Remote control Laser sailboats

My husband Robert and I started a remote control sailboat rental business July 4th 2016 called SailBOT (www.sailbots757.com) based in Norfolk, Virginia. We operate in a body of water called The Hague which is just steps away from The Chrysler Museum of Art.

We teach people the fundamentals of sailing using totally wind-fuled remote control sailboats called Nirvanas. We currently have eight Nirvana class boats (5' tall x 3' long) that we rent out.

SailBOT is loads of fun.  We use an FPV (First Person View) camera and even add LEGO mini figures to help kids and adults see sailing from every point of view.

Robert volunteers as a sail instructor at Nauticus Sailing Program here. He also holds the Guinness World Record for longest distance ever sailed in a dinghy (male) for the Laser class dinghy. See www.Robertsuhay.com.



I am a writer, mother of four boys and a foster daughter. I also run the Norfolk Initiative for Chess Excellence (NICE) teaching chess to at-risk kids and others in our community for free. See www.nicechess.net

Together, we get kids into sailing in imaginitive new ways from taking them out with the Old Dominion University sailing team to our new RC business.

Now want to expand our ability to reach and teach people about sailing and Laser dinghies in particular by creating a new fleet of RC Lasers.

Our goal is to create a remote control Laser fleet of 10 boats ($500 each + shipping) to be used for sailing and tactic and instruction. This would be the beginning of of a pipeline from first contact to real hands-on full-size Laser sailing.

We made the decision to add the fleet after we invited the RC Laser fleet in Virginia Beach to come sail with us for the day.

It just happened that the Park Place Child Life Center for at-risk kids was on a field trip to the museum that day. Seeing all the kids just standing around after eating their lunches nearby we  gave them a free hour with our boats. But we didn't have nearly enough boats. Kids had to go two to a controller.



As you can see in the video, the boats with the colorful, printed sails, are our Nirvanas. The white sails on the bigger boats are the Laser club boats.

Wouldn't it be awesome to have a whole fleet of those bigger boats to teach kids? How amazing would it be to see all those boats on the water every day?

The only way we can afford to keep giving away free sessions is with a GoFundMe campaign to supply the fleet, so we aren't in the red.

Every day we operate these boats and create interest in learning to sail real sailboats. You can help us do that.

See more on our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/ channel/UCum1h6_yUAZ35B_ ZcpTHmkA

We would be so thankful for the opportunity to expand our business to include regular free sessions with needy kids. We would love to bring the joy of sailing to more people with this unique opportunity.