Uniting the Caribbean Through Sailing
Talent exists everywhere. Opportunity should too. Sail Better is the regional high-performance platform connecting islands, coaches, clubs and athletes into one pathway, from grassroots sailing to the Olympic stage.
The Caribbean wakes up every morning with conditions the world's best sailors dream about: warm water, consistent trade winds, protected bays and open ocean. The talent and the venues have always been here. What was missing was structure, coaching, and a connected pathway.
We see the sea not as a barrier between islands, but as a highway. Our work is to connect the coaches, clubs, foundations and athletes who already share the same values into one stronger regional system, and to use sailing as a tool for human development.
We are not building sailors. We are building people.
2,000+
Taught to sail
600+
Learned to swim
50+
Boats donated
Gold
Junior Pan Am Games
$150K
Raised and reinvested in athletes
10
Scholarships funded
The operating model
One Platform. Everything Under SailBetter.
Sail Better is the movement and the brand. It delivers through three named arms, each with a distinct job, together forming one engine: access, a home, and regional reach.
The platform over everything
SailBetter
Coaching, education, events, Para-Inclusive sailing and regional athlete pathways.
Community & access
Andrew Lewis Sailing Foundation
The non-profit arm. Creates access, receives donated equipment, connects donors, and builds community and youth pathways.
Local delivery · Trinidad & Tobago
Andrew Lewis Sailing Academy
The home base. Where the idea becomes practical: boats, coaches, storage, water access and training that feed the wider pathway.
Regional platform
Regional Coaching, Clinics & Events
Sail Better's own delivery across islands: clinics, coaching, regatta support and shared athlete pathways, reaching sailors of every ability.
It began in the rural and underserved communities of Trinidad & Tobago, most significantly in La Brea, with one simple aim envisioned by Mr. David Lewis: create opportunities for people who would otherwise never have had access to sailing.
Flagship proof of concept
The Nassau Sailing Ecosystem
Nassau is the SailBetter model working in practice: a complete sailing pathway built by schools, foundations, clubs, national organisations, coaches, families and international partners working together.
One ecosystem, many hands
A Complete Pathway, Already Built
A sailor can progress through every rung in one place, under one connected ecosystem.
Community access and introduction to sailing
School sailing and learn-to-sail programmes
Club participation and regular training
Youth racing and national competition
Regional clinics and international regattas
High-performance athlete development
University recruitment, scholarships, national-team selection and Olympic campaigns
Future coaches, instructors, programme leaders and sailing ambassadors
The pathway is not only for elite athletes.
Every rung is a positive destination in its own right:
12
New Element 6 ILCA boats in the training fleet
≈10
National-level athletes studying at Lyford Cay International School on scholarship support
2 Golds
Junior Pan American Games and World Sailing Youth Worlds, within roughly two and a half years
Philanthropic support from the Lyford Cay Sailing Foundation and the Blue Dawn Foundation keeps this pathway open to athletes who could not otherwise afford to be on it.
What Nassau Proves
Grassroots access and high performance can exist within the same system.
Sailing can be embedded within education.
Local programmes can connect directly with regional and international opportunities.
Clinics and international coaches strengthen the everyday local programme.
Athletes can progress from learning to sail to national and international competition.
Equipment, facilities, coaching, partnerships and pathways work best when coordinated.
A local ecosystem can become a regional training and competition hub.
What We Measure
The categories the ecosystem tracks, reported as verified data becomes available rather than estimated in advance.
From first access to international performance, SailBetter connects the people, programmes and institutions needed to build complete sailing pathways.
Two journeys, one vision
How the Founders Met in the Middle
Andrew
Access for everyone
Andrew Lewis grew up in Trinidad & Tobago believing sailing belonged to everyone, not only those who owned boats or belonged to clubs. Through community programmes, thousands of young people discovered sailing and hundreds learned to swim. The objective was never only to produce champions, but to produce confident young people who understand teamwork, responsibility and service.
Niels
A new question
For more than a decade, Niels Broekhuizen's world revolved around performance: training, travel, Olympic campaigns. After years asking “how do I become better?”, a different question appeared: “how do we become better?” Sailing through the Caribbean, he saw islands with everything needed to produce world-class sailors, but very little connection between them. The answer was not another programme. It was a way to connect the ones that already exist.
What we believe
The Principles Behind the Brand
Build Better Environments
Performance is the outcome, not the starting point. Better coaches, equipment, parents and partnerships create better athletes.
High Performance Belongs in Community
The Olympian helping a beginner rig a boat creates belief, and belief changes futures. Grassroots and elite sailing grow together.
More Than Sailing
We are building confidence, responsibility, leadership and resilience. The boat is the classroom, the ocean is the teacher.