Our Story

Founder Chuck Tantillo began the Tantillo Adaptive Sailing Foundation in 2021 after decades of dedication to the sport of sailing and philanthropy for the disabled community. 

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When Chuck was a child, he and his Dad enrolled in a 6-week U.S. Power Squadron boating class at the National Guard Armory. It was here that Chuck and his father learned what truly good seamanship meant, and the two made it their sailing matra from that point forward. In his youth, Chuck volunteered as a music teacher’s assistant at the Capper Foundation for Crippled Children where he worked closely with disabled kids. It was during this time he became inspired by the children’s ability to thrive in the activities they were able to participate in, as opposed to focusing on those that they weren’t within reach. 

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Today, Chuck now owns a flotilla in both Kansas and the British Virgin Islands. Attending boat shows has become an annual pilgrimage, and it was at one of these shows that he first discovered adaptive sailing organizations based in towns such as Annapolis, Miami, and Chicago. The light bulb went off and the idea to combine two of his passions by starting an adaptive sailing organization was born. After founding the Tantillo Adaptive Sailing Foundation, Chuck also purchased a sailing shop in Lawrence, KS called Kansas City Sailing. These two ventures now work in tandem to introduce disabled people to the art of sailing while getting them out on the water.