Tuesday, August 13, 2013

2013 FALL OPTIMIST SEASON




 IT'S FINALLY HERE!The Lauderdale Yacht Club’s Junior Sailing Program is proud to announce that registration is open for the 2013 Fall Sailing Season. You will find the Fall season calendar at the Program Documents page, detailing practice and regatta dates for your planning. The LYC arrival dates are listed under each away regatta so that you can plan travel and lodging for you and your sailor. You will also find the appropriate sign up dates for those events listed at the bottom of the page. 

We have carefully planned our Fall 2013 season to make sure your sailor is prepared to race in all of our favorite regional events. You’ll see that there are several joint practices we have scheduled with local competitive race teams, in addition to our regular practices during the weekends at LYC. 

The coaches have mapped out a detailed curriculum for the fall season and have many new practice ideas and topics to focus on so that your sailor can work step by step at bettering his or her racing skills. New this season is the expansion of the Intermediate optimist group to allow sailors to get more detailed attention within a smaller group. This expansion will better the coaching ratio for all the groups and allow your sailor to work within his or her own skill set.
To track the improvement of your sailor we have created a ranking system, much like school progress reports, so that as a parent you can see what level your sailor is at when it comes to race skills. These report cards will be updated after each major regatta and on selected practice days throughout the season. 

To continue to develop new learning techniques between coaches and sailors we will focus on using video review and chalk talks with sailors from each group. Coaches may also decide to hold practice in different sailing locations to work on particular site specific skills.
A few things I want to bring your attention to are a the updated policies that will be enforced this year: youth sailing guest payment, away regatta trailer policy, and regatta sign up with LYC for our planning purposes- they are explained at the bottom of the page.
To kick off the Fall season the Opti Committee is hosting a Cookout and Work day on Saturday, August 24th. This is an opportunity for us to regroup and prepare the boats for the fall season. After a few (short) hours of boat work we’ll enjoy a cookout, followed by an informational parent’s meeting to go over Fall specifics.

PRACTICE GROUPS, SCHEDULE, & STRUCTURE

 
PRAM This group is designed for sailors 5-7 years old.  Here, kids will learn basic concepts of seamanship and the sport of sailing in a fun way to work towards confidence and comfort on boats and on the water.
The kids in this group will learn how to control a sailboat through creative games and challenges. Sailors will learn skills such as knot tying, rigging and de-rigging, sailing physics, as well as proper terminology. Primary objective is to prepare 5-7 year old sailors to progress into the Commodore's fleet. Sailors in this fleet will not be attending regattas.
Schedule:
Participants in this group will sign up to meet on either Saturdays or Sundays, for 8 weeks at a time. Class will begin at 9 am and conclude at 11 am. The first 8 weeks (Session A) will run September 8th until October 27th. The Session B will run from November 9th to December 29th.

Enrollment and Fees:
The cost of this program will be $200 for members and $300 for Youth Sailing Guests.
YSGs must be sponsored by an LYC member and pay with a check prior to the beginning of the season.

COMMODORE’S FLEETLearn to Race: Ages 8-12, a.k.a. Green Fleet. Each Commodore’s Fleeter will be assigned a boat (provided free of charge by LYC) to use for the whole season. Coaches will work with the children on their basic sailing skills using fun activities such as games, relays, and challenges to teach them how to competitively race a sailboat. Sailors will gain necessary core skills to eventually graduate to the Intermediate Fleets.

Commodore fleet sailors are encouraged to participate in local regattas once they are ready for competition. Participation in these events is not required but will be available as an option to those who are feeling ready. LYC will transport the boats for you to these regattas. On weekends that we travel to a regatta, there will be no practice at LYC. Mark your calendars, the first regatta of the Fall season is the River Romp in Fort Myers, October 19th and 20th.

Schedule:
Practices will run two times a week; every Sunday from11:30 AM to 2:00 PM and every Thursday from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM.
Select regattas will be supported by a coach for those ready to race. The seasonal calendar is available on the Program Documents page, under Fall 2013 – Commodore’s.

Enrollment and Fees:
Pricing for the spring season of sailing is $475 for members and $700 for Youth Sailing Guests. Please note that YSGs need to be sponsored by an LYC member and must pay with a check prior to the beginning of the season.


INTERMEDIATE SILVERA new addition to our Fall lineup, the Intermediate Silver fleet is a transitional fleet designed to prepare sailors for Intermediate Gold and Championship Fleet. The mission is self-reliance and skill acquisition needed to become a mid-fleet sailor at local regattas. Sailors in this fleet will have practices tailored to their needs and may practice inside or out in the ocean based on the conditions and practice plans of the other groups. Sailors in this group have been selected at coach’s discretion. Sailors who earn a spot on Intermediate Gold may have the opportunity to move up mid season. Coaches will decide when a sailor is ready. Sailors selected for this group will receive an email from the Sailing Director.
Schedule:
Practices will run three times a week: Wednesday from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM, Saturday from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, Sunday from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
Select regattas will be supported by a coach. See attached for season schedule under Program Documents page- Fall – Intermediate & Champ.

Enrollment and Fees:
Pricing for the spring season of sailing is $500 for members and $750 for Youth Sailing Guests. Please note that YSGs need to be sponsored by an LYC member and must pay with a check prior to the beginning of the season.

INTERMEDIATE GOLD Participants in this group will be selected by the coach if the sailor is ready. Sailors will be moved up from Intermediate Silver when the coach feels he or she is ready.  This group is for sailors who are working to secure a Team Trials Qualification or do not yet have the stamina (or interest) for two full practice days in the ocean. Sailors may be moved to Intermediate Silver if the coach decides they will have a more productive practice experience with the Silver group. Sailors selected for this group will receive an email from the Sailing Director.
Schedule:
Practices will run three times a week: Wednesday from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM, Saturday from 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM, Sunday from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
Select regattas will be supported by a coach(es). See attached for season schedule under Program Documents page- Fall – Intermediate & Champ.

Enrollment and Fees:
Pricing for the spring season of sailing is $550 for members and $825 for Youth Sailing Guests. Please note that YSGs need to be sponsored by an LYC member and must pay with a check prior to the beginning of the season.

CHAMPIONSHIP FLEET- Sailors in this group focus on developing and refining critical boat-handling, boat-speed, improving physical and mental stamina, and boat-tuning skills needed to excel in national and international competition. The sailors are expected to compete at USODA events and attempt to qualify for the US National Team in order to represent the USA and LYC at international events. Participation in the Advanced Fleet is limited to Team Trials qualified sailors or head coach’s approval.

See attached for season schedule under Program Documents page- Fall – Intermediate & Champ.
Schedule:
Tuesday 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM, Sunday 9:30 AM to 4 PM

Enrollment and Fees:
Pricing for Advanced Fleet is $650 for members and $975 for YSG's. Please note that YSG's need to be sponsored by an LYC member and must pay with a check prior to the beginning of the season.

A FEW IMPORTANT AMMENDMENTS TO OUR OPTIMIST PROGRAM

Program Fee Payment
To participate in the Sailing program children of LYC Members must submit registration paperwork and will subsequently be billed through their club accounts during regular monthly periods.  Youth Sailing Guests are required to complete the registration forms and must submit payment before their child may participate in any program activity of the season.  

Regatta Registration Policy 
To maintain proper coach-to-sailor ratios necessary for effective coaching and our sailors' safety, coaches are assigned to Florida regattas ten days prior to the event, based on the number of LYC sailors attending.  Adding coaches after this time, with associated coach boats, hotel, and travel arrangements, adds expense and impacts other LYC sailing programs.  Accordingly, the Optimist Committee has enacted the following policies.
Opti Sailing participants attending in-state events must notify the Sailing Department via email by the Wednesday 10 days prior to the event.  
Participants who will be racing in Out-of-state and USODA regattas must sign up six weeks prior to the event’s start date.

Sailors registered with LYC by this time will receive boat transportation to the event in accordance with the policy below.  Sailors not registered with LYC for the event by this time will not be assured of transportation, and will be charged a fee of $100 to their LYC or YSG account.
Take a look at the Fall schedules for your sailor’s fleet and take note of sign up dates and LYC arrival to regatta site for your planning. 

LYC Trailer Assignment Policy
Sailor’s will be given rack space in order of priority (top to bottom)
1. Commodore’s Fleet sailors
2. Families who tow a coach boat
3. Multi Opti sailor families (First Opti is expected to be carried car-top on sailor’s family vehicle)
4. Multi sailor families other than Opti (Other boat to be carried by sailor’s family)
5. Order by date reservation was made
6. Other Local clubs by prior arrangement and with space available.

No comments:

Post a Comment