Learn to Sail

Whether you’re 8 or 80 – come out and experience two of Kingston’s best assets – great wind and water. Collins Bay Yacht Club Sailing School offers an ideal location for beginner sailors and those wanting to refresh their skills on the sheltered waters of Collins Bay in the city’s west end.

We offer:

• two week summer camps for youth age 8 to 17,and
• two weekend sessions for adults in July and August.

Our Canadian Yachting Association certified instructors take each student through the basics of sailing including rigging a boat, points of sail, rules of the water and general sailing safety.

New for 2012, we are proud to offer the enhanced CANSail program.

The Canadian Yachting Association is launching CANSail. CANSail refers to Canada’s updated sailor training standards. The CANSail dinghy programming was developed under the framework of Long Term Sailor development, and has been designed with the sailor’s age and developmental stage in mind.

CANSail programming is designed to be a set of progressive Learn-to-Sail standards focused on providing sailors with a solid foundation of core skills. The CANSail system allows sailors to learn and progress and consolidate key skills before adding more complex skills. We are proud to offer the enhanced CANSail program for 2012. More information can be found at http://www.sailing.ca/sailor_development/long_term_athlete_development_framework/

Sailors who have trained under the old system can enter the CanSail program at an equivalent level.

Our School

Instruction

CBYC is committed to providing the highest standard of dinghy sail training. We are a Canadian Yachting Association member school and we hire only the very best instructors who have been trained and certified by CYA. Many of our instructors started as students with our school and other instructors with experience at other schools are hired to bring fresh ideas for our programs. We encourage and support our instructors to upgrade qualifications as they gain more experience. To ensure students get the very best coaching, we ensure the ratio of  instructors:students exceeds national and provincial guidelines. For 2012 we are pleased to welcome our 2011 team back!

Our Fleet:

Our policy as a not-for-profit organization is to invest revenues into new equipment. We pride ourselves on the quality of our fleet of Hunter 140’s for the CANSail 1 and 2 program and Club 420’s (the preferred training boat for CANSail 3 and 4  level) all purchased new in the last 6 years.

In  2011 we purchased a  new Club 420 to expand our fleet to five boats to accommodate more Intermediate and Advanced Students (CANSail 3 & 4  levels)

Ready for the 2012 season we have are purchased  three  new Topper Topaz Uno  race+ and one race-x for the CANSail programmes.We also have bought a rigid inflatable centre console coach boat. 

For our youth program we have three or four students in a boat rotating through the various tasks involved with sailing a boat. Like most sailing schools, CBYC firmly believes students learn best from hands-on instruction. For our adult program two students is the norm for each boat.

Sailing School Schedule Summer 2012

Youth Program

Fees

CANSail  1 & 2 (previously  White Sail)

$520 (no HST) per 2 week session.  Register before May 1 and pay $480

CANSail  3 & 4 (previously  Bronze  Sail)

$570 (no HST) per 2 week session .  Register before May 1 and pay $540

Program Dates

Session 1 – July 2 – July 13 - CanSail 1 & 2 FULL CanSail 3-2 spots Left

Session 2 – July 16  – July 27 CanSail 3

Session 3 – July 30 – August 10  CanSail 3-4 FULL

Session 4 – August 13 – August 24

Please note: It usually takes at least four weeks of instruction to receive each CANSail 3 & 4 level.  Students must successfully demonstrate all of the required skills prior to completing the level. Weather and wind conditions may limit the amount of on water time available to demonstrate the prescribed skills and is beyond the control of the sailing school. Students are encouraged to sign up for four weeks at a time so as to build on the sailing knowledge needed to achieve these more advanced levels. Two-week sessions are offered to accommodate busy summer schedules and for those who are keen to maintain their interest in recreational sailing. Please understand it will take most students longer to achieve their CANSail 3 & 4 levels when they enroll for only two weeks a summer.  NOTE:  these sessions are limited to 10 students per session.

Program Hours:

The Sailing School operates Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm (including the July 1st Holiday & August Civic Holiday Monday). Students may be dropped off after 8:45 am and picked up until 4:15 pm with supervision provided by our staff during this 15-minute window before and after formal program hours. Supervised extended hours are available from 8:00am to 5:00pm. The cost is $40 per week. Please contact Crystal Baker, Sailing School Administrator, directly to arrange extended hours of supervision for your child(ren). Should you need extended hours beyond the 8 am to 5 pm window, alternate hours will be considered on an individual basis. Arrangements should be made through the Sailing School Director. Please do not leave your child unattended at the Sailing School facilities or on the Collins Bay Marina property.

What to Bring on Day 1

• A Department of Transportation, Canada, approved personal flotation device – properly fitted (PFD/life jacket)
• pertinent medical information (if necessary)

Being exposed to wind, water and strong sun, we also suggest:

• t-shirt & shorts
• full cover hat with brim
• UV sunglasses with safety lanyard
• appropriate sunscreen
• quick dry shoes (non-marking water shoes or canvas runners are good choices)
• a full change of clothing & footwear
• a bathing suit and a towel
• long sleeved shirt & pants
• youth sailors need a lunch and snacks!
• at least1 full litre of water
• .rain gear if inclement weather predicted

Adult Program

Our adult program is geared towards those who would like to learn to sail (or brush up on their skills)  but don’t own a boat.  You will learn about wind direction, points of sail, knots, where to sit in a boat, how to control the sails, how to tack and gybe the boat and how to right a capsized boat.

We are offering our adult program on weekends (9 am – 4 pm) this summer as it will give more time in the boats and the winds in the area tend to drop off at night.

Fees

CANSail 1 & 2 $440 (no HST) per 2 weekend session (includes textbook)

Program Dates 

Session 1 – Weekends of July 14 and 21

Session 2 – Weekends of August 11 and 18

Where are we?

Collins Bay Yacht Club Sailing School is located on the grounds of Collins Bay Marina in Kingston Ontario. The Marina is at 1270 Coverdale Drive south of Bath Road off Bayridge Drive. It is adjacent to Rotary Park and Lemoine Point Conservation Area. Directions to the Marina.

How to Register

• Print our Youth Registration Form
  or Adult Program Registration Form and mail it in with a cheque for fees made payable to CBYC Sailing School (mailing address on the registration form)
• Space is limited – registration is confirmed when fees paid in full
• Fees for this summer are listed above and on the registration form
• Register by May 1, and receive a discount on fees for youth programs