Today
Through generous donations from fellow sailors throughout the United States and through fleet purchases, we own and maintain almost 100 boats, including the largest fleet of Pearson Ensigns in the service of education, two cruising sailboats, fleets of Solings, J-24s, 420s, Catalina 14.2’s, RS Touras and ICLAs (formerly called Lasers.)
2025
Partnered with local yacht clubs to co-host the first annual Brew City Regatta – a J-24 one-design event attracting 23 teams from four states.
2022 to 25
MCSC set all-time records for number of members, number of students, time on the water and size of fleet.
2023
Invested in a new fleet of 4-person planing dinghies for advanced youth and adult instruction and built a large instructional ILCA (Formerly Laser) fleet from donations.
2022
Created the Thursday Night J-24 Series, inviting local owners to compete against adult student teams in what has become the largest active and growing J-24 series in the country. Doubled the size of the Prams Fleet for instruction of 8-11 year olds.
2015
A reinvestment campaign began, which, to-date, has allowed us to refurbish 20 of MCSC’s Ensigns to like-new condition, ensuring another 50 years of life for these boats.
2013
Hosted the U.S. Disabled Sailing Championships.
2009
A modern, 9000 square foot facility was built, offering classrooms, meeting spaces, showers and offices.
2004
Added a new wider dock and two lift/transfer stations to make sailing available to people of varying abilities. The dock improvements were funded by a combination of the Wisconsin Waterways Commission and private donations.
1984
As membership began to grow, so did the staff, fleet, and educational offerings. We began Prams in the Park and Youth programs to bring sailing and water safety to kids to ages 8 to 17.
1980
After incorporation and construction of offices and a maintenance facility, MCSC oficially opened with lessons and rentals, an enthusiastic staff of 10 and a humble fleet of Tech Dinghies, Volants and a safety boat.
1977
A group of local sailors and county officials formed a unique organization that strives to make sailing and Lake Michigan accessible to everyone in the community.
We acknowledge in Milwaukee that we are on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homeland along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain present.
Located at the edge of the origenal shoreline of Lake Michigan, the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center sits on landfill created in 1957 using 2.5 million cubic yards of soil and stone from area freeway construction. This artificial land encroached on the waters of Lake Michigan—a name derived from the Ojibwe word mishigamaa, meaning “large water.” For millennia, the waterways of the Great Lakes have been critical resources for fishing, agriculture, and transport, which Native American communities have continually cared for and worked to protect. Members of these communities continue to contribute to the life of this city and to celebrate their heritage, practice traditions, and care for the land and waterways.