Maryland Board of Public Works Votes Unanimously to Lease Property to National Sailing Hall of Fame & Sailing Center

For Immediate Release:

February 24, 2010

The Maryland Board of Public Works voted unanimously today to lease to the National Sailing Hall of Fame & Sailing Center the Maryland Department of Natural Resources property adjacent to the U.S. Naval Academy and Annapolis City dock. The site will provide space for a national facility dedicated to sailing.

Plans include;

• Working with Boggs & Partners architects to design a self reliant building using solar, wind and thermal energy and to redesign Prince George Street to incorporate a state of the art environmentally friendly storm water management system.

• Teaching math and science through sailing. An accredited curriculum has been developed by Hudson River Community Sailing and will be distributed nationally. In addition, software which would permit users to design, test and sail their own boats is being developed. Utilizing 3D modeling, young and old can have a model of their design. Miniature test tanks and wind tunnels are also in the development phase.

• Teaching American history, literature painting and music. America was shaped by explorers who raced to get here, men-of-war which raced to catch or elude one another, clipper ships which raced to get their products to port and waterman who raced to get to market. Sailing has informed and has been inextricably linked to American literature, history, music and painting.  Attention is also being focused on celebrated American sailors from Anne Morrow Lindbergh and General George Patton to John F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein, Jimmy Buffett, Captain John Smith, and Walter Cronkite.
• Teaching environmental stewardship. The Chesapeake Bay, the Atlantic, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific as well as lakes and rivers throughout America, provide the platform for those who sail and wish to sail to learn about their relationship to the sea.

• Working with ESI Design, an innovative array of interactive state of the art exhibits and learning activities are being created, all designed to introduce visitors to the excitement, traditions, science, history and spirit of sailing. 

• Continued public access to the docks with displays of classic boats, Free Sailing, Outdoor Film Festival of the Sea, regattas, and programs for the Boys and Girls Club, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Sea Scouts and schools.  

“The National Sailing Hall of Fame and Sailing Center will be a national attraction that will strengthen our city's economy, inspire our children, and contribute to Annapolis's rich quality of life as America's Sailing Capital," said Mayor Josh Cohen.  “I thank the Board of Public Works for its support, and look forward to continuing to work with the Hall of Fame team to turn its vision into reality."

“Maryland is proud to be the home of this premier national facility, which will celebrate the heritage and legacy of the sport of sailing and connect people to nature and the Chesapeake Bay,” said Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley.

Gary Jobson, President of U.S. Sailing said “Sailing finally has a home- a unified place, a physical place bearing the history that reminds us what sailing in its many forms is all about.”

For More Information Contact:

Darlene Pisani, DNR at 410-260-8004
Lee Tawney, NSHOF at 410-952-3174

“I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it is because in addition to the fact that the sea changes, and the light changes, and ships change - it’s because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins, the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea — whether it is to sail or to watch it — we are going back to whence we came.”

— John F. Kennedy