Middle Keys Sailing

Middle Keys Sailing is the program; the MYC Educational Foundation is the nonprofit that funds and runs it. The distinction matters for anyone trying to work out whether they can sail here, because the Marathon Yacht Club is private and this is not. MYCEF was established in 2013, describes itself as supported by but independent of the club, and the club donates the use of its facilities. Sailing happens off the club’s Gulf-side docks at 825 33rd Street; enrolling takes an application to MYCEF.

The summer program runs for ages 7 to 17 across three tracks: beginner and early intermediate learn-to-sail, intermediate and advanced, and racing clinics covering rules, tactics, mark roundings and starts. Students sail Blue Dragons, Optimists, Lasers, Sunfish and Flying Scots. Every class also teaches what the foundation calls Sailing into STEM, its own curriculum threading marine ecology and marine-careers education through the sailing: students snorkel, join coastal clean-ups, study shorebirds and underwater life, and take field trips to local marine sites with guest lecturers. Everyone passes a swim test first.

The money side is the part worth knowing. MYCEF provides the instructors and maintains the boats, and it funds program scholarships so that a Middle Keys family’s finances do not decide whether their kid sails, specifically engaging at-risk youth and partnering with Hammock House and Curry Hammock State Park. It also awards $1,000 in scholarships each year to Marathon High School seniors heading into marine services, sciences and trades, presented at Class Night the Tuesday before graduation.

The season ends in racing. The Mixer in the Middle regatta runs each July off the club, open to ages 7 to 17 in Blue Dragons, Optis, Sunfish, Lasers and C420s, with an entry fee that covers a poolside meal and a shirt. The 2026 edition sailed on July 11; 2027 dates post on the foundation’s site when they are set.

Adults get a narrower offer: private and semi-private lessons by appointment, with preference given to parents and adult relatives of the youth students, on the theory that the whole family should be sailing by the end of the summer. Space is limited and the terms depend on the session, so their site is the place to check. The instructors are local. The senior instructor grew up in the Keys, started sailing at nine, and has taught here five summers running.