Our Story

The Ty Hellriegel Peregrine Foundation was created in 2001. Ty Hellriegel lived, worked, and in September 2001, died on the Great South Bay. The family of this young artist sought a unique way to memorialize the spirit and sensitivity of their son and brother. They created the Ty Hellriegel Peregrine Foundation. The work of the Foundation is a memorial to Ty's loving relationship with the bay. The family sunk Ty's home, "The Peregrine" a replica Spanish galleon, in the Great South Bay, creating a home for marine life, TY'S REEF. Each year, the Foundation shares Ty's love of the sea by taking several hundred children on an annual fishing trip to Ty's Reef.  Here children fish & enjoy the beauty of the Great South Bay that so inspired Ty throughout his life.