New small business Newport Sailing Lessons opens this summer

Aquidneck Islanders and Newport summer visitors alike will be thrilled to discover new sailing opportunities from Newport Harbor. Kate Richardson, a native Rhode Islander and U.S. Navy veteran, is now the proud small business owner of Newport Sailing Lessons. She teaches classes from her 1978 Pearson 30 sailboat, Hope, in Newport Harbor.

Sailing has been Richardson’s calling since she was little. Her father was involved in the military, “so I grew up going to Naval Station Newport, and that’s where I learned to sail,” she explains. Of all the military branches, joining the Navy, on or near the ocean, was a no-brainer, and in some ways the move from the Navy to a sailing company came naturally: “I’ve always really loved being on the to be water. . There had to be opportunities to sail outside the army and command ships,” says Richardson.

In other ways, though, the road to Newport Sailing Lessons was filled with strange twists and turns. Richardson spent time in Panama for the first time last winter working on a charter boat; it was the first time she lived and slept on a sailboat for an extended period of time outside the Navy. That job motivated her to buy her own sailboat to live aboard the ship. Sailboats that are smaller (less than 30 feet) can be fairly inexpensive – less than $5,000, depending on the condition of the boat and the owner’s needs, Richardson explains. “I was casually browsing Facebook Marketplace (…and) I saw one for sale that said the Newport dock was paying for 2023. That’s huge. That’s a game changer. You could wait all your life to get a berth in Newport.’

Seizing the opportunity, she purchased the boat and inherited the coveted spot in Newport Harbor in May 2023, intent on making her dreams of a summer live-aboard experience come true. Then Lyme disease and Bell’s palsy struck in the middle of Newport’s busy summer season, ruining her plans and preventing her from returning to work on the schooner Aquidneck in Newport. “Sailing is super unsafe if you show up less than 100 percent. You must be physically able. You must be fully present. It’s just like driving a car. You don’t want to get distracted or tired.”

Richardson realized she could not work in a physical area that required her to be “100 percent physically fit” as an employee. She interpreted her disability as a life lesson: “I need people to work for me.”

Her first thought was to use her boat, Hope, as an AirBnb, but provincial laws about houseboats and prejudices against AirBnbs, as well as the potentially unsafe environment of combining bars and boats, caused Richardson to switch from host to business owner. The boat, she realized, “is perfect for learning to sail.” It is so big that it is not a small dinghy for children – it can fit six adults – but it is not exactly a luxury charter boat either: it has a tiller, it keels very well and it feels the wind very well.” Back then, having the berth in Newport Harbor just felt “destined.” It was the perfect location to literally launch her company.

Richardson’s sailing lessons are officially open for the summer season. She has three captains who work with her to ensure continued availability for public lessons, private instruction and even sunset sails. Aboard Hope, sailors can expect 90-minute lessons, including instructions on how to raise the mainsail and pull the jib. Then, after sailing out of the harbor, students learn about wind direction and how to use the wind to maintain a steady course and course plan, the sail points, the jargon, learning to tack (bringing the bow through the wind) and how to jibe (bringing the stern of the ship into the wind) – two common maneuvers used in sailing. It takes practice, timing and teamwork to achieve smooth sailing, and by the end of the session student sailors should be working together smoothly and efficiently.

New sailors also learn the rules of the current (traffic patterns). “Newport Harbor is one of the busiest ports in the world,” Richardson claims. “There are a lot of sailing ships and fishing vessels, so there are some rules that the Coast Guard has put in place to make that go more smoothly.” Learning to obey the rules of the road at sea will only help the team become better and safer sailors.

Experience levels are fluid within the lessons. “The lessons are personalized. It won’t be exactly the same lesson every time; it will depend on who is on board,” so all sailors can expect a tailor-made experience, be challenged and learn something new.

Richardson recommends that people new to sailing get comfortable in the water. “If you’re on a nine-metre keelboat, it’s going to list. It won’t fall over! It’s not a dinghy, it can’t tip over – not in normal wind and tide situations – but I don’t want to scare anyone.” Heel is when the boat leans to one side and tilts toward the water. It is a natural phenomenon that can cause some alarm if someone is not used to sailing or the idea of ​​heeling in a boat.

But for those who aren’t so easily put off, Richardson assures that nothing can quite capture the feeling of being on the water, sailing. “It can be so exciting and exhilarating when there’s really nice wind, and it can also be very serene and calm. You do need your full presence to be there on the water, so it is a very nice hobby and experience. And on top of that, in Newport we are fortunate to have the landscape that we have: the Narragansett Bay, the lighthouses, the islands.” That’s something both native Rhode Islanders and tourists can agree on.