The Keys · Key Largo
Nonprofit youth sailing program on Buttonwood Sound, sailing from the Upper Keys Sailing Club beach in Key Largo. Summer, fall, spring and homeschool sessions for ages 6 to 18 in Optis, Club 420s and RS dinghies, scholarships, and host of the Buccaneer Blast each February.
18th running of the program's youth regatta at Rowell's Waterfront Park on Blackwater Sound, ages 8 to 18. Opti Green and RWB, youth ILCA, Club 420 and windsurfers. Check-in Friday February 5.
Ages 6 to 18. Learn-to-sail for 6 to 12 in Optis and RS dinghies, Club 420s for 13 to 18. The 2026 season ran June 8 to August 7.
Optimists for ages 7 to 14 and Club 420s from 13, with one regatta a month. Fall 2026 sessions run August 18 to October 3 and October 6 to November 21.
Ages 7 to 17 in RS Zests, Picos, Quests and Optimists. The 2026 session runs September 3 to November 5.
The program carries the name of Mark Sorensen, whose father, State Representative Ken Sorensen, put up the seed money for a 501(c)(3) youth sailing program in his son’s memory. It sails from the beach at the Upper Keys Sailing Club on Buttonwood Sound, the sheltered bayside water off Key Largo where the club runs its own regattas, and the two organizations overlap on purpose: club members and their relatives can take an associate membership in the program, and the program’s regatta shows up on the club’s calendar.
The sessions follow the school year. Summer is the long one, weekdays from 9 to 3 from early June to early August for ages 6 to 18, split into learn-to-sail for the 6-to-12s in Optimists and RS Zests, Picos and Quests, and Club 420s for the teenagers. Fall and spring run as after-school sessions, Tuesday and Thursday evenings plus Saturdays, with Optimists for 7 to 14 and 420s from 13 and a regatta a month to give the training somewhere to go. A homeschool track meets from early September to early November for ages 7 to 17. Scholarships are available, and the program says so on every page; the executive director is John Brehm.
Every session here is a youth cohort. There are no adult classes and no private lessons, and an adult who wants to learn on Buttonwood Sound should look to the club instead.
The Buccaneer Blast is the program’s regatta and, by its own account, the largest youth regatta in the Florida Keys: 120 sailors raced the 2026 edition. It sails from Rowell’s Waterfront Park on Blackwater Sound, the county park at mile marker 104.5, on the first weekend of February with Opti Green and RWB fleets, youth ILCAs, Club 420s and windsurfers for ages 8 to 18. The 2027 edition, the eighteenth, checks in on Friday February 5 and races that weekend. For the boats a child moves through here and the other youth programs around the state, see youth sailing in Florida.
The Keys · Key Largo
ASA school on Buttonwood Sound, teaching from the Key Lime Sailing Club cottages at mile marker 99. Courses run on demand 363 days a year; stay in a cottage, learn on Florida Bay, and keep sailing the club's Catalina 22s free after you certify.
The Keys · Marathon
Middle-Keys ASA school running the full coastal-cruising pathway from Basic Keelboat through Advanced Coastal Cruising out of Marathon.
The Keys · Marathon
Youth sailing nonprofit at the Marathon Yacht Club, teaching ages 7 to 17 in Blue Dragons, Optis, Lasers, Sunfish and Flying Scots. The Sailing into STEM curriculum pairs boat handling with marine science, and scholarships keep it open to every Middle Keys family.