Detroit program teaching lower income kids to sail

DETROIT (WJBK) - Finding a new activity to keep kids busy in the summertime can be difficult, especially if you think that activity is way out of your league. Take sailing, for example. But the local program Challenge The Wine is giving sailing access to young people that would otherwise never step foot on a sailboat.

The program was created in the '90s and caters to lower income students. It promises that in two weeks, you'll know how to sail.

"We start out with the absolute basics on, here's a sailboat; here's are parts of the sailboat," says Harry Jones. He's the Director of Challenge the Wind Youth Sailing Program. "We teach them how to control the sailboat, how to stear it."

Harry introduced us to Adrian, who joined the program when she was 12 years old. Beginning with zero experience, Adrian joined the program every year and learned a little bit more.

"Yyou get a little overwhelmed with all of the knowledege and things that you're lacking," she says. FOX 2's Derek Kevra admits, too, that he had a hard time keeping up with the lesson.

Now Adrian is 18 and in college at Michigan State, and she is again coming back to Challenge the Wind - this time as an instructor. And she's hoping she runs into a little 12-year-old girl who, like her back then, has no idea what she's doing.

"I can't wait to get a hands-on experience with people who were in my shoes and just wait to see how they blossom," she says. 

Two sessions are available this summer. The first is July 11-22, and the second is July 25-August 5. You can learn more at www.grayhavensailclubdetroit.org. The fee is $100 per person.