The Knickerbocker Sailing Association (KSA) is a members club set up by and for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender sailors in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. KSA membership is open to all LGBTQ and straight people, and it has a goal of being a "friendly, nonjudgmental group of people that have joined the club to share new life experiences, on the water together". [1]
KSA began in 1994, when founder Braden Toan asked around on Fire Island to find fellow people interested in establishing a gay sailing club. [2] It had an inaugural trip in August 1994, when 13 gay men met in Jersey City for a sail aboard a 38-foot Irwin cruiser.
In 2018, KSA had more than 150 members. [3] Its fleet includes both sailboats and powerboats. [2] While some members have extensive sailing experience, no sailing experience is necessary to join. [4] KSA hosts various flotillas throughout the tri-state area, from Atlantic Highlands to Block Island to Provincetown. Captains provide their own vessels, and crew participate in helping to sail boats with other members; boat ownership is not required to join. Members include people who run charter boat companies, live on their boats, or just sail for fun. [5] [6]
KSA participates in the Annual Stonewall Sails Regatta, [5] an official event of New York's Heritage of Pride's Gay Pride Week. KSA races with J/24s on the Hudson River [7] and in the past has partnered with Hudson River Community Sailing, who has provided the racing boats. [3] KSA works with Hudson River Community Sailing as another group that supports diversity in sailing, in particular through maritime education for students in local public high schools. [3]
During Pride week, KSA hosts a floating parade with sailboats decorated in flags, [8] along with sometimes participating in decorated boats in New York's dry parade. [9] Gilbert Baker, designer of the rainbow flag, was a member and created rainbow sails for KSA boats for these occasions. [2] [10]
Fundraising is a focus during KSA's Pride events, benefiting other non-profit organizations such as AmfAR, Rocking the Boat, Callen-Lourde, and the New Jersey Community Research Initiative.
KSA teams have participated in several Gay Games. [2] [11]
The club also organizes flotillas for visiting local destinations, such as New London, Connecticut. [1] [12]
A catboat is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of a very beamy and (usually) shallow draft hull. Typically they are gaff rigged, though Bermuda rig is also used. Most are fitted with a centreboard, although some have a keel. The hull can be 3.7 to 12.2 metres long with a beam half as wide as the hull length at the waterline. The type is mainly found on that part of the Eastern seaboard of the USA from New Jersey to Massachusetts.
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed.
A yacht club is a boat club specifically related to yachting.
Canoe sailing refers to the practice of fitting an Austronesian outrigger or Western canoe with sails.
Stonewall Democrats, also known in some states as LGBT Democrats, is a caucus within the Democratic Party that advocates for issues that are relevant to LGBT Americans. The caucus primarily operates through individual chapters or political clubs supporting LGBTQ rights and affiliated with the Democratic Party.
The Force 5 is a small one-design racing sailboat that is similar to the more well known Laser but with a hard chine aft. Although it is designed for single-handed racing, two people can easily fit into the large cockpit. The boats are products of Weeks Yacht Yard on Long Island, New York.
The rainbow flag or pride flag is a symbol of LGBTQ pride and LGBTQ social movements. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of LGBTQ pride began in San Francisco, California, but eventually became common at LGBTQ rights events worldwide.
The Snowbird is an American sailboat that was initially designed by Willis Reid as a one design racer and first built in 1921. The boat was re-designed by Edson B. Schock in the 1940s and it became a popular junior class.
The Britannia Yacht Club (BYC) is a private social club, yacht club, and tennis club based in Britannia, a neighborhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1887 by a group of cottagers.
Britton Chance Jr. or Britt Chance was an American naval architect who developed core elements of three yachts that won the America's Cup and won the World Championship six times. The New York Times said he "was known for having a mathematician's precision and a renegade's willingness to experiment". Professional Boatbuilder called him "one of the brightest minds in yacht design".
New York City has been described as the gay capital of the world and the central node of the LGBTQ+ sociopolitical ecosystem, and is home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ+ populations. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful LGBT communities", and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rise buildings, and Broadway theatre". LGBT travel guide Queer in the World states, "The fabulosity of Gay New York is unrivaled on Earth, and queer culture seeps into every corner of its five boroughs". LGBT advocate and entertainer Madonna stated metaphorically, "Anyways, not only is New York City the best place in the world because of the queer people here. Let me tell you something, if you can make it here, then you must be queer."
The Huguenot Yacht Club (HYC) is a private yacht club located on Neptune Island along New Rochelle Harbor in the city of New Rochelle in Westchester County, New York. The club offers a number of boating activities, including yacht racing, frostbiting, one-design sail boat racing, and junior sailing.
The Harlem Yacht Club, currently based on City Island in the New York City borough of The Bronx and incorporated in 1883, is the third oldest continuously functioning yacht club in the City of New York, the first being The New York Yacht Club, and followed by the Williamsburgh Yacht Club. The club currently has over 100 enrolled members in various membership categories.
The New Rochelle Yacht Club (NRYC), formerly situated on Harrison Island with its anchorage in Echo Bay, was one of the foremost yacht clubs on Long Island Sound during the late nineteenth early twentieth century. The club was organized in 1885 and for several years had its headquarters on Harrison Island. Later it moved to the mainland occupying a larger site in Hudson Park on Echo Bay, and in 1901 was moved back again to Harrison Island, occupying the entire island.
The American Yacht Club is a yacht club located in Rye, New York distinguished by a long history of competitive racing and leadership in growing the sport among women and junior sailors.
The Interclub Dinghy is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a one-design racer and first built in 1946. It is sailed in frostbite racing on the US east coast, particularly on Long Island Sound. Frostbite races are the series held after the normal sailing season is finished.
Robert "Bob" Fish was known as the oldest and most successful of the 19th-century American yacht modelers and shipbuilders. He was well known for remodeling of the Sappho that won 3 successive international races.
London Otters Rowing Club is an LGBT-friendly rowing club based at the London Regatta Centre in the Docklands area of London, U.K. on the River Thames.
The Rhodes 18 is an American trailerable day sailer or sailing dinghy that was designed by Philip Rhodes in 1938 and first built in 1948. It is Rhodes' design #448.
The Raritan Yacht Club (RYC), located in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, is the second oldest yacht club in New Jersey, and is thought to be one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States.