Youth Learn to Sail

Titahi Bay Boating Club offers Learn to Sail courses for children and young teenagers, run during the school holidays.‍‍

The next programme is scheduled for the First Week of Term 1 School Holidays

The cost for the three-day programme is $200 and includes a free youth membership at the club, allowing your young sailor free entry into our ongoing sailing programme if they wish to continue.

This course is intended for children between the ages of 8 and 13, although these limitations can be relaxed depending on your child.

Register For Youth Learn to Sail

What we teach in the course:

• Safety first
• Setting up your boat
  
• Knots
  
• Launching and retrieving
  
• Steering your boat
  
• Controlling the sails
  
• Capsizing (flipping) and righting your boat
  
• Points of sail
  
• Tacking
  
• Simple rules of the water
  

Course structure:

The course covers three days of activities centred around sailing and having fun, from 9am to 3pm each day.

In each day, the topics of learning are divided into on-land and on-water sessions, where your child can take turns learning, having fun, and relaxing. Core principles of our programme are having fun, ensuring kids are engaged, and a friendly atmosphere.

The course is delivered by qualified coaches, both young and old. We use youth coaches to work closely with children to achieve greater engagement, and adult coaches who can listen, answer questions, and provide information.

Depending on the weather at the time, the order in which the course content is delivered can vary. We'll let you know if we're expecting any weather interruptions.

What you (and your child) should bring:

• A sense of enthusiasm and adventure.
• A parent or guardian on the first day - this is to ensure that they receive ongoing support from their whanau.
• The ability to float and swim short distances (50m) over water.
• A set of clothes for staying dry.
• A set of clothes for getting wet (shirt and shorts are fine)
• A hat and sunscreen to provide protection from the sun.
• Food for the day
• A towel.
• [Optional] - A wetsuit >2mm thick that fits well, and allows for movement.
• [Optional] Water booties (to keep feet warm).

What we will provide:

• Yachting New Zealand qualified Learn-to-Sail coaches.
  
• Sailing dinghies. We use the Optimist dinghy, which is the most commonly sailed youth dinghy across the world.
• Personal Floatation devices (Life-vests).
  
• Wetsuits, spray-vests, and booties if you don't have them.
• Sunscreen.
• Towels.

Where do I start?

As places are very limited, we strongly recommend pre-enrolment for our next course.

Full payment of the course fee is required prior to the beginning of the course. In the event of adverse weather cancellations, we will seek to refund the fee, or reschedule sailing on the next weekend.

What happens after the course?

There's only so much we can teach in three days, and sailing is best learned through experience. Young sailors who attend the course are highly encouraged to continue attending regular sailing days at the club. The graduates may choose a common weekday afternoon to sail on, and may also wish to participate in Optisail in late January. Optisail is a three-day sailing camp held at our club, which provides an opportunity for your child to form friendships with other sailing graduates locally and from across the region - as well as have a whole lot of fun!

‍Fees are payable in advance to TBBC.Your place is not confirmed until the registration information has been received and the fees have been paid.
Course spots are limited, and are available on a first-come-first-serve basis of registration and payment by the required date.
‍

Register For Youth Learn to Sail