April 24, 2025

by Megan McNichols Mahon

Imagine the quiet confidence gained when a child steers a sailboat on Lake Michigan for the first time. Picture the sense of accomplishment in learning to float independently in a pool or the shared laughter during an exciting Seadog ride along Chicago’s shoreline.

April 24, 2025

by Diane Foote

The CYC Foundation seeks to achieve our mission through four levels of engagement: Introduction, Induction, Development, and Inspiration. The Foundation's Competition Fund is one way we implement programming at the "Inspiration" level, by awarding grants to support applicants’ training for and participation in prestigious national and international sailing competitions.

April 25, 2025

by Caroline O’Malley

This season, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation will welcome thousands of young sailors from across the city to Lake Michigan—many for the very first time. As we expand our afterschool programs into the late spring and fall, we’re asking the CYC community to help us outfit these sailors with the gear they need to stay safe, warm, and comfortable on J/100’s, Sonars, and 420s.

March 25, 2025

by Megan McNichols Mahon

In a bustling classroom on Chicago’s Near West Side, a group of middle school students huddle around their handcrafted anemometers, eyes wide with excitement as they record measurements and compare results––learning firsthand about the wind patterns that sailors navigate on Lake Michigan.

March 25, 2025

by Maggie Shea

As we look ahead to this summer, we are most excited by the traction we see among participants in our programs. We have dozens of youth returning this summer across multiple programs from all over the city, with many young boaters transitioning from our fun-based camp programs, like Adventure Boating at Belmont, into more structured sailing school classes to develop their skills.

February 27, 2025

by Lindsey Duda

Last summer, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation (CYCF) partnered with Youth for a Better Future (YBF) to provide swimming lessons, Adventure Boating Camps and sailing classes to local kids ages 6-18, and are excited to see nearly 50% of their participants are returning this summer to take classes at CYC Belmont’s sailing school. 

February 27, 2025

Picture the Commodore as an eight-year-old. While his father and mother were on their vintage 36’ wooden Chris Craft, he was out in the dinghy exploring the Kankakee and DesPlaines Rivers. He has never abandoned his enjoyment of boating adventures.

January 24, 2025

…take nearly 300 kids from across the city on six introductory Lake Michigan cruises.

…introduce sailing and Great Lakes ecology to 175 students on nine science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) cruises aboard the tall ship Inland Seas.

January 24, 2025

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated to our 2024 Annual Appeal! You helped us surpass our ambitious goal to raise $400,000, with more than $440,000 raised to support our 2025 programs!

CHICAGO, Dec. 6, 2024 – The Chicago Yacht Club Foundation has announced its first executive director, two-time Olympic sailor and Chicago native Margaret “Maggie” Shea.

November 25, 2024

by Nick Camino

The CYC Foundation is in the thick of our 2024 Annual Appeal! We have an ambitious goal, to raise $400,000 to fund an equally ambitious suite of programs in 2025. We're off to a strong start, but we can't do it without our dedicated supporters––YOU!

November 25, 2024

Incoming CYC Foundation Executive Director Maggie Shea is no stranger to boating, to hard work, or to success. She is an Olympian, having represented the United States in sailing in the Tokyo and Paris games; a two-time Pan American Games medalist; and an overall winner of the 2011 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac, which she raced aboard her family’s boat, Windancer.

October 25, 2024

by Megan McNichols Mahon

Getting more kids from underrepresented communities on the water this summer was the goal of a new collaboration between the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation and Columbia Yacht Club’s Chester Kuttner Foundation.

September 27, 2024

by Danyell Shin

This summer, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation (CYCF) partnered with BUILD Chicago Inc. to offer an exciting week-long Adventure Boating Camp, designed to inspire hope and provide new opportunities for youth in some of Chicago’s most challenging neighborhoods.

September 27, 2024

by Caroline O’Malley

This past summer, the Foundation embarked on an exciting journey to bring community sailing to Monroe Harbor! We had six wonderful weeks of fun aboard our graciously donated J100 sailboat and one of the Chicago Yacht Club's 23-foot Sonar keelboats.

August 27, 2024

The CYC Foundation's support for community organizations' swimming programs tripled this year, from 120 participants in 2023 to nearly 360 this year. Under this model, the community organizations choose the swim instruction provider and facility, and the Foundation offers financial support to enable as many children as possible to learn this vital life skill, critically important for young people in Chicago, with its proximity to Lake Michigan.

August 27, 2024

The CYC Foundation continued our flagship Lead HER Ship program in July 2024, with nine young women taking part in a five-day cruise on Lake Michigan aboard the 77-foot gaff-rigged tall ship Inland Seas.

Hardly a leisure cruise, this one, led by our educational partner the Inland Seas Education Association, had the teens serving as crew and learning to operate the boat, taking water samples from Lake Michigan and analyzing their contents, and standing night watch.

July 25, 2024

by Danyell Shin

Now in its second year, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation (CYCF) continues its partnership with the Judd Goldman Adaptive Sailing Foundation and the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab.

July 25, 2024

by Diane Foote

You’ve probably seen him around the Chicago Yacht Club; he attends many Club and Foundation events. You’ve likely heard about him and/or his own Foundation.

June 25, 2024

by Danyell Shin

For the third consecutive year, the Chicago Yacht Club Foundation and SOS Children's Villages in Chicago have forged a transformative partnership.