2010 Learn to Sail Brochure!
Deep Cove Yacht Club teaches adults and children how to sail in both dinghies and keelboats. Children as young as 4 can take a half-day course in learning about the water, boats and sailing. This age group is our specialty, and classes are always full. Older children can learn in full day, 2 week classes which end with a pirate party on the last day. If the kids are attracted to racing, there is a Deep Cove Yacht Club Racing team which practices on weekdays after school in the spring and fall. More advanced sailing with spinnaker and trapeze is available when kids have mastered the basics and this can lead to competition with other Yacht Clubs in the Commodore’s Cup in the last week in August. There are opportunities for very good sailors not old enough to be certified as Instructors to volunteer as instructors for a summer, and when certified have a great summer job awaiting them on the water.
Adults too can learn to sail, either in keelboats with cabins and motors, or in dinghies like the kids. The adult courses are usually on weekends in the spring, and 3 people can get together for a custom course. This year we are offering dinghy lessons for adults on weekends in June. We find that parents with enthusiastic sailing kids want to join them in having fun on the water.
The Canadian Yachting Association, the National Sports Governing Body certifies both the instructors and kid’s programs. Our boats are Optimist Dinghies, Lasers, and new, this year, 420’s for spinnaker work. Families living in Deep Cove know that this is a great place to send your kids, or go yourself, for safe fun in the sun in the spring and summer.
To find out more, see our brochures at the Club or look on Page 133 in the North Vancouver Recreation Guide, Spring/Summer 2009.
Nikki Petersen, our wonderful Sailing Director was back with some excellent Instructors and, new for this year, 13 volunteer! Volunteers are 13 to 15 year olds who have Bronze Sail as qualifications, but are too young to go to an Instructor Course. By volunteering and assisting our qualified Instructors they learn a lot about how to be an instructor. By providing help with everything from rigging boats to supervising kids to helping clean up, they will “ace” their Instructor Course when they take it.
There were both Deep Cove Sailing Teams and a High School Sailing Team who practiced after school two afternoons a week in the spring to train for the Regatta in the middle of June. There were 7 adult graduates of the Keelboat program taught by our favorite Instructor, Percy Wheaton. Most have shown enthusiasm for crewing in our Racing Program on Sundays.
In the summer the weather was great, the July and August classes were packed, and lots of fun and learning went on with our Junior Sailing Program. Once again, the “Wet Feet” program for 4 to 7 year olds was a “sell-out”. The older kids learned a lot in the “White Sail” program on our Pirates and Lasers. The Bronze students LOVED our new 420 dinghies, and it was a good summer for wind and weather.
Commodore’s Cup is a program put on by Royal Vancouver Yacht Club at Kitsilano in the last week of summer, and this year we sent 12 kids and 8 boats. Our new 420’s came in first and second in that class, and other kids got seamanship and encouragement awards, so it was a good one. There are High School Teams practicing this fall for a Regatta on October 31, and then its time to pack it in for next year. We look forward to more new boats in the spring, as some of the old ones are very sad. We hope for lots of wind and sun to create enthusiasts for this environmentally friendly Olympic sport. For More Information contact learntosaildirector@deepcoveyc.com.
What does our Learn to Sail Director, Nikki Petersen do in the winter?
This year she is training for the Ride to Conquer Cancer! from Vancouver to Seattle in memory of past Learn to Sail Instructor, Nathan Tunacliffe who at 25 recently died of Brain Cancer. His family, friends and members of the sailing community are doing the ride as team Bumblebees. Check out her progress at this website www.tinyurl.com/nikkipetersen
Check out the photos!
