The West End Racing Club

You may have strolled past the West End Racing Club during a recent visit to Provincetown and wondered what goes on there and how one becomes a member. Well for starters, you have to be a kid. You see, this gathering place, located on the beach at 87 Commercial Street, is one of Provincetown’s best kept secrets. The non-profit club was founded in 1950 by Flyer Santos with the mission to: Give kids in Provincetown an opportunity to learn how to sail and enrich their lives with nautical knowledge and experience. The local and summer kids, ages 8-16, pay $50 for the summer. Every day, they congregate at the club and, under the supervision of an adult instructor, the older kids teach the younger kids how to sail and swim. The kids are taught a sense of responsibility for each other and the club. Each year, they sell raffle tickets to support the club so that it can purchase new equipment (they can also reclaim their $50 registration fee if they hit a certain ticket goal). The kids are taught the very valuable lesson of ‘giving back’ to each other and the community. These refreshing, old fashioned values are alive and well and continue to thrive year after year. Feel free to stop by next summer to check out this unique place that is kept alive by tradition.