Founded in 1997, the Duxbury Bay Maritime School started with a simple idea: to connect the community to Duxbury Bay, Massachusetts. In the 27 years since, the school has grown from just a dream to a 2.5-acre waterfront campus with state-of-the-art facilities that services the entire Duxbury Bay community, from learn to sail to racing to adaptive sailing. Each year, DBMS introduces thousands of individuals to Duxbury Bay through a wide variety of educational and recreational programming thanks to the help of the community.
“No organization that I have been involved with comes even close to the deep satisfaction as DBMS,” said outgoing Board Chair Fred Clifford. “Perhaps because this miracle started with an idea and a few individuals with a passion to make it happen. We started from scratch, with nothing – no money, no land, but with this idea. And then we sought and received overwhelming support from our community. And we made it happen.”
The campus features modern, energy-efficient buildings that provide safe and accessible facilities for a variety of activities. Key facilities include classrooms, an erg room, administrative and commercial offices, lab facilities, locker rooms, and a large garage. Additionally, DBMS has extensive dock space to support its junior and adult sailing fleets, enhancing the school’s ability to offer comprehensive maritime education and activities.
Even though it is in New England, the center is active all four seasons. Their robust summer junior sailing programs host nearly 170 children per day across several different levels, including competitive Opti and 420 groups that travel throughout New England. In the spring and fall, DBMC has been focused on growing both the Junior and Adult side of sailing. The Duxbury High School Sailing team hosts the Massachusetts Bay League and New England Scholastic Sailing events, while the adult program features a spring and fall race series in their newly refurbished Flying Scot Fleet.
Serving the Community
Besides their nearly year-round racing events, DBMS is focused on getting those new to sailing out on the water. Their ACCESSAIL program offers free 90-minute sails throughout the spring, summer and fall for all that want to experience Duxbury Bay but may not have the means to do so otherwise. The DBMS campus and fleet features full physical accessibility, including a dock equipped with a Hoyer lift, and vessels with 5-Point harness seats, offering trunk support as needed.
For kids in the community, DBMS has collaborated with Crossroads for Kids to provide a tuition-free on-the-water program for at-risk, urban youth. The program, now called Maritime Adventures, has since expanded and is geared for youth attending community organizations that are interested in including maritime education and recreation.
The school is also an accredited Community Sailing Center through US Sailing, certifying that it not only aims to provide high quality sailing education and safety standards, but also aims to increase the diversity of the population that has access to sailing education and the sport itself – something DBMS does with gusto.
This article is a part of US Sailing’s Community Sailing Center spotlight series. If you would like to be featured, please fill out the form: https://ussailing.jotform.com/242826089803059