YOUTH sailing Classes via the oregon boating foundation

For more information, please visit them here.
https://oregonboatingfoundation.org


Frequently Asked Questions

What youth programs are available at the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club (YBYC)?
  • Youth sailing classes are offered in the summer through a partnership with the Oregon Boating Foundation.  
  • A high school sailing program, associated with the Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association (NWISC) and the Lincoln County School District is offered from February through May. Students participating in this program must be members of the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club.   
  • Youth members of the yacht club may also participate in Wednesday evening races May through October and the Spring and Columbus Day regattas.s.
  • Students in grades 7 -12 are  included in t the high school program younger experienced sailors may also be included.  
  • A program will be offered for beginning sailors in grades 1 through  8 on Mondays and Wednesdays in April. All youth enrolled in this program must be members of the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club.

How are the kids organized?
  • Varsity: (League rules requires a minimum of four students from an individual high school to have a varsity team.)
  • Must be in grades 9 through 12 
  • meet eligibility requirements for the Lincoln County School District Athletic program
  • Starts in February
  • Must commit to three NWISA regattas (parents arrange transportation and lodging). Sailing in three varsity events also makes athlete eligible for Athletic Letter at their local High School.
  • Must have sailed XX percentage of wednesdays in the previous summer
  • Must participate in club events and fundraising
  • Must be at all practices
  • Must sail or support loyalty days regatta
  • Must sail in the junior regatta


  • Junior Varsity is students in grades 7 - 12 who meet who meet eligibility requirements for the Lincoln County School District Athletic program.
  • Must be in grades 7 through 12
  • Practices  with varsity
  • Must commit to two NWISA regattas
  • Must sail or support loyalty days regatta
  • Must be at all practices
  • Must sail or support loyalty days regatta
  • Must sail in the junior regatta
  • Juniors are students of any age 6 through 18
  • Must be at all practices.
  • Must commit to the junior regatta


What is the cost for youth to participate in the Oregon Boating Foundation youth classes?

  • Please visit the site for current pricing.
  • Scholarships are available upon request.


How much does it cost for youth to join the YBYC?

  • There is no charge for students whose families are members of the YBYC.
  • Youth membership in the YBYC is $100 per year.


Is there an additional cost for youth to be in the High School Sailing program?
  • This program is a benefit to yacht club members. There is no additional fee to participate in this program. There may be additional fees for students to participate in regattas.


When and where are the high school regattas?


What happens if we don’t have enough kids to race in Regattas?

  • The main focus of this program is to help youth become lifelong sailors. The League Regattas are a unique opportunity to race against other youth outside our program.  If we don’t have enough students for a team we may not participate in league regattas. Regardless of our attendance at other regattas, our youth will have opportunities to participate in at least three local regattas as well as weekly racing from May through September on Yaquina Bay. 


The schedule looks complicated. Can you explain it in simpler terms?

  • We have practices twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays. The starting date is dependant upon the youth’s grade level (February through April)
  • The High School racing season is four or so races between the first week in March and the last week in April.  These races are usually in the Seattle or Portland areas.  
  • The Yaquina Bay Yacht Club holds two big regattas each year. The Spring Regatta is held the last weekend in April. There will be a youth regatta on May 3rd.  During this regatta,  the best high school sailors are invited by the coaches to compete in the Lincoln County High School Challenge Cup.  The Columbus Day Regatta is an open regatta. Youth sailors must sign up ahead of time for one of the 420 sailboats if they wish to sail. The boats are first come, first served for this regatta and many adults wish to compete in this race. Anyone who has their own boat may also compete.
  • From the first week in May until the last week in September the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club holds Wednesday evening races. Along with the big keel boats, we offer youth fleet racing in the 420 sailboats. These races start at 6:00 in front of the Embarcadero and last until about 7 or 7:30 pm. These races are followed by a dinner a the clubhouse for those who are interested. 


How do youth sailors get to the regattas?

  • Parents are responsible for getting their children to regattas. YBYC coaches are on site at all NWISC regattas. Parents are encouraged to work with other parents to transport children to regattas.


What boats do the student use?

  • YBYC had graciously purchased and maintained a fleet of Club 420s for our High School Sailors.  These boats are available and used for practices, local regattas, Wednesday evening races, and some other regional regattas.
  • YBYC also has a fleet of JY Trainers which are used to instruct younger sailors.
  • At times, other boats may be used to supplement the program depending on students and weather conditions. 


How old does a child need to be to sail in the high school program.

  • NWISA rules require students to be in grades nine through twelve to participate.
Is there a program for younger children who want to sail?
  • Yes, we have a youth sail racing class that meets on Monday and Wednesday from 4:00 - 7:00 pm throughout the month of April. This year there will be a parent meeting on April 2nd at 5:30 PM.  The class begins on Monday, April 7th. This class is limited to ten students in grades 3 through 6 on a first come, first served basis. Contact the Youth Sailing Program to sign up.


What gear or equipment does a youth need to have?
  • Youth sailors in the high school program are required to have: 
    • Wet Suit
    • Gloves (can be gardening type)
    • Booties
    • Life Jacket
    • Swim suit
    • Towel


  • In addition, we recommend the following optional equipment:
    • Gear Bag
    • Rash guard
    • Waterproof hat
    • Sunscreen
    • Sun glasses


What about helmets, are they something a child should wear?

  • Answer taken from Concussion Resources, The Sailing Foundation Coach’s Clinic, Feb 11, 2012.

"Common sense would suggest that helmets reduce the risk of concussion, and helmets are certainly encouraged by some specialists. However there is conflicting evidence about helmet effectiveness for moderate to heavy head bumps. Helmets protect against outer skull and scalp injuries and minor bumps, but do little to protect the brain from bouncing around inside the skull in a more forceful knock. Most of the research is focused on the sports like football, boxing, or soccer and although helmet technology improvement is underway, most of the effort is towards modifying athlete behaviors to avoid head hits. Concern is also voiced about a false sense of safety while using a helmet leading to heavier head hits, or greater risk taking among youth.  There is a bit of a learning curve for experienced sailors new to a helmet and sailors who have used helmets have mentioned needing to learn to duck slightly lower to avoid the boom hitting the helmet during routine tacks, and occasional lines hanging up on the lower edge of a helmet."

It appears there is no definitive answer. The experts are unable to agree if wearing helmets makes our sport safer or if it causes more risk. So what are we going to do?  As high school coaches we are not going to make any recommendations. We are going to share as much information about helmets as we have with parents and youth sailors and let them make an informed decision.


What time is practice?

  • Practice is held on Monday and Wednesdays from 4 - 6;00 p.m until daylight savings time starts when practice is extended to 7:00 pm. 

Where are practices held?
  • Practices are based out of the Oregon Boating Foundation Float House located on the east end of Port Dock 7.  On the water practice takes place in Yaquina Bay in the area in front of the Embarcadero Resort.

Isn’t that a dangerous place for kids to sail?
  • Sailing in this area can be challenging with variable winds and strong tides. Coaches have extensive experience in these waters. Youth sailors are very well trained and equipped with full wet suits and life jackets required at all times. The boats they sail are fully self rescuing; sailors may capsize many times during a practice session and have been trained to recover themselves. In addition, we have at least two and often four or more support boats on the water. Any day that is deemed unsafe to sail, practice is held in the float house with supporting activities, video review of sailors performance, skill drills, and rule reviews.

What do you do at practice?
  • Practices typically include 2 hours of sailing, pre and post sailing discussion, with each session focused on particular boat handling skills, racing tactics and maneuvers, or rules.
  • If weather conditions prevent on the water drills, students do classroom activities including review of videos of previous races, strategy instruction, boat maintenance, knot tying, etc.


Who are the coaches and what qualifications do they have?

  • All of the coaches are YBYC, US Sailing, and  NWISA members with extensive sailing experience. At least one coach has gone through the Lincoln County School District Coach certification process which includes:

    • National Federation of State High School Associations Coach certification
    • First Aid/CPR
    • Concussion prevention and recognition training
    • Safe Schools Training
    • Background and/or Criminal History Check (fingerprinting)


Biographies
  • Laurie Weitkamp -  Asst. coach, 36 years sailing experience primarily in 1-3 person dinghies, including collegiate sailboat racing, over 20 years racing Thistle class sailboats, and attending numerous National Championship regattas.  Education and training includes advanced degrees from University of Washington, certified U.S. Sailing instructor, and college-level teaching experience.  Laurie is employed by NOAA Fisheries as a salmon biologist at Hatfield.
  • Terry Lettenmaier -  Asst. coach, 41 years experience racing dinghies and small keelboats.  Experience has included collegiate sailboat racing and participating in numerous National Championship regattas in different classes; holds a U.S. Sailing small boat instructor certification.   Terry works as an electrical engineer, has electrical engineering degrees from the University of Washington and University of Wisconsin, and is a registered professional engineer in the states of Oregon and Washington.



How do I sign up for the high school program?

  • Students in grades 7 - 12 must have an athletic participation clearance card from their local school. In order to get this, they must:

    • complete an athletic participation form
    • complete the Pure Performance online class
    • have catastrophic insurance
    • complete a physical examination (good for two years)
    • sign the LCAA Athletic Code of Conduct
  • Students must be members of the yacht club. If they are not already family members, they may join for $100 at the parent planning meeting.

  • NOTE: the $100 participation fee the charged by the schools for sports participation is waived for High School Sailing due to the partnership between the Yaquina Bay Yacht Club and the Lincoln County School District.

  • 2014 Registration and Parent night will be held on Wednesday February 12, 2014  5:30 p.m. at the Oregon Boating Foundation Float House.


What if a child is interested in other sports as well and has a conflict? Do they have to be at every practice?

  • This is a tough question. The coaches spend many hours developing lesson plans for classroom and on the water activities. We would like participants to respect that we have a sequential training program the builds upon skills each week.

  • We are asking students to attend all classes. Any youth who has two unexcused absences will be moved one classification lower; Varsity to JV or JV to Junior. If a junior sailor has two unexcused absences they will be asked to leave the program.

  • Youth sailors who cannot make the commitment to be at every practice session may want to consider taking summer classes instead of joining the Spring Sailing portion of the program.