Clearwater Community Sailing Center

WEDNESDAY NIGHT RACING CANCELLED: This week’s Wednesday Night Racing is unfortunately cancelled due to heavy winds. We hope to see you on the water next week.

Be sure to call 727-517-7776 to reserve your boat (first come, first serve!). See you next week!

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT 🎓: LEONA

Today we are celebrating graduating senior Leona Mounts, CCSC sailor!

Leona just graduated from Northside Christian School. She has been sailing at CCSC for 10 years, most recently on our 420 team.

Leona is committed to Oglethorpe University as a student athlete on their Lacrosse team! She plans to study Business/ Pre-Law, with the goal to reach law school.

One piece of advice Leona has for younger sailors: “Find what you love and do it. Whether it’s 420s, Lasers, Windsurfing, or any type of fleet, sailing is about variety and being on the water. If you love what you are doing, there are no wrong answers to what you should sail or who you should sail it with.”

Congratulations, Leona, we know you’ll go on to do great things!

This month’s Member of the Month is youth sailor Micah Wahba. Micah just moved up from our Opti race team and is on the path towards Laser sailing. 

From: Born in Tampa, lives in Clearwater Beach. 

Sailing for: 6 seasons 

Sailing Experience: Micah followed in his brother Elijah’s footsteps sailing at CCSC, joining our Opti Green fleet at the age of 8. Micah won the Valentine’s Day Regatta in Green Fleet in 2024, at which point he moved up to the Red White and Blue team. In 2025 Micah qualified for the Optimist Team Trials at the next year’s Valentines Day regatta in St. Petersburg, re-qualifying at Sunshine States in Jensen Beach and won the Overall Red White and Blue Opti Class at Sailfest in Sarasota in 2026. At Team Trials in 2026, he qualified for a spot on the National Development Team, as well as received an invitation to compete internationally. 

Current favorite boat to sail: Laser

Best sailing memory: “Going to [Optimist] Team Trials. I had to qualify to make it there, so it’s probably the most impressive thing I’ve done in my sailing,” Micah says. 

Favorite part about sailing at CCSC: “ The coaches are very good, the community and the wind- and the water is really pretty.” 

What’s next: Micah hopes to stay at CCSC and begin competing in Lasers. His excitement was palpable when he shared why he’s excited to move from Optis to Lasers: “If you look at the front of an Opti, it’s flat, like a bathtub. So if you hit a wave, it stops. You have to do so much body movement to get through a wave. With a Laser, the sail is huge, it’s incredibly fast, and it’s made to go through water. Hiking is also more comfortable on a laser- you have three feet instead of five inches of rail,”. 

Thanks to Micah for being an active part of our sailing center youth team community, we look forward to seeing where your racing takes you!

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT 🎓: HUNTER

Today we celebrating graduating senior Hunter Schardt, CCSC sailor and windsurfer!

Hunter is graduating from Osceola Fundamental High School. He has been sailing at CCSC for 10 years and windsurfing for 6.

Hunter is going to Clemson this fall and plans to sail during college. He is majoring in business with plans towards international business sales in healthcare after graduation.

One piece of advice Hunter has for younger sailors: “Don’t practice till you get it right, practice until you can’t get it wrong”

Congratulations Hunter, we know you’ll go on to do great things!

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT 🎓: LELAND

Today we are celebrating graduating senior Leland Sokolowski!

Leland is graduating from Osceola High School with his AA degree from SPC. He’s sailed at CCSC since 6th grade, most recently on our 420 race team.

Leland is going to USF in the fall and Sailing there for two years. During this time he plans to continue to sail Birdyfish with Hunter [CCSC sailor and teammate] since they’re doing well.

One piece of advice Leland has for younger sailors: “Use the opportunity you have now to build friendships that will last a lifetime and allow you sail more often.”

Congratulations Leland, we know you’ll go on to do great things!

Confidence • Independence • Excitement • Challenge - and most importantly- FUN! Sailing Camp is skill building meets summer fun- and the Countdown is ON! Less than ONE week until our first camp session- we’re so excited to have your kids sail with us!

Our first couple of weeks are almost filled- but we still have plenty of spots open later on in the summer. Be sure to sign up early so you don’t miss out! https://www.sailclearwater.org/summer-camp