
James Fox-Smith
Michele McLindon, daughter of Pelican Yacht Club founder Louis J. Thibodeaux, coaches summer sailing camp participants learning how to bail out a sailboat.
Touring the British Virgin Islands, exploring ancient histories off the coasts of Turkey and Greece, navigating the stars: those are just a few of the adventures that sailors, educators, and best friends Roger Seals and Louis J. Thibodeaux experienced together on the water. At the inaugural The Louis J. Thibodeaux Pelican Yacht Club Youth Sailing Program’s launch this summer, Seals is hoping to help young learners catch the yachting bug, too.
Founded in honor of Thibodeaux, who passed away in 2020, the Youth Sailing Program is the first of its kind in False River, providing week-long camps for youth ages eight to seventeen. Thanks to a grant from the Boo Grigsby Foundation, which funds charitable organizations in Louisiana, the camp was offered at no cost to students, providing lunch, textbooks, and PFDs (personal floating devices). And the boats? The camp utilised Optimist Prams, a Daysailer, and a Sunfish “to introduce youths to handling a jib and functioning as a team,” Seals said.

James Fox-Smith
Roger Seals, the founder of The Louis J. Thibodeaux Pelican Yacht Club Youth Sailing Program.
For Seals, who spent almost thirty-five years teaching at LSU, sailing is an around-the-world ticket, and he hopes that campers will be inspired to pick up sailing not only as a sport but as a vehicle for lifelong learning and adventure. “A lot of sports that kids get involved in, they do during the high school years, maybe a few in college, and that’s it,” he said. “This is a lifelong activity. It engages you physically. It engages you mentally.”
[Read more about the Pelican Yacht Club in this story from our May 2018 issue.]
Given that Seals had to increase enrollment for both sessions, which both sold out, it seems kids are excited to step into the helm. Seals also acknowledges the barriers for entry that sailing can have, and aims to target underserved communities for the opportunity.

James Fox-Smith
Students of the The Louis J. Thibodeaux Pelican Yacht Club Youth Sailing Program’s
In early June, four of Thibodeaux’s great-grandchildren tested out the Optimist Prams on False River as a semi-official camp kick-off. In this vein, the Youth Sailing Program is already infused with the spirit of Thibodeaux, who taught his children and grandchildren to sail.