ASA Featured Facility - Nelson Sailing Center

By Captain David Bell

If sailing is inherently environmentally-friendly, how do you make a sailing school greener? By using re-chargeable electric motors to get your fleet of instructional and rental boats away from and back to the dock? Okay, but how do you take it to the next level of green? How about harnessing the wind to provide the electricity that charges those motors, and while you’re at it, use that same wind to power your office and classroom facility.

That’s the idea of Gordon M. Nelson II, owner of Nelson Sailing Center on Toms River in Island Heights, N.J. “The wind conditions that make Barnegat Bay and Toms River one of the best sailing areas in the country also enable us to charge our boats’ electric motors and will generate the energy to heat and cool our new building,” says Gordon. “There is no greener way to sail.”

 He is building a 5,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art sailing school facility that incorporates the latest environmentally-friendly technology and materials, or as Gordon puts it, “A green building serving a green business.” Construction is with insulated concrete forms, a process that results in a highly energy-efficient structure that will be easy to heat and cool with power generated by the steady sea breezes that blow across Barnegat Bay.

 “People compare the Toms River area to Annapolis and Newport as a center of sailing activity, except we don’t have the commercial traffic and fickle winds,” says Jenny Nelson, the Sailing Center’s operations manager, a USCG-licensed Captain and ASA-certified instructor who also happens to be Gordon’s sister. “Our location just inside the mouth of  Toms River allows beginners to develop their sailing skills on protected waters with ideal winds. For the more skilled and adventurous, Barnegat Bay is just minutes away, with great destinations for day and overnight trips. People also appreciate Island Heights―our picturesque waterfront community that has been attracting sailors, artists, and vacationers for more than 100 years with its soothing breezes and Victorian charm.” She ought to know: the Nelsons have deep roots in the area. The coveted Commodore's Cup trophy, is awarded to one of the 13 Yacht Clubs with the most participation in Barnegat Bay races. It is dedicated in memory of their grandfather, George Nelson, for his many contributions to the sailing community. Their father, Gordon M. Nelson I, was a marine engineer with a passion for sailing who planted the seeds for the Sailing Center when he founded Nelson Marine Basin in 1965.

Nelson Sailing Center features a wide range of ASA-certified courses, with Basic Keelboat (ASA 101) taught on 23-foot Ensigns. “The Ensign is a time-tested design, perfectly suited for Barnegat Bay,” according to Gordon. As they become more proficient and confident, students can work their way up the region’s largest fleet of rental boats, including O’Days, Hunters, Sabres, and other monohulls up to 35 feet, as well as a 30-foot catamaran. “I’ve always wanted to be able to offer a wide variety of boats so that people can experience the range of hull, cabin, and cockpit types available.”

Nelson also offers crewed charters, private and group lessons, clinics and workshops, team building for corporations, New Jersey safe boating courses, winter sailing vacations in the Caribbean, and children’s programs from basic to advanced, including classes tailored to the Boy Scout Small Boat Sailing Merit Badge and Girl Scout Smooth Sailing Interest Project. “My idea is to make sailing available and affordable for anyone who is interested,” says Gordon.

“Since our beginning as an ASA school twelve years ago, some of our students have gone on to own their own boats, and even achieve national recognition in different one-design racing classes, but our greatest pleasure is teaching people the core skills that enable them to enjoy sailing, then see them follow their own paths, whether that be day sailing, cruising, or racing.” That philosophy is reflected by the students who have helped make Nelson Sailing Center one of ASA’s outstanding schools every year since 2004, and by Nelson’s ASA-certified and Coast Guard-licensed Captains, including five ASA outstanding instructors of the year.

“My goal is to build the finest sailing facility on the East Coast,” says Gordon. “We have great boats and instructors and a great location. The new building is the last piece of the puzzle.” Watch for that last piece to be in place later this spring, in time for the 2010 season.

For more information, visit http://www.nelsonsailingcenter.com/ or call Captain Jenny at (732) 270-6510.

NSC Instructors (left to right): Captain Gerald Pentlicky, Brian Krajcik, Patricia Wnek, Captain David Bell, Gordon Nelson III (future instructor), Captain Donald Conry, Captain Peeter Must (ASA Instructor of the Year 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2009), Captain Paul Lucier, Captain Jenny Nelson, Gordon Nelson II, Martha Nelson, Captain Anthony Coia, Captain Robert Warner

NSC goes even greener with its new facility scheduled to be completed for the 2010 sailing season

A view from the sailing center of our exclusive dock, mooring field, and the largest rental fleet in the Tri-State area of over 40 sailboats ranging from 19'-35'

Captain Anthony Coia, ASA Instructor of the Year 2006, 2007 & 2008, sails into the sunset with Fernando Fraticelli during ASA 104 and 114 certification on the 30' Gemini Catamaran

Captain Bob Edwards and group enjoy the steady winds of the Barnegat Bay during a crewed charter on "Explorer"

On one of our nine 23' Ensigns, Captain Robert Warner, multi-year Ensign Class bay champion, shares his skills with young sailors on the Toms River