Lake Parsippany Club Sets Sail on 2011 Season

After mist billowed across Lake Parsippany Saturday morning, brightly colored sailboats lit up the water by the afternoon as dabs of sunshine sliced through the gloom.

Ralph Rosamilia, founder of the Lake Parsippany Sailing Club, thought it was a fine day for the annual sailing clinic, with plenty of wind to show newcomers the ropes (and how to tie them).

Rosamilia isn’t only the founder of the sailing club, he’s the captain of this ship. He managed the day’s clinic with pre-printed attendee lists, folding chairs neatly set up inside the boathouse and greeters at a table in the front directing and welcoming people.  

On the grass in front of the dock, instructors in blue T-shirts milled among the group of more than 45 interested sailors-in-training. Canopies neatly housed demonstrations, including knot-tying and the proper way to wear a life vest.

“Hands-on provides better learning,” Instructor Wally Dury.

Rosamilia personally owns and manages the boats, runs the Lake Parsippany Sailing Club website, chooses the instructors and designs the club T-shirts, “a different one every year," he said.  He also developed his own training guide and sets his own club calendar.

And, people love it. They come from as far as Basking Ridge, but most of them are from Lake Parsippany. They pay just $10, which helps maintain the sailboats and equipment they will have access to for the season.

The only other prerequisites are attendance at this once-a-year, five-hour sailing clinic and all members must be over 11 years old.

“I certainly don’t profess to know everything there is to know about sailing,” Rosamilia said. “I simply teach the students enough, so they can go anywhere on the lake they wish and return back to their starting point, hopefully without capsizing.”

There are nearly 20 instructors. Among them are Joe Powell, a veterinarian for the Animal Clinic of Morris Plains, former Parsippany Mayor Michael Luther’s 13-year-old son, Matthew, and Ryan Chmura, an avid photographer and member of Parsippany Hills High School class of 2011.  

It’s a mixed group with a common love of sailing, who gently assist clumsy hands as they unfurl a yellow sail or thread a mast.  After the outside demonstrations, the group was called inside, where Rosamilia provides each person with a sailing textbook and presents a primer on sailing.

After nearly an hour-and-a-half, the group emerged, eager to access the water.Slowly the boats were assembled, life jackets were in place and newcomers tentatively wade in, before climbing aboard with instructors. 

When the day’s lesson was over, the Lake Parsippany sailing class graduated and were official sailors.The Sailing Club meets every second Tuesday from April through October. They watch a nautical video, learn a knot of the month and have discussions on topics like staying on course.

Lake membership is available both to residents and those living out-of-district.  Membership information about Lake Parsippany can be found here.  Members interested in joining the Sailing Club can find further information here.