Smooth Sailin’
CTA sponsored a boat for the 2022 New York Architect’s Regatta hosted in September 2022, and had five of its very own sailors aboard a J-24 sailboat in the Hudson River, racing to raise funds to provide waterfront access and educational experience to a wide audience of various socioeconomic backgrounds. Since 2001, the New York Architects Regatta has brought together members of the architecture and design communities to complete and fundraise for nonprofit organizations providing waterfront access and education to all New Yorkers.
Over the past few years, the Regatta has helped to realize amazing accomplishments such as successfully lobbying congress and the NYS Legislature to enact laws that protect our drinking water supply, modifying a fleet of sailboats so that people with spinal cord injuries, many of them combat veterans, can sail, bringing classes of elementary and middle school students out for a day of sailing mixed with science lessons on the Long Island Sound, providing leadership training, social services, college application support, STEM classes, and scholarships to students all over the NYC area, and finally supporting the US Olympic Sailing team, and especially, the US sailing team representative to the Paralympic Games.
One of CTA’s very own employees came across this opportunity about a month before the event, and an office-wide message was sent out asking for interest and participants for the regatta. Five members of CTA staff (also known as the “sailors”) volunteered and committed to raise a minimum of $2,500 to participate in the regatta. The sailors reached out to contractors, consultants, friends, family, and employees of the company, to gain financial support necessary to secure a sailboat on race day, with CTA itself making a generous donation to our team’s cause. At the end of the fundraising period, CTA was proud to have raised a total of $3,445 in just two and a half weeks, an achievement that we are very proud of.
The team was a group of all first-time sailors, and welcomed the challenge of sailing on a rainy day in the Hudson River with a great attitude and determination for success. The sailors, Nadja, Christian, Saša, Ben and Isabel, along with their trusty skipper Thomas, took to the waters and utilized their communication skills and strong sense of teamwork to excel during the races. CTA’s sailboat placed 6th in race one, 4th in race two, and 7th in race three. For a boat of first-time sailors, Thomas assured us that our listening skills, teamwork and above all else, our goal to have fun, helped us excel.
It was very encouraging to be able to support a new cause and get involved in something we had no exposure to, all while making a difference. We hope to continue supporting this cause on an annual basis and host a boat in the competition in future years!
“We were basically all first-time sailors taking on a stormy race day on the Hudson River with a lot of competition. It was really great to have everyone working together, especially with our skipper Thomas, who was a first-timer to the Architect’s Regatta as well. Thomas helped us learn how we could work, move, and steer together, in order to have the smoothest sail and most direct path to the finish lines. Sailing requires a precise balance of team work, communication, and a little bit of crawling around and leaning, and we all had a great time participating. Our team got better and better every race, and we even placed in 4th for one of them. I can speak for all the other sailors when I say we can’t wait to participate again!”