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Welcome to 2010 Sailing School |
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April 1, 2010 Dear Grand Lake Yacht Club Members, Spring has sprung and the days are getting longer, and once again thoughts turn to starboard tacks, spinnaker sets, and Sailing School at Grand Lake. It has been a very exciting and eventful off season and now is the time to begin making plans to attend Grand Lake Yacht Club Sailing School in summer of 2010. As many of you know, last year was a great success. We had a terrific group of experienced, veteran instructors, enthusiastic and supportive parents, and, as always, passionate and energetic sailors. Finishing up our season with an inspiring Grand Lake Yacht Club Sailing Foundation and Sailing School fundraiser provided the perfect platform from which to launch this year's program. Filling some familiar shoes and guiding our students and Instructor Team in 2010 as Co-Head Instructors will be two veterans; Emma Harrington and Becca Ruske. They will lead an experienced team of US Sailing certified Grand Lake instructors and welcome three newly certified instructors from our Junior Instructor ranks. Their blend of experience and enthusiasm for sailing and teaching should develop into a well coordinated, efficient teaching organization. As a result of our fundraiser, 2010 begins a new era for the Grand Lake Yacht Club Sailing School as we introduce two new fleets into our teaching program. Our new fleets will include the RS Feva, a double handed (or triple) jib trainer with an asymmetrical kite that will help us train our sailors as skippers and crew, and the Bug, a single handed boat from Laser Performance that will provide an intermediate platform between the Prams and Opti's and the more advanced boats. The addition of these new boats introduces some new responsibilities for the School. To address these needs, we have created a new position in the Instructor Team, the Boat Master. Their responsibility will be to keep track of and maintain all of the sails, spars, and equipment for all four of the fleets on which we teach. Blaine Unicume has accepted this responsibility for the coming year. Having the right equipment is critical to developing better sailors and adding these new fleets to the boats we already have allows us to better address every level of student competency. The GLYC Sailing School schedule for 2010 falls nicely into the summer schedule. Our first week kicks off on July 5th, following the Fourth of July weekend. We will fill in each following week (July 12th, July 19th, and July 26th) leading up to Regatta Week 2010 beginning July 31st. As always the school will run Monday through Thursday with a Parents/Grandparents BYO/BBQ each Thursday evening. This year our Thursday afternoons will conclude with the ladder racing of our July Optimist York Cup series the first three weeks. To continue the tradition, we will present our ranking certificates and awards at a Sailing School BYO/BBQ Banquet and Fundraiser on Friday evening, July 30st. Our Regatta Week competition will be on Saturday, August 7th with both Atlantic Cup racing and Optimist final races. We look forward to a great summer of learning, camaraderie, and competition that the Sailing School brings each year. Once again, we are proud to announce that this year we have adjusted the schedule to allow our instructors to devote their Fridays to working with the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) in the development and teaching of a disabled sailing program. Spearheaded by Kevin Cox, our instructors will be helping to bring the experience and exhilaration of sailing on Grand Lake to disabled participants from the NSCD. Last year's sessions provided some memorable and inspiring moments. We encourage you to come and observe these sessions and some of the incredible moments this program provides. We are proud to participate in this wonderful and rewarding program on behalf of the Grand Lake Yacht Club. We will again be contacting our generous members who loan the Sailing School boats each year. It is important you realize how grateful we are for the use of these boats and know that we could not accomplish what we do without your generosity. We will again focus on upgrading and maintaining the boats this year. We will work hard to take good care of the equipment you allow us to use and to update and upgrade the rigging and sails as the opportunities allow. Our goal at the Grand Lake Yacht Club Sailing School is to develop the skills that lead to a life-long love of sailing and sailboat racing, particularly sailing and racing on Grand Lake, in a safe, organized, fun environment. We encourage healthy competition and sportsmanship among your children as they learn and grow into competent sailors. We greatly endorse parents and grandparents participation as cheerleaders and supporters when your sailors are on the water. We look forward to seeing you and your sailors on the water. Good Sailing! Jay O'Neall Grand Lake Sailing School Director |
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