans and drills are kept fresh and unique. Not to mention its fun for the instructors who always bond into a close-knit group as most are away from family and friends back home.
Pleon boasts a pretty standard fleet for a junior program; Optis, lasers, and 420s, mostly club owned, but kids at the highest levels generally end up in a private boat. New this year is an expanded keel boat program with 3 Sonars added to the fleet. This will open many opportunities, most notably getting Pleon sailors racing with and against adults. The Sonar is popular in Marblehead especially for team racing. Pleon has added a team to this summers Thursday night Sonar team race series bringing it to 4 teams total (the others being Boston, Corinthian, Eastern). They also have the option of racing in Saturday fleet races and Marblehead NOODS.
Sailing Programs often struggle to keep non-racers engaged and having fun with sailing. As you might imagine Pleon has found great success with their adventure program (now called keelboat). This program encourages learning sailing fundamentals in a non-racing atmosphere. The program has been so popular that they created an intro version for younger sailors and have had to turn kids away to other classes. Many kids have even found a love for sailing in this class and moved on to racing classes after a summer or two in adventure. The Sonars have added a new element and will allow more use of spinnakers in a more social environment.
Annual Mud Wrestling- A normal Yacht Club activity?
Future
This year was a first for Pleon, moving from summer only to year-round sailing opportunities. Pleon offered after school sailing two days a week and racing clinics on the weekends from September-November and March-June with hired coaches. Pleon also expanded the use of the facility to two other high schools besides the Marblehead High School team who have been sailing out of Pleon/Boston YC for the past 20+ years. “Pleon has an amazing facility,” says Pleon’s long time program director, Erin Pierce, “it is a shame that it has only been used for 8 weeks during the summer, when sailing in Marblehead is at it’s best in the offseason. It was great to get kids out on the water this past fall and spring, we look forward to expanding more in the future.”
Spring Sailing at Pleon
Pleon looks to become more and more “full time” with a year-round program director and fall and spring programs for all ages. They also hope to become a regional center for high school sailing making practice more accessible for schools on Boston’s North Shore. Marblehead is actually a great place to sail in the offseason. Cold weather aside, all moored boats are pulled out which means sailing can be right next to the dock. There are many challenges along the way but a dedicated board of directors comprised of alumni and parents help smooth the path.
For more information about Pleon visit the website www.pleon.org or check them out on Facebook!
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