Youth Classes for 2026

Starter Sailor is our beginner sailing program for children ages 7–13 with no prior sailing experience required. This is the perfect introduction for kids who are curious about the water and want to try sailing in a fun, collaborative environment.

Each morning, students sail in small groups aboard our Rhodes 19 keelboats with instructors. They’ll learn the basics of sailing, teamwork, and water safety while building confidence and comfort on the water.

In the afternoon, students eat lunch (brought from home) and participate in hands-on STEM activities. These lessons connect sailing to real-world concepts such as physics in motion, simple machines, and ocean science, helping kids understand why boats work the way they do. This year we area also expanding our program to include simple electrical machines to collect and measure weather data.

*Note: Starter Sailor will only be available in the full-day format instead of including a half-day option. 

Opti basic is an introductory course for young students who feel comfortable piloting a single-handed dinghy. Students will learn the fundamentals of rigging, upwind sailing, racing, and starting. This class is typically held in groups of 6-10 students, and prior experience in our Starter Sailor course is encouraged.

Ages 8 to 13.

Opti Intermediate builds on the basics, introduces more independent sailing at the intermediate level, including the fundamentals of better boat handling and racing. An additional fee (payable to NBYA) is required, if attending the NBYA Opti Regatta #3 on July 31.

Our c420 class is open to beginners and experienced sailors. Students will be taught double-handed dinghy sailing, as well as fundamentals in racing. Students will begin the week learning how to rig 420s, and end the week running scrimages and flying spinnakers.  

• In our beginner class, skills introduced will include rigging and using sail controls, skipper and crew responsibilities, starting and stopping, docking, and capsize recovery.
• In our intermediate/advanced class, skills introduced will be skipper and crew communication, roll tacking, starts, racing, trapeze, and spinnakers.

Passionate about sailing and eager to inspire the next generation? As a Junior Sailing Instructor, you’ll assist lead instructors in delivering safe, fun, and educational on-the-water experiences for young sailors. Perfect for enthusiastic team players with strong communication skills and a solid foundation in sailing. Gain hands-on leadership experience while spending your summer outdoors doing what you love! This is a training program for Junior Instructors open by application. Junior Instructors will be is assigned to assist with the morning Starter Sailor.

In exchange, the JI will sail for free in that week's afternoon 420 afternoon class. The JI must help out for the entire week. This is 9am-4pm full-week commitment.

No classes on July 4. Instructor approval required.