Learning to Sail

By Kirby Adams

Take a summer drive down River Road , and if the wind is right you'll catch a glimpse of sailboats gliding over the water.  Those sailboats caught the interest of 12-year-old Jennifer Adams.  Last summer she decided to learn to sail.   "I love being outdoors and on the river; it just seemed like fun," says Adams .  She learned to sail through the River Cities Community Sailing Program, a non-profit group that introduces Kentuckiana children and adults to the fun and pleasure of sailing.  

I met Adams at one of the 15-hour courses offered this year.  A group of 11-year old boys were actually the students.  The boys were busy learning the ropes, or rather the sheets and lines (that's what ropes are called on a sailboat) of navigating a sailboat through Kentuckiana waters when I sat down to talk with Adams .  She told me that her parents don't sail, and she doesn't have a sailboat of her own, but she just always wanted to know what it was like.  She signed up for the beginner course, which taught her to steer the 11-foot teaching sailboats. Like the boys we were watching from shore, Adams learned how to trim the sail for speed and direction, safety skill on shore and on the water, plus how to dock the boat and to recognize weather patterns. 

"We learned to tip the boat over and how to get it back upright, too," she told me.  I wondered if that was scary.  "No, it actually it gets pretty hot out on the water so tipping the boat over and standing on the dagger board to pull the boat upright cooled us off."

The director the River Cities Community Sailing Program would like every student to be able to swim.  However, Roger Kennedy says in order not to exclude anyone the minimum requisite for beginning class is to jump into the water and cover 25 yards using any stroke while wearing a lifejacket.  Students are never far from the boat or an adult. A maximum of 10 kids are enrolled in each class so the student-to-instructor ratio is 5:1 in the beginner courses. When the kids advance to intermediate and advanced classes there is a maximum of seven students and a ratio of 3:1.

The courses meet the standards established by U.S. Sailing and the American Red Cross.  Adams liked the amount of time she actually spent sailing. Sixty to 75 percent of the 15-hour course is spent on the water developing sailing skills.  The other 25 to 40 percent is spent in a classroom setting. 

By the time the boys in the class we observed had been through three days of the course they knew all the parts of their boat, the points of sail, how to steer the sailboat and the best way to upright the boat. They had also learned safety skills both on shore and on the water.  The classes are taught at Carrie Gaulbert Cox Park on River Road . You'll see a big blue truck container painted with sailing scenes.  However, anyone who spends any time around the river knows it can sometimes get too high to sail safely.  On those days the class moves to Long Run Park in eastern Jefferson County .   

Adams is thrilled to have learned to sail.  According to Kennedy, it's a skill she'll take with her into other aspects of life.  "Sailing teaches problem solving; you learn to understand weather conditions, and it helps promote a love of nature," he says.

The youth program runs for five days and costs $99, which includes a book.  Morning classes meet from 9 a.m. to noon.  The afternoon classes meet from 1 to 4 p.m.

Adult classes cost a bit more, $150, and meet four weeks for three hours and 45 minutes per session.

For kids who are not able to afford the lessons there are scholarships available.  This covers a varying percentage of the course fee based on need. 

A final note - I learned to sail when I was 9 years old on a small lake in Northern Illinois .  My father and I spent many weekends together racing our little sailboat on lakes throughout the Midwest .   Looking back it was some of the most important time spent with my dad because it was just the two of us, talking, learning and hanging out without interruptions - just making our way through the elements.  I still sail today with my husband and two daughters.  If you have the chance I highly recommend learning the "ropes."

For More Information:

River Cities Community Sailing Program, Inc.
P.O. BOX 8111
Lousiville , KY 40257-8111
502-899-1311
E-mail: RCCSP@saillouisville.org
Web site: www.saillouisville.org

Kirby Adams is the consumer reporter for Kentuckiana's News Channel WHAS-11 and a sports and fitness buff. You can e-mail Kirby at kirby.adams@whas11.com. Kirby is also a member of Kentuckiana HealthFitness' Editorial Advisory Board.

If you know of a little "GEM" or a story, you would like to share it with our readers, drop me a note about it.

Kirby Adams
c/o WHAS-11 TV
P.O. Box 2588
Louisville , KY 40201