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fall 2006
you gotta regatta!  Sunday, September 24 marked the first annual Little Neck Bay Regatta, a sailing race to benefit Rocking the Boat. We are proud to have registered 16 boats and crew of mostly new friends from Queens, Long Island, Brooklyn, and Manhattan for the hour-long race. This was a precedent-setting event for Rocking the Boat, as it was the first time the sailing and yacht club communities have come to support our work. With winds blowing up to 29 knots, the sailors held on tight as boats raced from the Bay to Kings Point, then to the Throgs Neck Bridge and back, and returning to the shores of the Douglaston Club for a barbeque celebration and awards ceremony. Prizes were bestowed on the boats with the three fastest times through the course; in order they were: Arcadia, Truant, and Gosling. Please visit the event site, www.littleneckbayregatta.org, to view a slideshow of all the action. Participating boats contributed an entry fee and, in the custom of a walkathon, pledged to raise additional support on behalf of Rocking the Boat. Everyone did an outstanding job, helping to bring in more than $6,000! Both the individual and the boat generating the highest total dollars received prizes, provided by charter corporate sponsor Patagonia. The individual winner was 12-year old Chris Gabriel, crewmember of his father Jim's boat, who collected $534. The overall competition was won by Avra and the Gabriel family, who collectively raised $1,044. Rocking the Boat is enormously grateful to our indomitable organizing committee headed by Michael Robinson, Joel Bondy, and Phil Kelly, as well as Cresthaven Yacht Club, Douglaston Yacht Squadron, and Cruising Class of Little Neck Bay for co-sponsoring the event. We owe tremendous thanks as well to corporate sponsor Patagonia and media sponsor Sailing Anarchy for their support and encouragement. We expect to have double the number of boats racing next year and are already looking forward to the second year of this new Rocking the Boat tradition. "As a Rocking the Boat volunteer, I know how terrific an organization this is. The Regatta has been a wonderful way to introduce ourselves to a whole new group of sailors." - Mike Robinson, Chair, Organizing Crew fall 2006 and the survey says... 
After eight years of consistent programming in the South Bronx, Rocking the Boat is conducting a survey of our entire alumni body to find out what kind of impact Rocking the Boat has had on their lives. This Fall, an online questionnaire went out to over 165 of the 350 alumni of the Boatbuilding and On-Water programs, and a selection will be asked to take part in follow-up telephone interviews. Once the full results are compiled, we hope to have a much clearer picture of what kind of effect we have had on our students, how we can be more effective, and what else we could be doing for our students and alumni. We also plan to use the survey process to initiate and sustain a closer relationship with our alumni. The replies are just starting to come in, and we are excited by the feedback. An example follows from a now 24-year old woman who was in the Boatbuilding class while a high school senior in 1999-2000. She graduated from college and has a full-time job.
How, if at all, did your Rocking the Boat experience affect how you perceive or think about yourself? Above all, I would've never thought I could build a boat! People still are impressed when I mention that. This program opened my eyes to activities and interests that inner-city kids can take part in that don't require you to fit in a certain mold or stereotype. I saw places I never thought I'd visit and I met people I never thought I would interact with. How has your Rocking the Boat experience affected your outlook on the way you view life? Always try something new. I've studied abroad to Mexico, I took art, I've tried so many different things that I thought should never be expected from a person "like me." After Rocking the Boat, I realized that no matter what your background is, you have the right and you owe it to yourself to challenge yourself in something you'd never think of trying...like build a boat! Anything else? Just wanted to add that this program is amazing. It's definitely something positive to focus on, especially with the environment we are exposed to in the inner-city. Thanks Adam for sharing your vision and passion. Hope to see you soon! : ) The Alumni Evaluation is being conducted by Abby Remer, Director of the Career Internship Network and the American Museum of Natural History Inside View internship program, and supported by the Altman Foundation. |
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