After a successful series of summer camps, the Cayman Islands Sailing Club (CISC) has begun its school-year youth and adult learn-to-sail and learn-to-race programmes.
The after-school programmes, in which children choose a single night of the week, are running for six weeks starting this week (the week of 10 September). These programmes are also available for school groups. The final programmes for the year begin the week of 5 November.
School programmes are running during school hours as part of physical education classes.
The private and government school programmes last year were successful at getting children on the water. Teachers and principals are encouraged to contact the CISC to book lessons for the upcoming year.
The Lone Star Youth Racing continues with series number three beginning on Saturday (15 September) at 9am. The series will run for six Saturdays with competitors accumulating points.
‘The youth racing is a great way for children to practice their sailing skills,’ says Michael Weber, Sailing Director of the CISC.
The CISC also has a number of new programmes for children interested in learning to race and joining the racing team. There is a beginner racing programme on weekends, which started last weekend (8-9 September), from 1pm-4pm. The Saturday programme is for teenagers in the Byte sailboat and the Sunday programme is for younger children sailing the Optimist.
An advanced racing programme begins in November on weekend afternoons for graduates of the beginner programme. It is mandatory for young sailors who will join the team at the Orange Bowl regatta in December.
The CISC also will run mini-camps during the half-term break during the week of 22 October. There will be two, two-day camps on 22-23 October and 25-26 October.
‘The CISC is excited to announce that Allan Coutts, an America’s Cup sailor, will be a guest coach during the camps to work with the Optimist and Byte racers,’ says Mr Weber.
There are also a number of adult programmes. Adult learn-to-sail programmes began last weekend and are for complete beginners as well as intermediate and advanced sailors. The CISC will also organise private programmes if desired.
The CISC also welcomes two new coaches to its team: Stephan Skovgard, a Danish Optimist coach who will be working with the local racing team; and Darcy Fuller, a Canadian Laser sailor who will be working with the teenage sailors.
‘We’re coming off an incredible summer that saw our racers produce excellent results internationally and our summer camps teach over 100 children how to sail. Now it’s time to focus on our year-long programmes to continue to build the skills necessary to make sure Cayman is a competitive sailing country,’ says Mr Weber.
Anyone interested in the youth and adult sailing programmes are encouraged to visit the CISC website at www.sailing.ky or call the sailing club at 947-7913.
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