Sailing Event In Northport Harbor Looks To End Veteran Suicide

About 140 veterans and family members from Long Island and beyond will attend a “Let’s Take a Veteran Sailing” event this weekend in Northport Harbor.

SailAhead’s third annual event hosted by the Centerport Yacht Club will feature special guests Our Mates and their families. Our Mates are the name tags of 219 veterans who have taken their lives due to PTSD or an inability to adapt to life after the military.

SailAhead looks to honor the memory of those 219 veterans by flying in some of their family members, from all across the country, free of charge.

A fleet with more than 45 sailboats will set sail on Sunday, Aug 6. with the veterans on board. Greenlawn American Legion Post 1244 has also provided support for this event.

The purpose of this event is to honor Our Mates and their family members, spread PTSD awareness and spread awareness of SailAhead's program so more veterans can be helped.

The sailing event will last eight hours. The flotilla will sail together on the Long Island Sound while a helicopter flies through the fleet to take photos and video. Drone footage of last year's event can be found below:

SailAhead is a nonprofit that is dedicated to helping wounded veterans by using sailing as a form of therapy. SailAhead has taken over 1,000 veterans sailing in 2016.

For more information, go to www.sailahead.org.

Photo from 2016 Event (by SailAhead): Sean Duclay (l.), & Kilian Duclay (r.) introducing veteran George Eshleman (center), Director of Unified Warrior Foundation