For more than 30 years the Agamenticus Yacht Club has taught youngsters the basics of sailing, seamanship and safe conduct on the water. In order of importance, the AYC Junior Sailing Program focuses on safety, enjoyment and knowledge of sailing. Classes meet rain or shine and include instruction on water safety, rowing, knot tying, nautical rules and terms and sailboat rigging. Occasional field trips and inter-club racing activities add variety and excitement to the program.

 

The AYC Sailing Program is available to children ages 8 to 18. All students must demonstrate swimming competency and have their own Coast Guard approved type III life jacket. Instruction takes place in our Harbor, on the York River and in adjacent ocean waters.

AYC has a highly trained staff of U.S. Sailing Certified Instructors. The staff is sensitive to each child's needs and promotes respect for the water and love for sailing. Class size is limited to 14 students who are coached and supervised by a minimum of three instructors, assuring both safety and fun.

 

CLIPPERS (AGES 8 to 10) - Optis

Focuses on teaching basic sailing skills and principles. The curriculum includes learning basic nautical terms, parts of the boat, rigging and unrigging, finding wind direction, learning to steer with a tiller, practicing tacking and jibbing, water safety, and knot tying.

 

SCHOONERS: (AGES 10 to 11) -  Optis

For young sailors who may have some previous sailing experience.  The curriculum allows sailors to further develop their understanding of sailing fundamentals including rigging, boat handling, landing and departing the dock, points of sail, reading the weather, seamanship, water safety, basics of racing and sportsmanship.

 

CUTTERS (AGES 11 to 12) - JYs

This class is designed for intermediate sailors who want to refine their sailing skills.  Curriculum builds on the sailing fundamentals learned in the Clipper and Schooner classes, but focuses on sailing in more varied sailing conditions and points of sail.  This class is taught using JY 15s allowing students to gain skipper and crew experience in double-handed boats.

 

GALLEONS (AGES 13+) – Various crewed sailboats and motor boats

For teenage sailors who are interested in learning a full range of sailing skills for cruising , including basic motor boat handling, introduction to navigation and passage planning, rules of the road, anchoring, mooring and docking techniques, knot tying and splicing and distance sailing.  Lots of new sailing experiences guaranteed.


Download Your 2007 Junior Sailing & Racing Application Here

 

 

 
 

Safety is our priority. You've noted the constant focus upon safety in the Sailing Programs listed above, and now we'll tell you about the safety qualifications of our teaching staff.

 

Our staff is highly trained for what they do. They each maintain a current U.S. Sailing Association Sailing Instructor Certificate, as well as current first aid and CPR certifications.

 

Safety procedures are an integral part of our junior sailing instructional curriculum, and inseparable from the ways we move boats, students and equipment around on our local waters. Here are some of the routines and methods which we practice every day:

  • All students and instructors are required to wear life jackets at all times when on our floats, in our boats, or on the water.

  • NOAA weather forecasts are checked every morning before class. In many classes, the students themselves participate in securing this information and posting it in the clubhouse. Lesson plans for the day are customized to suit the conditions.

  • Once a decision is made to get out on the water, the risk of deteriorating or threatening weather remains a crucial factor in deciding how many people, boats and equipment are deployed.

  • Staff maintain constant communication with one another through the use of hand held VHF radios, which they must have with them at all times. Additionally, we have a full time dock steward at the clubhouse 7 days a week who is an invaluable asset in managing the shore-based aspects of any type of emergency.

  • We strive to maintain connection and involvement with the parents of our young sailors. Knowing what you want for your child, understanding the level of risk with which you are comfortable as your child learns new skills, and knowing how you see them progressing in the program are all indirect, but important ways we create a safe, fun and productive experience for your son or daughter

  • Use of club owned boats are restricted to those members who have been "certified" by our instructors in the operation of the boat/s they wish to use. Instructors may require a member to take one or more private sailing lessons to refine the skills necessary for unsupervised access to a particular boat.
   
   
 

 

 

It's never too late to learn the pleasures and challenges of being at the helm of your own boat.

 

Our club offers private lessons by appointment for both individual and small groups of adult students. We also host adult sailing clinics periodically throughout the summer, for groups of up to eight adults - a schedule and signup sheets are posted in the clubhouse for your convenience.