Young Campers Sail Against the Wind

Artful Sport Focuses, Opens Up Youths With Learning Disorders

Tim Hodge's long red hair blows away from his freckled face as he works the sail on a 14-foot boat on the St. Mary's River. His eyes gaze intently up at the sail while fellow sailor Tobin Cooper steers.

It's not the kind of focus one would expect from a 13-year-old with an attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

In fact, it's hard to tell that the Brendan Sail Training Program is a sailing camp for kids with learning disabilities.

The wind and water seem to bring out the youths' social sides, although many have autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. They chatter away with one another at lunch, man the sails and rudders intently and speak eloquently about sailing.

At least as eloquently as can be expected from teenagers.

"It's just fun to be outside," said Tim, of California. "It's just so cool."

The Brendon Sail Training Program, offered both in Annapolis and at St. Mary's College of Maryland, was founded 23 years ago by Jim Muldoon, now the chairman of the board of trustees at St. Mary's College. This year, 14 campers were at the St. Mary's session, which ended Friday.

Muldoon said he was inspired to create the program when he watched his 13-year-old son who, despite a learning disability, taught the crew members on his racing sailboat how to sail.

"This kid doesn't know right from left, and he's telling them port from starboard," Muldoon said. "This is a skill that you learn by feel, by intuition, by response, and it's not something you have to read [in] a book or study. What it has done is give these kids so much confidence."

Both the children and parents involved in Muldoon's program beam when talking about it. Tobin, 13, said he likes talking to his friends on the boat even more than sailing.

"It's just fun because you get to make friends," he said.

And that can be a significant step for some of the kids, said Lisa Kelley of St. Mary's City. Her son Dillon is autistic and has Fragile X syndrome, a genetic disorder that can lead to mental retardation. Dillon, she said, usually has trouble making friends because of his awkward social mannerisms, but that isn't the case at camp.

"The amazing thing about this camp is that he is one of the guys," she said.

Dillon, 14, is the camp's social butterfly. As he fidgets nervously with a water bottle, he brags to other campers and instructors about his 250-foot golf shot, and he says that he has never capsized when sailing.

His reason for liking sailing, echoed by many of the campers: "It's just awesome."