PLEASE HAVE YOUR BOAT READY TO SAIL THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS!

Boats and Partners

It is the responsibility of the parent to arrange a boat (own, borrow or share) and partner for their junior sailor.  (See the last page of this handbook for helpful boat borrowing guidelines.)  These arrangements must be made BEFORE the first day of sailing classes.

Our sailing instructors are not authorized to use valuable instruction time to find boats and organize partners.  This is not the job of the sailing instructors and when they have to leave the docks to do so, it causes safety concerns for our sailors.

Broken Boats and Missing Parts

The WBC is not responsible for finding any lost, misplaced, forgotten or stolen parts.  Be sure that both you and your child know what parts belong to you, and that your child knows to put everything away after class instead of leaving it on the docks.

• All boats used in beginners and intermediates are privately owned, and are therefore not the responsibility of the WBC.  If you are borrowing or renting a boat, arrangements should be made in advance to determine how any damage to the boat or loss of parts will be dealt with (i.e. who is responsible for paying for repairs and performing the repairs).
• The WBC is not responsible for repairing damaged boats.  The Club keeps a box of commonly broken/lost parts, and will sell them to you at cost.  However the club is not responsible for installing said parts or finding/purchasing any parts that are not in the parts box.*
• Any parts that are not in the parts box can often be found at West Marine.
• Please repair your boat as soon as possible.  We cannot guarantee that your child will be put into another boat, and he/she may lose valuable time on the water.
• The sailing instructors are not responsible for lost/misplaced/ stolen parts.  Some of the most commonly misplaced parts are:
  • Sail bag

    This is by far the most commonly misplaced item.  Children often forget to put it away after taking the sail out of the bag and leave it on the docks to be blown into the water.  They also all look EXACTLY the same, so it is a good idea to put your family name and sail number on the bag (with a permanent marker) to identify it.

  • Rudder

    This is by far the most stolen or unintentionally swapped item.  Just like with the sail bag these all look EXACTLY the same.  Make sure to put your family name and sail number/boat name on the rudder in permanent ink, and do something to it to make it unique at a glance.  For example: buy multiple colors of electrical or duct tape and wrap it around the rudder/tiller in a unique pattern (make sure to do this ABOVE the waterline).

  • Sail

    Not very often misplaced, but be sure to know your sail number just in case.  It can be very easily spotted if it is accidentally switched with another boat.

*If your boat needs work, you may hire an instructor to work on it.  However, this must be by private arrangement and must take place outside of instructor work hours.  The private rate for boat repair is $15.00/30 minutes plus cost of materials.

Moorings and Lockers

Please be sure that you have arranged for a mooring and a locker and that you and your child both know your correct mooring number, locker number and lock combination.  Your mooring number and locker number may change from year to year, so you must sign up for each at the start of the season.

Drop off and pick-up

Parents are responsible for dropping off junior sailors promptly at the start of their sailing class.  Parents are also responsible for picking up junior sailors who are under the age of 10 (and therefore not allowed at the club without adult supervision) in a timely manner.  There is no instructor supervision when the program is over.

Equipment

All sailors must have the following equipment on the first day of class:

• Personal Floatation Device or Lifejacket

  All Sailors will need a lifejacket the first day of classes and will be required to wear the lifejacket at all times on the water and on the dock.  Lifejackets can be purchased at West Marine in Woburn on Washington Street or at many sporting goods stores.  The lifejacket must have the proper fit, not be sized to grow into, and the sailor should like the color and style of the jacket, as they will wear it often.

• Whistle – attached to lifejacket with cord
• Paddle
• Bailer
• Rubber-soled, closed-toe shoes

The following are optional but strongly recommended:

• Hat/sun block/sunglasses
• Water bottle

Kid Zone

Only registered class participants (no parents, siblings, guests, etc.) and Club employees should be on the floating docks during pre-lesson rigging, lesson times, and post-lesson de-rigging.  One of the main goals of our program is to encourage independence in our junior sailors.  In addition, the docks are very crowded during this time and we cannot afford to have the extra bodies on the docks.  If you are seen on the dock, you will be asked to leave.  Please respect this rule.

Notify partners of absence or vacation

If your child will be absent from class for one day or for a week, please make sure to notify his/her partner so that they can make alternative partner arrangements for that time period (try to find someone else whose partner is also absent from class).

Occasionally, we will put three sailors in an N10, but only on a temporary basis.  In addition to the safety issues and the capacity for instructors to maintain the attention of three sailors in a boat, the sailors will not get enough hands-on time with the tiller or the mainsail, and they will be fall behind the rest of the class.

Discipline Issues

Parents should be aware of our discipline policy.  All participants in the sailing program are expected to follow all the Rules and Regulations outlined in the WBC Handbook.  In addition, all sailing program participants are expected to follow the directions of Sailing Instructors and all members of the WBC staff.  To the extent possible, Sailing Instructors/Staff will address violations of the Club Rules and Regulations (or of the policies set forth by Instructors or Staff) directly with the student.  In cases of consistent infractions, or infractions that jeopardize the safety of the individual or others, Instructors may need to remove the individual from the class.  Students that have to be removed from class will be sent to the Club office and the Manager on duty will notify parents.  If behavior consistently hinders the ability of Instructors to teach and ensure the safety of the entire class, parents will be notified and the student may have to be removed permanently from the Program.