Let’s Make Juneteenth a California Sailing Holiday

As we take this day to celebrate Juneteenth and all that it stands for — the end of United States’ slavery after the Civil War — we looked online to see what California sailing events had put their hands up to join the party and organize a Juneteenth sailing celebration. There are some to be found, but we were wondering if we could help encourage the creation of more.

During our search for West Coast Juneteenth sailing events, we found a story about Ferene Paris Meyer (Ferene Paris), a Black woman in Burlington, VT, who in early 2020 (remember that year?) had launched her own business, All Heart Inspirations. In July that year, Paris happened to accept an invitation to go sailing. The experience sparked a determination to make sailing accessible to Black and brown people in Vermont. Thus she set about creating Juneteenth Sails on Lake Champlain with the Whistling Man Schooner Co. as the hosting vessel.

Our next finding was a little closer to home — Sail on a Tall Ship, hosted by the Los Angeles Maritime Institute. This event took place on June 19, 2023. We’ve missed that boat!

We’re aware of sailing’s perceived reputation as being “male, pale and stale,” and we can’t completely disagree. There are statistics that back this up. Which is why we try to keep this discussion open in the hopes of expanding sailing’s reach and creating more diversity.

Local sailing organizations such as Call of the Sea, Spaulding Marine Center, Blue Water Foundation, Pegasus Sailing, Treasure Island Sailing Center, Afterguard Sailing, and others are invested in bringing diversity into sailing, all year round. In February we shared the story of Marie Rogers, US Sailing vice president and past commodore of Los Angeles Yacht Club, and her nonprofit program Offshore Racing Outreach (ORO). Through ORO, Rogers put together a nine-person crew, mostly people of color, for the 2023 Transpac Race to Hawaii aboard the ORO’s Andrews 56 Good Trouble.

So how about it, California? Can we make Juneteenth a California sailing holiday next year, and all the years after?