The Interscholastic Sailing Association also known as ISSA is the organization that serves as the governing authority for all

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

competition between both public and private secondary schools throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The organization's headquarters is located in

Barnstable, Massachusetts The Town of Barnstable ( ) is a town in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the county seat of Barnstable County. Barnstable is the largest community, both in land area and population, on Cape Cod, and is one of thirteen Massachusetts municipaliti ...

History and organization

The ISSA was formed in 1930 to govern sailing

regattas Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

between preparatory schools in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. Now, the ISSA is organized into seven District Associations within ISSA that schedule and administer regattas within their established regions: * New England Schools Sailing Association * Middle Atlantic Scholastic Sailing Association * South Atlantic Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association * South East Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association * Midwest Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association * Northwest Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association *

Pacific Coast Inter-Scholastic Sailing Association The Pacific Coast Interscholastic Sailing Association fosters high school sailing for the California Coast and Hawaii. The high school sailing season traditionally begins with the Sea Otter Regatta in October and for most ends with the PCCs in Apr ...

Individual schools are also responsible for scheduling dual meets and team-racing events. Although there are over 350 high schools across the United States that field varsity sailing teams, relatively few of these schools own their own boats. Instead, most schools have established partnerships with community sailing organizations, colleges, or yacht clubs in order to gain access to a fleet of boats. Additionally, most high school sailing teams are involved with fundraising. Many high school sailors go on to participate in college sailing (governed by the

Intercollegiate Sailing Association The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is a volunteer organization that serves as the governing authority for all sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. History The fi ...

). Both college varsity teams (such as

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

) and club teams (such as the

Vanderbilt Sailing Club Vanderbilt may refer to: People *Vanderbilt (surname) *Vanderbilt family Places In the United States: *Vanderbilt, California, a former gold-mining town *Vanderbilt, Michigan, a village * Vanderbilt, Nevada, a ghost town * Vanderbilt Mansion Nat ...

) recruit high school sailors. The ISSA partners with

Vanguard Sailboats Vanguard Sailboats was one of the most successful sailboat builders. It was founded in 1967, and is now owned by LaserPerformance. History Vanguard Sailboats was founded in 1967 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA by Peter and Olaf Harken. The brothe ...

to help sponsor its national regattas.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.hssailing.org/ 1930 establishments in the United States High school sports associations in the United States Organizations based in Massachusetts Sports organizations established in 1930 Sailing in the United States Yachting associations in the United States Youth sailing