The Sarasota, Florida-based charity SailFuture rehabilitates kids by taking them out of the juvenile penitentiary system and putting them onto sailing yachts. So far, the organisation has transformed more than 150 lives, working with advocacy groups, judges and attorneys to get high-risk youths out onto the water instead of locked up behind bars.
In 2015, five juvenile offenders sailed in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers as part of the charity's Sail For Justice program. The five young men – who had never stepped on a boat before – were put through an Olympic style training course before sailing 2,700 nautical miles from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia.
Founder of SailFuture, Michael Long, said the program's goal is to use sailing to demonstrate there are "more effective and cost-efficient ways to rehabilitate at-risk youths than sending them into a broken juvenile justice system that fails more kids than it saves."
"Sailing is the basis of everything we do. Through it, we teach responsibility, inspire confidence and build the foundation of lifelong friendships," Long added.