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Post Date: Friday, January 22, 2021 |
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Thomas Atkins, the Commodore of The Sheboygan Yacht Club,
was recently elected into the Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation’s Hall of
Fame. The Lake Michigan Sail Racing
Federation is a not-for-profit charitable association of individual Yacht
Clubs, sailing groups, and individual sailors located in Illinois, Indiana,
Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Atkins was
recognized for his lifelong participation and dedication to the sport of
sailing, especially for his role in introducing people of all ages who were
inspired by his enthusiasm and interest in teaching sailing to others.
Tom has been actively involved in sailing for nearly his
entire life. He created a junior sailing
program at the Toledo Country Club, helped initiate the University of Toledo
Sailing Club, and established a sailing program for the Aquatics Department at
the University of Pittsburgh.
In 1989 he established his own marketing business in
Sheboygan, applying his skills to create, improve and manage sailing programs
successfully. The Sheboygan Yacht Club’s Commodore asked Tom to chair a
committee with the directive of starting a junior sailing program in Sheboygan.
Tom’s Foundation acquired a fleet of ten Optimist dinghies
and the organization matured into the Sheboygan Youth Sailing Club, which now
has fleets of J/24s, Lightnings, 420s, Lasers, a high school sailing team, and
adult sailing lessons, now serving several hundred people per season.
Atkins
becomes the fourth SYC member to join this select company of recognized great
lakes sailors, preceded by SYC members Terry Kohler (2010), Peter W.
Reichelsdorfer (2013), and Rich Reichelsdorfer (2016). |
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