The Sailing Science Center’s donors and supporters are like the water that keeps our boat afloat. Without them we would quickly sink. In this spotlight we diverge from our usual approach to collectively profile and share with you about the SSC’s donors.

During its first fifteen months, the SSC had no money. The organization didn’t even exist legally until we were incorporated in January of 2018, ten months into the vision. Incorporation was prerequisite to opening a bank account, which happened five months later, and which was initially funded through a $20,000 founder’s loan. These funds were to pay for the office we wanted to rent, and other startup costs we were incurring.

Active fundraising didn’t begin until we received our tax-exempt status from the IRS, nearly a year later in May of 2019. As soon as the tax-exempt designation came through, the SSC trimmed her sails and started making way. We have now raised more than a quarter-million in cash, in-kind donations, and pledges. The donations come from 116 individual donors, 11 corporate donors, and 14 donors who made their gifts through foundation-based donor-advised funds.

We don’t collect employment data from our donors, but we can see that the larger donations come from retirees. While most of the SSC’s supporters are sailors, a large percentage are not, including some of our biggest funders.

The SSC takes its stewardship of your donations very seriously. We have remained an all-volunteer organization, with the exception of our brief summer hire during 2020. In doing so, we have kept our operating expenses under $1,000/month. This gives us the financial stability to focus on developing programs and delivering content to the people we want to reach.

Which brings us back to you, our supporters, to say Thank You for your confidence in backing the SSC. We strive continuously to earn and deserve your trust.

Consistent with this month's theme of renewal, the SSC took a breather from volunteer activities to let team members spend time with their families, enjoy the holidays, and generally recharge their batteries.

In January the SSC will begin World Class, an exciting new program exclusively for SSC volunteers. World Class will consist of monthly interactive sessions to delve into what it means to be and become world-class.

We will be covering a range of topics, including Health & Fitness, Neuroscience, Mindfulness, Self-mastery, Philosophy, Biohacking & Brain-Hacking, Decision-Making, Effectiveness, Investing & Finances, and Leadership. Our goal will be to reveal what it means to be world-class, and to move, individually and collectively, in that direction. We will be sharpening the axe.

Ferry service to Treasure Island is scheduled to begin this month aboard aluminum 48-passenger vessels being run by PROP. The service is an interim step, with long-term plans for 400-passenger ferries beginning in 2025. The "spy photo" at right hints pretty strongly at the boat they will be using.

Ferry service is a key element for getting tourists to the island in the SSC's long-term plan to be in Hangar 3. In the near-term it solves the problem of moving bicyclists between Treasure Island and San Francisco.

The first three issues of the Sailing Science Center News were published as text emails in late 2017. These have not been available in our archives... until now! They have recently been converted to pdf files so that past issues of the newsletter can all be seen on the Newsletter page of our website.

Thanks to SSC volunteer, Charlie Deist, we were privileged on December 3^rd, to interview Joop Sloof. Joop (rhymes with soap) is one of the top fluid dynamicists of the past fifty years. Joop was involved in developing the winged keel that helped Australia wrest the America's Cup from the New York Yacht Club in 1983. This ended a 132-year winning streak, that was, and still is, the longest in sports history.

We kept the conversation relatively non-technical, setting a goal that this should be something my mother could understand (she's a musician; not an engineer). We think you will enjoy it.

Two youth sailors approach as they race around the marks in El Toros. Bringing young people into sailing, and other worthwhile activities, is a necessary part of the renewal that needs to happen to keep those activities alive and well. Part of the SSC's reason for being is to encourage this renewal (see our Mission Statement below).