Daily Lift - No Wind Idea

Jr. Sailing no wind idea: relay race. Make a list of activities such as, knot tying, boat rigging, rolling sails, chart navigation, and terminology quizzes. Once you have created your list, break your students into teams and begin! You can create as many or as few events as you would like, and vary them depending on the skill level of the students.

Sailing Games - Optiball

Optiball:  Set up two gates opposing each other using two anchored buoys per gate as end zones.  Set the gates so that boats sailing between them are on a beam reach.  Organize your sailors into two equal teams, and place a fifth buoy with no line or anchor attachment and put it in the middle of the playing field.  Sailors may take the buoy in their boats for up to 10 seconds at a time before tossing the buoy into open water (hopefully in the direction of a teammate), and the same sailor may not pick up the buoy until another sailor has picked up the buoy first.  Crossing the opposing team’s gate scores a point.  The other team then starts with the buoy, moving it in the opposite direction.  This is a great opportunity to develop teamwork, teach racing rules, and have a lot of fun!

Daily Lift

Team Building - The closer your junior sailing program staff is, the better your program will be and the greater likelihood of your staff returning next. Building a close staff can be done by doing team building exercises during staff orientation, cookouts, staff outings, competitions, etc.

Daily Lift

Rainy day idea: Human Knot. Get a group of kids together, everyone stands in a close huddle and holds the hand of two different people but not of anyone directly next to you. Once everyone has two hands the human knot has been created! You must unchain the knot without letting go of each others hands. Have fun problem solving and team building!

Daily Lift

Junior Sailing no-wind idea: chalk boat relay. Divide the group into two or more teams, have teams line up around parking lot/ sidewalk, give the first person in each line a piece of sidewalk chalk, instructors call out a boat part, teams race to draw and label the parts! All you need is chalk and a space to draw on.

Daily Lift

Jessica Mohler reminds you, there is no one right way to develop a strong foundation for your children. By thinking about the values and ideals you want your child to build through the sport of sailing, you can be more confident that you are making the right decisions for YOUR family.

Daily Lift

A tip for Jr. sailing programs - Prior to the start of the program, organizers should call a parent orientation session to explain the details of the program. Items covered should include, review of how parents can be involved, attendance, student drop-off and pick-up arrangements, disciplinary code, items to bring to class, and rules and expectations.