Downtown Sailing Center

I want to be careful about how I write this update. It’s not my intention to air a bunch of DSC dirty laundry and I still believe that it’s a wonderful organization that does great things for the people in its accessible sailing programs and its members who want an affordable place to sail. That being said the center has faced some challenges over the past few years that have taken a toll and I am hoping the new management learns from past mistakes.
IMO the DSC has really suffered from its high staff turnover and the loss of institutional knowledge that comes with that. Running a non-​profit community sailing center like the DSC requires more than just strong knowledge of boating. You need to know how to allocate very limited funding and resources and how to get support from both members and outside organizations. Sadly the DSC has fallen short in those areas recently.
Just as an example a few years ago when they had work parties at the beginning of the year where they’d get boats ready for the season you could expect to see dozens of members showing up and putting several hours of work in on a Saturday morning. That’s the sort of thing that made the DSC great. I went to a work party this spring and there were only a few people there and not enough work for us to do. Like I said, it’s great to have management that knows a lot about boats but you absolutely must be able to effectively use your members if you want a community sailing center to succeed.

As a life long sailing, I was first attracted to the DSC because I came out on an evening when they were running an Accessible event that took people with disabilities out of their wheelchairs and into boats. I was really impressed that sailing could be used in such an awesome way.
Beyond that, I’ve loved getting to know the DSC community of instructors and sailors and thinks it’s a great organization that allows the people of Baltimore to get out for an INCREDIBLE view of the city and go sailing!
And there’s Thursday night racing which is a total blast.
I highly recommend this place because it’s affordable, has a community centered mentality, and, well, it helps satisfy my love for sailing!

If you love sailing, or want to learn, this is an awesome place to go. With a fleet of mostly J-​22 (22 ft) and sonars (23 ft), this non-​profit sailing center located in the Inner Harbour (near the Dominos Sugar factory) is a great diamond in the rough. Here, you can join as a beginner to take lessons, as an experienced sailor ready to join a racing team, or anything in between. The instructors are very knowledgeable and friendly … if you love being on the water, this is a great way to check out the inner harbour …