Key Access Issues for Junior YC Members ?

Jackdaw · Feb 7, 2014

At the WYC, juniors have their own docks and building, but have full access to the main club and docks.

But our club has no social members; the only members sail. Same with the juniors. So no babysitting.

Pat · Feb 8, 2014

At our club in Wichita, Ninnescah Yacht Club, the junior sailors are an important part of the club. Our Junior sailors basically have full access to both our docks and our club house with certain dress limitations. The Junior sailors have both indoor meeting areas and an outdoor classroom.. In Kansas any children under a certain age have to have life jackets on when on any dock or boat, and our junior sailors are required to know how to swim well and right a small boat before taking a boat out on their own...Our junior sailors learn on mostly small daysailers, sunfish, and optimists and once certified by our trained instructors they can come out any day and have access to a boat, based on availability. As far as dock access, they certainly can access a dock in order to board their own family boat or any of the docks separately provided for small boats, etc....Our sand beaches help a lot, and each of them is responsible for getting a boat out of their storage area in the basement of our club house and getting it to the beach and making it ready for sailing, then putting it away correctly....I think pictures are on our website. PC

bugaloo · Feb 8, 2014

The young sailor , is the future!!!! I would find another club with less aholes and more young people, they are more fun---- and more willing to help----more willing to learn----just flat more willing;;;;

Dan Johnson · Feb 8, 2014

Stretch...

Check out the website of the North East River Yacht Club in Maryland. They have a huge active junior program and are host to the Univ. of Del. sailing team. They run sailing camps in the summer and, with adult supervision, have access to all but the bar area of the club.

If you don't involve the kids early, they will not have an appreciation for sailing later in life and then where are you going to get your future club members?

StinkBug · Feb 8, 2014

With all the video games and electronics around it's hard enough to get kids into sailing. From the outside it looks way too slow and boring. Treating the kids like they dont belong doesn't help anything. The YC that I sailed at as a kid really only had one dock area, and it was dominated by the school boats. There was one section of dock for picking up and dropping off since pretty much all the boats were on moorings, but for the most part it was all about the sailing school and the kids had access to pretty much everything but the bar. I was never a member there, only a student, but they never treated me any different and when I crewed on the race boats I was always welcome to join everyone in the bar afterwards (even though I was underage, and no they didn't give me alcohol). As a result I grew to love sailing and racing as an adult and still come back to visit that club when I'm in town.

Kids need to be given responsibility in order to grow into responsible adults. Teaching them how to behave on the docks and giving them the opportunity to grow will make for better kids and a better club.

higgs · Feb 8, 2014

Sounds like your club is not very interested being kid friendly which will discourage future members and the parents of those kids.

Indysailor · Feb 9, 2014

Last year a nasty front moved through our region in June, it was much more severe than predicted. It was on Summer Sailstice and our club had around forty boats out, including many on our sail camp's boats. When the nasty stuff hit, the head of sail camp and about eight of the kids were right in the sh*t, but not only did they all get in safely but they also were credited with helping another dozen boats get in as well. All of them are in the 14-16 age group and have shown us how well kids respond when they are well trained and trusted to develop into good sailors.