Sean and Kilian Duclay are having a busy summer. This past weekend the brothers led a small armada of 30 sailboats out of Northport harbor and into the Long Island Sound for a day of sailing. But these boats were not manned by your average sailor, they were skippered by Veterans who have learned, thanks to the Duclay brothers program, ‘Sail Ahead,’ that sailing offers healing therapeutic benefits for veterans with post-traumatic stress.
This first annual event, held at the Centerport Yacht Club, hosted over 80 veterans, their families and devoted volunteers. Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci joined members of the Huntington community to celebrate Sail Ahead. “To be here, at the inaugural Sail Ahead event, is to bear witness to the nautical culture of Long Island paying homage to our veterans in a unique and unconventional way,” said Lupinacci.
Sean and Kilian, who were inspired to use sailing as a healing method for veterans with post-traumatic stress, coordinated the event. We’ve highlighted these two young men before but in case you would like to know more, please use the following links about this remarkable program and Sean and Kilian Duclay.
We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Jennifer Duclay, a freshman at Walt Whitman, did many of these fantastic photos. Jenny has been very involved in this event and in the Sail Ahead organization as well. She was assigned to the USMMA RHIB and boarded every boat to take pictures.
http://www.shufsd.org/News/Story.aspx?id=21553
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/sail-ahead-group-uses-sailing-trips-as-therapy-for-veterans-1.10765263
↧