Mission

Sail San Francisco is a non-profit organization created to foster international goodwill and friendships through sail training.

The Tall Ships Challenge™ Series

The Tall Ships Challenge is a series of sailing races, linked by visits to selected ports in a region, in which young people sign on as crew members of tall ships ranging from sloops to large square-riggers and pit their nautical skills, courage, and endurance against each other in friendly competition. In port, the crews relax and meet their competitors as well as their local hosts in programs and festivals designed to show off their ports, the ships and their crews, and the local region. The Tall Ships Challenge series is an annual event taking place in the summer months, and each year it involves a different region of the United States and Canada. Organized by the American Sail Training Association in conjunction with host organizations in each port, its purpose is to provide young people with the opportunity for adventure, challenge and personal development.

In Tall Ships Challenge races, young people tackle the challenge of learning to work together to make a complex sailing ship sail safely and swiftly to its intended destination, the challenge of uncertainty of a natural environment they can't control, and the challenges of fear and self-doubt. By doing so they gain the skill and self-confidence that will make them better able to overcome the challenges of everyday life in a fast-paced and complicated world.

Sail San Francisco Board Members
Honorary Board Members

Visit Our Sponsors

Alison Healy
Executive Director & CEO

Daniela Rahm
Director of Operations

Interns
Gert-Jan Dutman, Holland
Natali Elbaum, Argentina
Emilia Garcia, Spain
Cesar Ordonez, Ecuador
Maria Laura Panizza, Argentina
Masakatsu Yamamoto, Japan