Meadow Lake sailing classes to begin

Sailing in the Meadow Lake in Flushing gets skippers prepared to cruise all over the world, or so say members of the volunteer-run sailing group gearing up to begin the year’s first session of classes.
Jerry Wasserman, originally from Kew Gardens, will sail from Bermuda to Port Washington, L.I., this summer and has commanded boats in Greece and Turkey. He credits the skill set he has developed to a sailing class he took in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in 1975.
“It really changed my life,” Wasserman said on Saturday, April 7, and he and other members of the entirely volunteer-run boathouse, The American Small Craft Association (TASCA), rigged their 13 “American” sailboats on Meadow Lake.
Every year Wasserman returns to Queens for the summer from his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to instruct TASCA classes and sail throughout the area’s waterways.
This year TASCA will begin its spring season classes on Saturday, April 28 - applications must be handed in by Saturday, April 21. Students generally pick one day per week - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Saturday - and classes are held on weekdays from 6 to 9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The summer session of basic classes will begin on Saturday, June 30 and applications must be received by Saturday, June 23.
TASCA’s 320 members, 50 of whom are instructors, have been prepping for the spring launch of their boats throughout the winter by meeting every Saturday at the Flushing boathouse. The lake and boathouse are located between Long Island Expressway to the north, Jewel Avenue to the south, the Van Wyck Expressway to the east, and the Grand Central Parkway to the west, to perform boat maintenance.
Classes are open to local residents 16 and up at a cost of $275 for a basic sailing course. Included in the class are lessons both on land and in the water, and by the end students will have a handle on wind, rigging a boat, safety precautions, and knot tying, organizers said. The only requirement is that students pass a swimming test.
Unlike some other sailing classes where instructors shout commands to students over a megaphone while riding in a separate boat, TASCA teachers are placed in the small boats with their students - oftentimes with only one or two students per teacher, Wasserman said.
“Most people don’t own their own boat or have access to other boats,” said TASCA President Ana Sanchez, who took the basic sailing class in 1985.
However, at TASCA, once students complete the seven-week course, they are able to become boathouse members for $40 per year. Membership allows them to take out the 14-foot sailboats on the 84-acre, man-made Meadow Lake for free.
“Usually you would consider sailing a sport of the rich … but this program is surprisingly affordable,” Sanchez said.
The next step after the introduction class is a rigorous 11-class program covering advanced sailing and safety, which qualifies sailors to instruct basic classes. After teaching one session of classes at Meadow Lake, under the supervision of head members, an instructor becomes certified to teach other courses.
Sanchez, of Sunnyside, has since risen through TASCA’s roles of instructor, skipper, and dock master. Later this month, she will be tested to become a cruise skipper, the highest role in the sailing club along with head dock master.
“As a result of the class, last year, I sailed the Atlantic for a month,” Sanchez said.
As a cruise skipper, Sanchez will have many more opportunities to sail bigger boats, including TASCA’s 28-foot sailboat, Precious Gem, which is moored in the World’s Fair Marina, and rent 35-foot crafts and larger on her own.
TASCA also organizers social sails - a week-long trip to a resort in Linekin Bay, MA, a member-planned charter to the Virgin Islands, and “Rendezvous” trips to Baltimore and Annapolis. In addition, races are held every Saturday in Meadow Lake.
“Racing is where people’s sailing ability is really shown,” said Mark Siega, TASCA’s Racing Committee Chair.
For more information about TASCA, visit https://www.sailtasca.org/, call 718-699-1951, or e-mail info@sailtasca.org.