Sails For Sustenance

Our Mission… SFS is dedicated to recycling sails donated in the U.S. by providing them to subsistence fishermen of Haiti. SFS partners with trusted community organizations in each village to ensure reliable, equitable sail distribution. Our History In early 2006, Michael Carcaise and Michael Laas were university students preparing to embark on a trip to Haiti with Project Medishare to gather data for an engineering project. Carcaise was reading an article written by Arthur Fourner, M.D. in which he describes the handmade boats of a remote fishing village, and the importance of the practice of fishing to impoverished coastal communities. The Project Medishare program coordinator at the time, Jennifer MacCormack, suggested the village of Abricots (where she had served her Peace Corps tour) as the first recipient community. The first load of 14 sails was sent in March of 2006, and consisted of, among others, Laser II, Sonar, and Hobie catamaran sails. Since that time, SFS has sent hundreds sails to Haiti, including the villages of Abricots, Grand Sable, Bon Bon, and Dame Marie. Read more about these villages and our partners here. The donated sails require far less maintenance than those they replace, and allow fishermen to more easily reach speeds critical to trawling for certain fish species.