Learn to Sail teaches boating skills, safety, teamwork, and healthy enjoyment to about 100 youth aged eight to 16 each year in our regional community.
This summer will be the 35th season that Gibsons Yacht Club volunteers have organized the Learn to Sail courses, which are conducted by Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) certified instructors with a fleet of 15 sailing dinghies and four coach boats.
The head instructor this year is Emily Durward, a six-year veteran of sailing schools in Ontario and a political science student at Western University.
Before arriving in Gibsons she will be attending a CYA clinic in Kingston to upgrade her skills to the latest techniques and standards, so Sunshine Coast students can receive the best possible instruction. She will head up a team of assistant instructors and helpers from our community high schools.
Last year's head instructor, Tonya Ste. Marie, is now heading up the Yacht Club's youth division, to which all Learn to Sail graduates receive an automatic membership.
"As new certification levels and new coaching and sailor development clinics are introduced in 2012 by the CYA, it is very important to keep the youth of our community involved in water sports and the yacht club itself as they graduate from the learn to sail program," said Ste. Marie.
In the coming weeks, a meeting will be called with a group of juniors selected by Ste. Marie. Plans for the season will be discussed including volunteering within the community and yacht club, weekend sailing, formation of a race team, attending regattas and training clinics as well as implementing kayaking and possibly windsurfing into the yacht club.
Learn to Sail operates from floats anchored outside the Gibsons Harbour breakwater. While mainly sustained by registration fees, the program also depends on assistance from many businesses and individuals as well as grants from the federal and municipal governments. In addition, sponsorships are sought to assist financially challenged students, as well as for renewal of boats and equipment. A team of volunteers will soon be working on the boats to have them ready for a mid-June start up.
Starting April 1 you can register at www.gibsonsyachtclub.ca. by following Learn to Sail, and any questions can be directed to [email protected].
For the very young, last year's popular optimist dinghy program will be run the week of July 16. You can find information and registration at moss.bcsailing.bc.ca and click on summer camps, then Gibsons.
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