FRIDAY HARBOR SAILING CLUB & RACE TEAM
Sail with Us
Fall
After-school sailing club and race team for middle and high school students.
Spring
After-school sailing club and race team for middle and high school students.
Summer
Spring Season 2024
How
Register here
Who
Middle school and high school students living on San Juan Island or attending any school on SJI. Exceptions are possible; see the contact information below to inquire.
What
After-school sailing programs:
Learn to Sail (LTS), for those totally new to sailing, needing a refresher, or needing more experience and confidence; sailors will be sailing RS Teras and V15s
Development (Dev), for those with sailing experience needing to work on improving technique; this will be for sailors who are beyond LTS and are aiming to improve their skills; sailors will be sailing V15s and Lasers
Varsity, High School Racing team, for those committed to racing in regional regattas and training multiple days per week; sailors will be sailing FJs and Lasers
When you register, please let us know which program you prefer, but know that the coaches will ultimately need to make the final determination for safety and pedagogical reasons, and will also likely move sailors among the groups as the season progresses.
When
.
Dates
Varsity begins practice on Monday February 26, 2024.
Development begins practice on Monday March 18, 2024.
Learn to Sail begins on Monday, March 25, 2024.
All programs end Wednesday June 12, 2024.
For the VARSITY sailors, we’ll hold a mandatory Sailor, Parent, and Coach Meeting on Tuesday February 27th at 5:30 pm at Spring Street Int’l School (room 3, just off the main quad on the left). At least one person from each varsity sailor’s family must attend, and we’ll provide a zoom link for people who cannot make it in person. The in-person meeting is strongly preferred though, as it’s really hard to get pizza through a computer microphone.
Times
Practice will be every Monday and Wednesday after school; note that the times for Mondays and Wednesdays are different:
Mondays:
3:15 pm – Sailors must be dressed and ready to rig boats
3:45 pm – Sailors must be ready to launch sailboats
5:30 pm – Sailors will head in and de-rig
6:00 pm – Pickup; Sailors must check in with coach before leaving
Wednesdays:
2:15 pm – Sailors must be dressed and ready to rig boats
2:45 pm – Sailors must be ready to launch sailboats
4:30 pm – Sailors will head in and de-rig
5:00 pm – Pickup; Sailors must check in with coach before leaving
There are periodic Tuesday and Thursday field trips to Orcas to join the sailing team there for practice; this will be available by invitation only.
Where
Jackson Beach, at the net shed at the far end of the beach. This facility is owned by the Port of Friday Harbor and we use it without charge, which helps us keep our tuition down. Please thank the Port Commissioners for this community service when you can.
Cost
- LTS and Dev – $150 for the spring season (but see note 3)
- Varsity – $200 for the spring season (plus regatta fees)
Notes:
Financial aid is available. Just ask – no paperwork is required.
Payment can be made by check (to SJISF), cash (in person at the start of the season), or online (Nige, how?: Via the Donate button and “other” amount, if not clearer at the time)
For sailors traveling to more than one regatta or invited to the Orcas training sessions, payment of the higher Varsity tuition is necessary regardless of which group they train with. It’s fine to wait and see how this turns out and pay when it’s clear.
For regatta fees, see the Regattas session at the end of this page.
Regattas
The Varsity team (and for invited sailors ready for competition) will be competing at some of the regattas currently listed on the REGATTAS page. Some of these are middle-school development regattas, and are for sailors new to racing and in the Dev program. This list will be refined after the sailor-parent meeting, when we identify who’s interested in which regattas.
Participation in any regatta requires advanced payment of $20. This pays for each sailor’s entry fee and contributes to the wear and tear on boats, fuel, insurance, and coaches travel expenses.
Most regattas are two-day races (Saturday and Sunday). A few are one-day only.
For the official high school regattas, sailors will compete on their own high school teams. We support Spring Street International School and Friday Harbor High School teams, and we coordinate with the Orcas Island High School Team. Home-schooled students and middle-school students may participate on these teams under the rules of the Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association.
Parents/sailors will be responsible for transportation, housing, meals, and entry fees (financial support is available). Online registration [here] and any required payment must be made by 2 p.m. two weeks prior to the regatta in order to permit our coaching staff to organize boat transportation, coaching availability, and coordination with the Orcas Island team.
Varsity tuition covers coaches, safety boats, insurance, and certain other costs. It does not cover all regatta costs, such as registration fees, transportation, housing, and meals. All additional costs will be kept down to the extent feasible, and will be communicated early. Some will be required to be paid in advance. See the list of regattas for more information.
Sailors who register to race in a particular regatta are expected to race on all scheduled race days, emergencies and illnesses excepted, as much of the planning is highly dependent on who will be racing. Failure to attend a regatta for which a sailor has registered may result in removal from the racing team, depending on the circumstances. In all cases, early and complete communication is the best plan. We are human, and we do understand that life can be complex. But please do your best to not make our lives unnecessarily complex.
If you find a regatta you wish to sail in that’s not on our list, talk to us about providing use of a boat and coaching support.
What else
What to bring
All sailors will need to wear:
- Swimsuit
- Wetsuit (optional late in the season, replaced with non-cotton shirts, pants/shorts, and a spray jacket)
- Booties or water shoes
- PFD (Coast Guard approved Type II, not inflatable)
We recommend:
- Sunglasses and/or hat
- Gloves
We have loaner gear (wetsuits, booties, PFDs) but can’t guarantee that any particular size is available; therefore we recommend purchasing your own. Ask us if you need any assistance with this process, or if you need to come see our collection and claim a particular size.
- We start each season with a swim test: wearing a PFD and wet suit, each sailor jumps off the far end of the dock and swims to shore. This is surprisingly popular with the kids.
- Parent donations are welcome — cookies, helping the kids launched each day and de-rigged at the end of the day, cash money, private jets, Fabergé eggs.
- We do ask that parents volunteer to help with the boats only if they’re familiar with rigging dinghies; keelboat knowledge isn’t helpful.
- We also ask that parents help other people’s children, not their own, as we’ve found that goes much more smoothly.
- Please don’t come sailing if you or your family members have a contagious disease (covid, flu, plague, whatever) so we don’t all get it.
Parents please be sure your child brings:
- FOOD! Kids get hangry and need an after-school snack or even a full lunch and something they can fit in their PFD and eat on the water (protein bar, granola bar, dried fruit, etc.). High sugar snacks can make this worse, so we suggest something with some substance.
- Warm and dry clothes, and a towel, for afterwards; early in the spring season they will be cold after sailing, and at any time of the season they’re going to get your car’s upholstery wet otherwise.
Questions?
Contact the Bossy One With The Clipboard at: fridayharborsailingteam@gmail.com