As we celebrate Presidents Day 2018 , we couldn't help but wonder which U.S. presidents were recreational sailors. Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy , of course, are the two standouts. Both learned to sail with their families while growing up on the East Coast.
President Kennedy sailed his 22-foot International Star sloop Flash II for many years, including while as a student at Harvard. In 1938, as a sophomore, JFK won the prestigious McMillan Cup on the Chesapeake Bay . Perhaps more famous is Kennedy's Victura , a 25-foot Wianno Senior sloop,which is now at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Libray and Museum .
President Roosevelt sailed with his father aboard the family's 51-foot schooner Half Moon, before sailing his own 21-foot sloop New Moon . FDR also owned another small sailboat Vireo , and enjoyed canoeing, as well.
Read more about presidential sailing in this American Sailing Association article from Presidents Day 2016.
