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YOUTH SAILING OPPORTUNITIES

In addition to our award-winning Youth Sailing Camps, HMBYC is pleased to offer the following sailing opportunities for young sailors.  You must be a HMBYC member to participate in these youth sailing activities.   Options for membership are:

  • Youth whose family are HMBYC members, or
  • Youth who have purchased individual youth membership for the year.

Note that sailors who attended HMBYC summer camp in the current year have a membership as that is a pre-requisite for attending camp.   If you did not attend camp but would like to participate in youth sailing programs, you can purchase a youth membership separately as part of event registration.

Youth Sailing With Instruction – available to all youth members

Continue developing your sailing skills with our instructor-led programs.   You do not need to be experienced to participate in instructor-led programs.   All levels are welcome.

Group Instruction

We plan to offer after-school and weekend sessions for group instruction throughout the club sailing session.  These sessions will be led by qualified instructors with content and format in a similar style to our award-winning summer camp.   Each session will have a weekly cadence of lessons with a specific start and end date.   You can find information about upcoming Group Instruction sessions on our website.  They will be listed as “Youth Group Instruction” on the Event Calendar.

Private Instruction

Our instructors are available for private instruction at the rate of $35 per hour per student.  Private lessons must be scheduled and paid for through the club.    You can request a private lesson at [email protected].  

Youth Sailing Without Instruction – available to youth members who are checked out skippers

Youth sailors who have passed the skills level test for check out have additional opportunities for sailing.  If you are an experienced sailor but not yet checked out on our boats, please send email to [email protected] to find out about the process.

Supervised Youth Sailing 

We plan to offer a series of weekly Youth “Free Sail” sessions.   These sessions will be supervised by adult volunteers who will be available for support as needed.    You can find information about upcoming Free Sail sessions on our web site.  They will be listed as “Youth Free Sail” on the Event Calendar.  

Unsupervised Youth Sailing

NOT ALLOWED IF THE WIND FORECAST IS > 15 knots!
Youth who are checked out skippers have two options for Unsupervised sailing:

1. Sail with supervision from a parent or other responsible adult.   This requires the parent or responsible adult to be certified to operate the club Angel safety boats.   We offer free classes for Angel certification – check the club calendar for details.
 
2. Sail during times when the club offers other OTW (On The Water) activities.    Currently our regularly scheduled OTW activities are:
     Wednesday Night club sailing – 5 pm until dusk
     Thursday Women’s Sailing – 5 pm until dusk
     Friday Beer Can Racing – 4 pm until 6 pm
     Sunday Skipper – 2 to 4 pm
Note that the above OTW participants are NOT responsible for supervising the youth sailor directly.   But by having proximity to others who are also sailing there is a safety net.
 
When sailing on your own, you must sign out your boat in the notebooks provided in the sailing locker.   There is one notebook for Opti and one for Laser sign out.   You indicate there which boat you are taking and what time you are heading out.   Be sure to remember to sign back in at the end of your sail, confirming you have arrived back safely.   Any problems with the boat you used, please add to your sign out information AND send an email to [email protected].  

Youth skippers may take others out on their boat ONLY if the other person is also a family member or youth sailing member of the club.   People who are not members are not allowed to participate in unsupervised sailing.

Unsupervised youth sailing at HMBYC is a privilege.   You are using our boats and our facilities.   You must adhere to the rules of the club and take proper care of the boats and the boatyard resources.   Failure to do so may result in the loss of sailing privileges.