Sailing Camp Empowers Kids on the Autism Spectrum

Spectrum Sailing provides maritime education, programming, and outreach for autistic individuals. Courtesy Spectrum Sailing

Sailing enthusiast Scott Herman was looking for a sailing program in Charleston, South Carolina, for his son who is on the autism spectrum. Upon learning that none of the sailing programs in his area were equipped to provide his son instruction, Herman decided to start his own camp.

Born modestly out of necessity, Spectrum Sailing became the first sailing camp specifically created to serve people on the autism spectrum. The first camp was held in 2017 with a maximum capacity for ten sailors. When seventy applied, Herman quickly realized the impact that his new endeavor might have on the community of kids on the autism spectrum. 

“From the very start, I wanted to build a program where we really do hold a camp,” Herman says. “These kids aren’t the ones who get picked to be on the school team. They don’t have drawers full of team shirts. These kids spend almost every day with their parents, who are constantly looking for new things for them to try. So, for three days, these kids get to spend time with camp friends. They tie knots. They laugh at silly camp jokes. And while they’re doing that, maybe their parents get a break as well.” 

The camps are staffed by a combination of Spectrum Sailing leadership and sailing instructors from the host clubs, who receive advanced training in working with kids on the spectrum. On each boat, there’s a second adult volunteer—some of whom travel long distances to provide the help. Local sailors sometimes lend their boats to take parents out to watch. By the end of the third day, it’s more than a boat ride. The kids are sailing the boats, and the instructors are just riding along. 

Harken CEO Bill Goggins (left) and Spectrum Sailing Founder Scott Herman (right) discuss the success of the program at a special event held by Harken during the Annapolis Sailboat Show. Andrew Parkinson

This year alone, ten camps have been held from Newport Beach, California, to Portland, Maine, and from Holland, Michigan, to Houston, Texas. Each camp was fully attended, giving more than 400 campers the confidence-building experience of learning to sail this year. More than 100 volunteers gave their time and effort to make it all happen, and even more growth is planned for 2025. 

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According to Herman, the biggest challenge remains how to scale the camp initiative to meet the demand. Unfortunately, for every camper accommodated, currently, at least three must be turned away. 

“Harken joined as a national sponsor of Spectrum Sailing in 2023,” said Harken CEO Bill Goggins. “We watched how Spectrum Sailing campers would come in on Day One as halting first-timers—sometimes not wanting to leave their parents—and leave after the camp picture on Day Three feeling like they’ve discovered something that they didn’t know they had inside. The expressions on their faces are the same ones you see from any first-time sailor, old or young, who first experiences sailing’s magic. ‘I can do this. I got in a boat. I did this and it was really fun.’ And that just goes to show how being exposed to sailing can be life-changing for these kids.

“It teaches self-reliance in a way that sports with lots out-of-bounds lines can’t,” added Goggins. “We started Harken Blockheads to help pass that along to the next generation of sailors. Scott’s concept for Spectrum Sailing felt like it might work similarly. Then we went to a camp, and we saw how they did it. And they do it well. 

Through the generosity of both the autism and sailing communities, Spectrum Sailing is able to offer camps in numerous locations around the U.S. at no cost to the sailors. Courtesy Spectrum Sailing

“They bring specialists to teach the local sailing instructors who host the camps how to instruct kids who are differently enabled. They bring a curriculum that is tested and tweaked and proven to work. Then they watch the power of sailing work in these people’s lives. And in that incredibly loving and organized environment, sailing delivers. You can see it on their faces. You can see it in the way the kids run to camp on Day Three where they might have held back on Day One. And then there are the stories you don’t always get to see in what sailing does for these kids days and weeks later. Those things are sometimes even more incredible.”

For more on Spectrum Sailing, visit their website. 

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