Mission of SailAhead | |
- Use sailing and the ocean as a therapeutic platform to help heal PTSD suffering veterans - Spread PTSD and Veteran Suicide awareness - Honor and Remember Our Mates |
Latest News / Projects
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The Centerport Yacht Club, received an Outstanding Service Award from the Greenlawn American Legion Post 1244
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SailAhead celebrates Ryan James Day
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Ryan, an Army Ranger, ended his life
on December 15th, 2014
he was 21 -
SailAhead is proud to announce that its partner, The Waterfront Center, received an Outstanding Service Award from the American Legion Greenlawn Post for teaching our veterans to sail...
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Our very own Captain Matt Wilson and skipper in training, wrote The Brave Badria, a book about peace for children...
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This year, the owners of Signature Premier Properties have committed to giving up to $100,000 to local charities assisting veterans ...
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Kilian and Sean Receive a Certificate of Appreciation from the Knights of Columbus during Patriotic Night
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Army Week Association introduced SailAhead as one of its newest partners for 2017!
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Greenlawn American Legion Post 1244 Awards SailAhead with Outstanding Service Award
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SailAhead competed with 2 boats in the Vanderbilt Race hosted by Centerport Yacht Club...
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Let's Take a Veteran Sailing hosted by Centerport Yacht Club is our Premier Event. This year was special in so many ways ...
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Stargazer, a 2007 Hunter 38 from USMMA Sailing Foundation, joins our fleet!
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SailAhead will assist The Transat while in New York Harbor
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Proclamation awarded to brothers Kilian & Sean by the Town of Huntington
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Let's Take a Vet Sailing
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Hosted by the Centerport Yacht Club -
SailAhead and The WaterFront Center create a new sailing program for Veterans
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SailAhead is featured in the Boating Times September 2015 edition
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SailAhead is featured in the Windcheck August 2015 edition
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SailAhead's first sailing outing with the Northport VA
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Kilian Duclay - 2015 Newsday Extraordinary Seniors!
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Jennifer Duclay - Wins 2nd Place in the NY State Patriot's Pen Contest!
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WWHS Principal Kathie Acker is proud of Sean and Kilian Duclay and their Sailing Initiative for Veterans.
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Fios One News reporter Christine Persichette interview Kilian and Sean for "Heroes on Our Island".
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Our 219 Mates | |
Technically, at least "22 a day" translates to at least 220 veteran suicides every 10 days. So why do we say 219 Mates? |
SailAhead uses sailing as a therapeutic platform to heal veterans!

To put this in perspective, at least "22 a day" translates to at least 8,030 deaths a year! This number of 8,030 is a minimum number of veterans who are ending their own lives each year! We, as a nation, are losing more soldiers each year at home than all soldiers Killed in Action in all wars and operations since the first Iraq war!
According to mental health professionals, nearly one quarter of all veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or major depression.
From the statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published on Sept. 30, 2013, approximately 76,577 veterans live in Suffolk County, the largest veteran population in New York.
It is because of the above reality that brothers Kilian Duclay and Sean Duclay, with the enthusiastic support of their family, friends and Oakcliff Sailing Center, have dedicated themselves and their expertise in sailing to provide effective sailing therapy for traumatized and wounded veterans.
The sailing therapy is similar in concept to veterans working with horses or being exposed to stressful environment where they can show success. From comfortable day long trips in the summer to intense racing in harsh freezing cold conditions in the winter, sailing brings mental relief to our wounded veterans. There is definitively no doubt that sailing heals and we are proud to say that we contribute to this healing process.
The immersion into an environment where everybody's work counts and a collective will is applied to survive has two effects: while it cleanses the mind it also shows that expertise developed in combat can be applied with success towards competitive sailing or just recreational sailing.
Even though at times it can be seen as extreme, this sailing activity is not dangerous! Taking veterans sailing provides an often new and definitively liberating experience. Veterans are exposed to new sounds, new feelings, new or renewed social interaction and new types of challenges. Learning to sail and being supported by others while on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean exposes our veterans to positive and constructive stress. It forces each veteran to work with other unfamiliar veterans to make a team that gets the boat moving!
The veterans returning from sailing trips are energized, eager to set sail again and relish the mental freedom sailing provides.
We pride ourselves in being on the home-front for our returning veterans and fighting PTSD, the invisible enemy! Our mission is to heal wounded veterans through sailing, our fleet is potentially every sailboat moored in every single bay around Long Island ... this is a work in progress!
Simply put, sailing is positively one of the best therapies for many.
Team Work

Healing

We are Sailors

All Natural

Testimonials
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“ Your family has demonstrated a loyalty to America's greatest asset. Thank you”
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“ Thank you for being there to change my life. Something I cannot repay ... I will always be grateful.”
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“ I'm a nurse at a VA hospital, I think what you do is amazing!”
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“ Where were you all these years? This is by far the best therapy I've ever had since the Vietnam!”
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“I cannot even begin to express my appreciation, Terrific family helping veterans feel wonderful!”
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“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! You've made my year, not my day, my year! I am definitively hooked!”
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“Well done Kilian, Sean and the entire Duclay Family! You have created something that is so positive and enriching for our Veterans and our community as a whole. The comeraderie shared by all who spent the day sailing together was very special. My father, a WWII Navy Veteran particularly enjoyed the interaction and sailing with the young sailors and merchant marine cadets as well as the Veterans of all ages. Thank you.”
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“It was an honor to volunteer and give back to these amazing men and women. It was a great day for all!!”