Learn to Sail - Youth Program

Welcome sailors and parents. We are very excited about our plans for the 2009 season. The Sailing Program at LYC is stronger than ever! For those of you who are new to sailing, we have two types of boats for beginners, the Optimist and the Echo. The Echo is a sailboat which offers an exceptional learning platform for building sailing skills in the White sail program. The White sail program was developed by the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA), which is the national sport organization for sailing in Canada. They provide us with the technical resources, materials and national standards from which we design and deliver our sailing and safe boating courses. All our instructors and coaches have received training based on CYA national standards and are CYA registered instructors and coaches.

If you have never sailed before and don't own a boat you will likely start at the White 1 level. White 1-3 offers the basics of sailing. Instruction is offered in small sloops (sailboats with 2 sails). Bronze 4/5 teaches advanced techniques and is also usually taught in sloops. The White and Bronze groups have distinct social and teamwork dynamics as you are always sailing with other people.

Single-handed (sailing alone) is a faster way to learn techniques, but lacks the social element found in the White and Bronze groups. The Green Optimist group is for beginners and younger sailors with limited or no experience. LYC now owns Optimists so this group is available to sailors who don't own their own boat. We only have five boats, so if you are interested, please register early, it's first come, first served. The Optimist group builds on the 'Green Optimist' experience.

The Learn-to-Race group is focused primarily on advanced boat handling and having fun. Sailors in this group will use 420's, Optimists and Bytes. Learn-to-Race will offer a solid progression of skills for both sailors who want to continue developing skills and those wishing to move on to the competitive Race Team.

For more information on these courses, please see page 4 & 5 of the LYC Youth Sailor Handbook. This booklet has detailed information on our programs and policies at LYC. Please take the time to review the information provided here.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding any aspect of the sailing programs at LYC, please contact our Director of the Learn to Sail Program, Michael O'Connor (learning@lyc.ns.ca) and he will be happy to help you. After June 1, you may also contact the head instructor Oliver Hatheway (sail@lyc.ns.ca).