Mission

The Treasure Island Sailing Center is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to improve our community and the sport of sailing by providing access, facilities, and sailing instruction to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, skill levels, and physical abilities.

History

The Treasure Island Sailing Center Foundation mission is to support the growth of community sailing through seeking funding to provide sailing instruction, equipment, and facilities to people of all socioeconomic backgrounds, physical abilities, and skill levels.

The TISC youth outreach program began with 10 girls from the Life Learning Academy--a charter High School on Treasure Island and an affiliated program of the Delancey Street Foundation. Outreach program classes focused on teamwork while buliding communication and leadership skills through learning how to sail. Within a couple of years TISC's youth program grew to include over 230 kids through summer, afterschool, and weekend programs. Over 80% of the children participate on full scholarships and come to TISC from a variety of youth outreach programs from the city of San Francisco and the Bay Area. Within four years of TISC's inception the summer program included over 400 children, and fall and spring orientations and classes included 250 more.

In 2002, TISC also started an adaptive sailing outreach program offering introductory classes for disabled kids and adults, and advanced training for teams attempting to qualify for the 2004 Paralympic Sailing Team. These programs strive to offer physically disabled individuals the chance to compete as equals, demonstrate their independence, and free them of their wheel chairs. This program has been incredibly inspiring to all who are a part of it.

In 2003 TISC began to offer sailing orientations to adults who had never sailed before, and in 2004 TISC organized adult sailing clinics. The adult clinics include small keelboat certifications and dinghy sailing instruction and are offered in conjunction with the San Francisco Sea Scouts.

TISC was inspired and implemented by a group of long time sailboat racers who strive to make a difference in the sport of sailing--especially here on San Francisco Bay. It is no surprise then, TISC has been host to a number of highly competitive events--many of which are organized by neighboring yacht clubs such as the St. Francis, Golden Gate, and San Francisco Yacht Clubs. The location of TISC is reason enough for fleets to want to race there, but the good cause that it supports is certainly the biggest advantage. Racing began with the Olympic Trials in 2000, and has included the 2000 Vanguard 15 North Americans, the 2002 Vanguard 15 Nationals, the 2003 Vanguard 15 National Team Race Championship, the 2002 High School National Championships, the 2001 Collegiate PCC s in 2001, and the 2003 Hinman U.S. Team Racing Championships. It is our hope that within a few years, every weekend at TISC will be filled with sailors eager to improve their racing skills, training for an event, or teaching others about racing sailboats.

Treasure Island is on lease to the City of San Francisco from the U.S. Navy until final studies and remediation is complete, at which time the transfer of Treasure Island will be given to the city of San Francisco. The City of San Francisco, under the direction of the Treasure Island Development Authority, has given two year subterm leases to the TISC Foundation since 1998. TISC is on a no cost for service lease with the city of San Francisco, allowing all income from tenant storage of boats to be used for facility maintenance, upkeep, and most importantly for our youth and adpative outreach programs. TISC is one of three non profit projects included in the long term plans for the development of the island.

The Treasure Island Sailing Center Foundation is responsible for all fundraising activities, program development, and facility development plans associated with the Treasure Island Sailing Center. Many volunteers are dedicated to this project, and are eager to continue its success in making sailing easily accessible to the entire Bay Area community.

Thank you for joining us.

The Treasure Island Sailing Center Foundation filed its Articles of Incorporation and related other documents with the California Secretary of State on November 10, 1998. Further, the Foundation filed the Application of Recognition of Exemption and other related forms with the Internal Revenue Service on November 24, 1998. Approval was received May 1, 1999, at which time the Foundation became a non-profit, public benefit corporation, authorized to accept tax deductible donations for the purposes specified in its articles of incorporation under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Who We Are

President, Carisa Harris Adamson
>>Carisa Harris was a two time NCAA All-American and National Champion at Tuff's University and fifth place at the 1996 US Olympic Sailing Trials. She previously managed and coached one of the top Youth Programs in the Bay Area, and currently races 505's. She is presently working on a PHD in Environmental Health Sciences at UC Berkeley and is the Director of Special Projects for PreCare Inc.,  a company dedicated to lowering companies costs associated with work related injuries.

Vice President, Tom Allen
>>Tom Allen is a past Vice President and Director of US Sailing, the sports National Governing Body. He is also a past President and Director of the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association (PICYA), an association of 95 boating organizations in Northern California promoting boating safety and environmental education programs. He is currently on the Board of the Bay Planning Coalition, representing the interests of boaters in planning the effective use of Bay and Delta waterways. He has successfully raced his own boat on San Francisco bay for more than 40 years. Mr. Allen recently retired after 32 years in marketing at IBM.

Secretary, Bill Hoehler
>> Bill Hoehler is on the Boards of the Laguna Honda Hospital Volunteers and the St. Francis Yacht Club Foundation. He races a J/105, has been Commodore of the Tiburon Yacht Club, and was an officer of the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay. He is counsel to the Hanson Bridgett firm in San Francisco where he specializes in trust and estates law.

Treasurer, Chris Cole
>>Chris Cole has been enthusiastically involved with TISC even since he entered his first Big Team Regatta in 2003. Chris is currently Vice President and Senior Realtionship Manager of Private Banking for Mechanics Bank. Chris bring a wealth of experience in working non-profits over the past 15 years. Chris is also a board member for Little Kids Rock and serves as an advisor to numerous non-profits in the bay area.

Director, Terry Anderlini
>>Mr. Anderlini is past Admiral of the Knarr Association, one of the most prestigious sailing fleets on the Bay. He successfully races his Knarr at the international level, and was the fleet champion 6 times. He has held key leadership positions in several prominent boating organizations, and co-authored and promoted substantial changes to the sailing rules promoting water safety and the use of personal floatation devices. He is senior partner in the law firm of Anderlini, Finkelstein, and Emerick, LLP.

Director, Julia Cashin
>>Julia Cashin is a marketing communications consultant with over 12 years experience. Her passion for children began nearly 20 years ago when she worked with inner city youth, engating them in summer activities off the water in New Hampshire. Julia owns and actively campaigns a J105 on San Francisco Bay and serves on the St. Francis Yacht Club Marketing committee.

Director, Doug Cefali
>>Doug has been an active dinghy sailor in California since 1968. He presently races Snipes and Lasers. He is also the SF Bay are regional director for the United States Optimist Dinghy Association (USODA). Doug has two children that race optimist dinghies both locally and nationally. The family has a Ranger-37 used for cruising here in San Francisco. Doug is the President of the Malcolm Properties, Inc., a real estate development company headquartered in San Francisco.

Director, Jack McDonald
>>Jack McDonald is an Executive Vice President/Partner responsible for Sales at Conifer Securities. Jack joined Conifer in the Summer of 2005 from UBS Investment Bank, where he was a Managing Director in the Equities Division . Based in San Francisco, Jack was responsible for managing UBS's Institutional Equity business in the Western Region. Jack received his B.A. from Georgetown's School of Foreign Service in 1988 and his Juris Doctor from Georgetown Law Center in 1993. Jack is a member of Georgetown's Board of Governors and an active supporter of Hoyas Unlimited (Georgetown Athletics Fundraising organization), serving as President from 2002-2004 and receiving the Greg Carroll Award for outstanding service in 2005. Jack has extensive dinghy sailing experience, serving as Georgetown's Varsity Team Captain in 1987 and 1988. Jack also was Head Varsity Sailing Coach from 1990-1993. From 1999-2000 Jack and his wife Jen sailed from Annapolis, Maryland to Auckland, New Zealand onboard their Valiant 40 " Xiomara." Jack lives in San Francisco with his wife, two daughters & son.

Director, Herb Meyer
>>Herb Meyer is Chairman of the US Sailing Associations Sailors with Special Needs Committee. He is Rear Commodore and on the Board of Directors of the BAADS (Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors) program. Herb is an avid sailor and races in many adapted sailing events around the world. He was named the 2001 sailor of the year at Corinthian Yacht Club. Herb is also on the board of directors for sail ability USA, an organization that promotes accessible sailing for everyone.  

Director, Jay Palace
>>Jay Palace is an avid sailor and racer whose accomplishments include competing at the national and international levels in the J24, Farr 40, and Vanguard 15 fleets. Educated at the University of New Hampshire (BA) and the Harvard Business School (MBA), Jay worked for leading technology firms such as IBM, Adobe Systems, and Digital Think before starting GEL (Group Experiential Learning). He founded the BIG TEAM regattas in 2003 and has since formed 3 teams of volunteers in 3 cities who've collectively raised $280,000 for non-profit youth and adaptive sailing programs in DC, San Francisco, and Chicago. In addition to running GEL, the nations leading experiential training company specializing in sailboat based and adventure-based events, he sits on the board of 3 community sailing centers and youth programs. He also provides alliance consulting services to entrepreneurial ventures. The most exciting current project is assisting a 2008 Volvo Ocean Race team with sponsorship marketing and development.

Director, Anthony Sandberg
>>Anthony is the President and founder of OCSC, one of the most successful sailing schools in the country. An active sailor since early childhood in Hawaii, he has been entralled with the sport. He has cruised in most of the dream locations around the world from the South Pacific, Caribbean, and Central America to the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, North Africa and Asia. The heritage, history and traditions of the sport are a lifetime passion which more than anything he loves to share. His vision for OCSC was to provide a modern way to access the best of sailing in an approachable and affordable way. Starting with high quality training and state of the art equipment, the Club has become a portal to a lifetime of adventure for many thousands of sailors.

Director, Robert Tennant

Robert Tennant is the Chief Executive Officer at Recommind, Inc. the leading provider of search-powered information risk management software. Prior to joining Recommind he served as the managing director of Swiftsure Capital and in senior positions in the Java Software divisions of Sun Microsystems, where he led the marketing of the Java platform into consumer electronics. Mr. Tennant came to Sun through acquisition of Beduin Communications, a company he co-founded and where he served as CEO and President until its acquisition. He has sailed for many years in the San Francisco Bay area and is currently active in the Melges 24 and 505 classes. Prior to moving to San Francisco, Mr. Tennant sailed on the Canadian Sailing Team and has completed and medaled at many national and international championships. Mr. Tennant is a board member of several successful young companies, including Carbonnetworks, the leading company in the emerging field of carbon management software, and a graduate of the University of Victoria, the University of California at Berkeley, and Columbia University, from which he has an MBA.                                                                                                                                                                   

What We Do

TISC Youth Sailing Program has been providing free sailing lessons to kids involved with a variety of outreach programs. We have taught over 1,500 kids to sail! Our goal is to instill kids with the skills of teamwork, communication, and decision-making. While learning these kids are gaining responsibility and facing challenges. At the same time they are having fun and making new friends for a lifetime. It is our goal to encourage new and diverse individuals to take interest in the sport of sailing.

TISC Adaptive Sailing Program provides lessons, training, coaching and racing for introductory and advanced disabled sailors. We work with the community and national organizations to provide the disabled community of the Bay Area with a safe and fun place to sail, train and race. Participants have included children and adults, individuals and groups, Paralympic athletes and non-sailors, Public and private handicapped recreation centers, Rehabilitation and Physical Therapy organizations and disables sports organizations. Affiliations include; The Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors (BAADS); US Sailing, Sailors With Special Needs (SWSN); SailAbility - USA; Shake-A-Leg Newport; Access Dinghy Association.

TISC Adult Sailing Program provides beginner, intermediate and advanced sailing classes in small keelboats and dinghies. Classes are held for one weekend or two consecutive weekends. The small keelboat class provides a US Sailing Certification for participants who successfully pass the class. There are partial and full scholarships for those adults who volunteer their time to TISC.

TISC Racing Program provides easy access to racing areas with different conditions, has docks and hoists needed to support dinghies and small keelboats and space for lots of boats. The Vanguard 15, Cal Sailing team, 505 and Star fleets train and compete out of TISC regularly. Racing areas that are accessible from TISC include Clipper Cove, Emeryville flats and Berkeley Circle. Past events have included the 2000 Soling, Star, Laser and Europe Class Olympic Trials, Collegiate Pacific Coast Championship, 2000 Vanguard 15 North American Championship. In 2002 the High School nationals will be held here. In addition to providing a venue TISC can provide race management. All fees from your event go into supporting our Youth and Adaptive Sailing Programs.

• Youth Instruction: This committee involves teaching kids how to sail. Others involved in this committee help with the organization and events associated with Youth Instruction.
• Adaptive Sailing: Volunteers coach, instruct and support training and adaptive events.
• Adult Sailing: Volunteers help to instruct and organize adult sailing orientations and classes
• Racing: Involvement can range from being on the race committee for a certain regatta, being the PRO of an event, or regatta chair to plan an event.
• Fundraising Involvement can range from grant writing, database growth, to event planning, or presenting to parties interested in the growth and development of the Treasure Island Sailing Center.
• Public Relations: Assisting with our newsletters, press releases, and communicating with the media about upcoming events. This also includes special events designed to increase awareness of the TISC Organization.
• Administration: database management, letter writing, archiving photos etc.

The bigger picture and long term vision of TISC is to create a self-perpetuating cycle where the components of the cycle reflect each of our programs: Youth, Adult, Adaptive, and Racing. Regional and Nationally acclaimed sailboat racers teach leadership, sportsmanship, and teamwork to: Disabled Sailors, Inner City and Bay Area Youth, and Adult new-comers to sailing, through the forum of sailing. This experience provides new opportunities (both on and off the water), friendships, and skills to people who never thought they could ever learn to sail. As they improve, they in turn can teach others and/or race at TISC, providing jobs, fostering better competition, and a more diverse sailing community. The cycle repeats itself providing more and more opportunities for people to learn to sail.

Testimonials

A message from the Board of Directors

2009 marked the tenth anniversary of the Treasure Island Sailing Center Foundation. It is worth taking a moment to reflect on the impact that we’ve had on our community. We started our summer in 1999 with 10 girls who had never been on a boat. I was their instructor on a boat donated by the Navy with gear donated by West Marine. Some believe that summer was a test to see if this type of program was possible in San Francisco Bay. We knew it was the start to something much more.

Since 2009, we have introduced sailing on San Francisco Bay to thousands of kids and adults. By our estimate, approximately 8,000 youth and adults have been through one of our programs. We take pride in the fact that most of our participants would never have experienced sailing if not for our program.

We would like to thank our numerous supporters over the years, without them serving our mission would not be possible. With them, our scholarship rate averages 75%; for some programs it is near 100%. We have opportunities for kids of all different socioeconomic backgrounds and these programs give them knowledge and understanding that reaches far beyond the basics of sailing. With the economic crisis in 2009, the TISC Foundation dramatically cut back our operating and capital budget; this left us with a very small team focused on supporting our basic programs as we weathered the storm. The TISC Board members and our Operations Director, Lacey Todd, really stepped up to help with daily operations and we all owe them our thanks for keeping the organization running.

We start 2010 financially solid and are looking to grow our programs and our onsite team. We would like to meet the needs of our community and realize the opportunities that TISC can offer. Already, we have been fortunate to have Michelle Ross join our team as our Executive Director. She comes with years of experience from the Gap, Inc. and has made significant operational improvements in her short tenure with us. We are certain that her expertise and leadership will allow us to serve our mission. Elsie Eustis also re-joined our team as Head Instructor. She is taking charge of our fleet, programs, and team of instructors to make sure they are ready for a busy season of sailing.

The remainder of 2010 will be focused on some key objectives including:
• Expanding our fleet of boats to meet the demand of our growing programs
• Expanding the opportunities for those with disabilities
• Expanding recreational opportunities for adults and families through adult sailing classes and“Fun Fridays”
• Expanding the opportunities for youth to return to our classes and experience ongoing sailing opportunities
• Expanding and improving our facility and continuing our long term plans for a permanent TISC Facility
• Growing our reserve assets

We feel that these objectives give us a good foundation for the growth and development as the TI Development project gets underway. Of course, we will need your continued support to achieve these objectives. I want to thank all of you who have generously supported us year after year and thank you in advance for any time, financial, or other support that you can provide us in 2010 and beyond. We look forward to continuing this program for the San Francisco Bay Area and sailing communities for years to come.

Carisa Harris,
President, Board of Directors