southport junior yacht club

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SOUTHPORT YACHT CLUB

• Sailing Program
• Sailing Program Info

southport junior Yacht Club Sailing Foundation

SAILING SCHEDULE

The sailing program will start June 24, 2023  and run over an eight week period, divided into one-week sessions, ending August 17th.  Sailors are encouraged to enroll for two or more sessions, up to the full eight week season. Morning sessions begin promptly at 9:00 am and finish at 12:00 noon; afternoon sessions begin at 1:00 pm and finish at 4:00 pm.  Beginners meet in the morning session and Intermediate and Advanced sailors meet in the afternoon sessions.  Five days of instruction are planned, Monday through Friday, with Fridays doubling as “special events.”  Each student’s skill level is evaluated upon entering the Program and progress and achievements are monitored.  Because all skill levels are practiced daily, each student will have the opportunity to work at his/her skill level and progress at his/her own rate.  Discounts are provided for families who allow the use of their family’s Turnabout or Opti in the program.

SOUTHPORT JUNIOR YACHT CLUB

All youth sailing class members are automatically enrolled as members of the Junior Yacht Club.  JYC members elect their own officers and plan activities.  Past activities have included invitational regattas, ice cream socials, dances, bingo, activity nights, barbecues and field trips.  Instructors and senior club members serve as advisors to the JYC.

INSTRUCTORS

Program instruction is provided by an experienced staff headed by  Sailing Program Director Shannon Killian.  Shannon Killian is a 15-year veteran of Southport sailing, who teaches school in Gloucester, MA during the winter.

All participants, including adults, are required to wear a Coast Guard approved life vest at all times on docks, floats, and boats, regardless of swimming ability. Sailors must have their own life vests as well as appropriate clothing and footwear.  A basic swim test is required of all new young sailors on their first day of the program.

SCHOLARSHIPS

The Southport Junior Sailing Foundation has a limited amount of scholarship money available for participants requiring financial aid. Interested parents of participants must fill out the scholarship application form available on Camp Doc's registration page.

For more information on the sailing program, or to inquire about space availability for classes, or scholarship information, please contact:

Southport Junior Yacht Club Sailing Foundation  PO Box 68 Southport, ME 04576

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Southport Junior Yacht Club: Powered by Youth

Teaching sailing, as well as learning how.

Photographs by Adrienne Chandler

Cozy Harbor, located midway down the western shore of Southport Island at the mouth of the Sheepscot River, is almost invisible from the river, obscured from view by David’s Island to its west and Pratt’s Island to its south. Just two-tenths of a mile from end to end, the harbor’s maximum depth at mean low water is nine feet, and that’s just in one spot. Yet within its tight confines lie more than a hundred moorings—home to lobsterboats, recreational powerboats, daysailers, dinghies, and even a 38' Alden yawl. Along the shore are unpretentious, mostly 19th-century houses with the occasional dock and float. During the summer there are so many boats that you could almost hop from one side of Cozy Harbor to the other without ever getting your feet wet, but the harbor is all-but-deserted during the winter, save for a couple of working lobsterboats.

In its earliest iteration, the club was centered around Pratt’s vision of racing outboard motorboats on Sheepscot Bay. There were regular races for boats 19' to 25' long, plus meetings, picnics, and poker evenings. There were an annual regatta, a lobster stew banquet, a clambake, and a dance and beauty contest. Membership was small, however, and by the time of the Great Depression, the club’s days seemed numbered. Then, in 1937, the White family from Malden, Massachusetts, came to the rescue.

In the 1940s and 1950s the Southport Junior Yacht Club was open to youngsters aged 10 to 18. It appointed its own junior officers and offered limited instruction to its youngest members. When the Junior Sailing Program was introduced in the 1960s, the teaching of sailing took center stage. The boat used was the Turnabout, the beamy 10-footer that remains the foundation of the program to this day. 

As commodore, Custer Carroll recognized the importance of involving young members. “There are kids in the sailing program today who are third generation,” she said. “Their parents and grandparents learned to sail in Turnabouts, sometimes even the same  Turnabout… that continuity is huge.” 

Today’s Southport Junior Yacht Club Sailing Foundation is, on the surface, like most other sailing programs in this part of the world. The program is open to all, to the children of non-members and club members alike, and with one fee for all. There is a scholarship fund available. Kids range in age from 7 to 18; there is a morning program for the younger less-experienced children, and an afternoon program for the older ones. The club uses Turnabouts, Optimists, 420s, and Boston Whalers and their equivalents. 

But beneath the surface something very different is happening at Southport: With the exception of Director Will Jacobs (himself a one-time Junior Sailing Program student), the entire program is run by kids: college-aged kids and younger. And they are all either current members or graduates of the program. 

“To have an instructor who’s gone through the program, who understands the program, the philosophy, the parents, the community… the connection is very important,” said Jacobs. “So we have afternoon students who come help in the morning class, unpaid. After a few seasons some of those helpers become Junior Instructors; now they get paid to work in the mornings, and then go back to being students in the afternoon. Eventually, Junior Instructors can become Senior Instructors and then they work all day, Monday to Friday.” 

There is a generally accepted understanding that if you want to become an instructor, you must pay your dues in the ranks of the unpaid helpers—if you care enough to help out when you’re young, chances are you have what it takes to be a future leader.

The morning program has a maximum attendance of 50 kids looked after by Jacobs, 18 paid instructors, and between 8 and 12 helpers. The students are divided into groups depending on their level of experience, and the senior instructors figure out who’s in which boat and with whom. 

Making it fun is huge at Southport. As well as evening events like Ice Cream Socials and Bingo specials, there are weekly happenings from kickball on Wednesday afternoons to Friday Fundays for the morning class. But, of course, learning to sail is always there. The morning program is run exclusively in Turnabouts, two to three students per boat, with the focus on sailing and basic seamanship. On fair-weather days, the fleet goes out of the harbor into the Sheepscot. On less easy days, and especially when there’s fog, the kids stay inside the harbor, learning to dodge and weave among the many moored boats and each other. 

In the afternoons, the fleet is mixed. An average day will see 10 Turnabouts, 20 Optimists, and 10 to 15 420s—at least 55 kids—sailing off the moorings. In 2016 the club added a J/24 to the fleet—some kids will sail the J/boat and nothing else, but the majority will sail it for an afternoon here and there. It’s up to them. The prime focus of the afternoon is on racing, but it is never the only focus.

“We do racing but we do all of the other stuff too: rowing, docking, mooring. We do knots, talk about seamanship skills in terms of being safe and respecting the boat. We talk tides and currents and winds. We have had sailors who go on to sail in college but we have many, many more who’ve gone through here and continue to sail well into adulthood and still love it,” Jacobs said. “Are we producing hotshot sailors? No. We’re producing really strong sailors who love sailing, who appreciate the ocean and sailing.”

That philosophy is the essence of  Southport Yacht Club. While memberships of yacht clubs up and down the country are struggling or in decline, at Southport the membership continues to grow.

On a gentle morning in August I joined Will Jacobs in one of the club’s Whalers and we headed out into the Sheepscot to do what he does most summer mornings: watch 20 or more Turnabouts go sailing. We heard small children hurling affectionate insults at one another; we fended off a boat as it came alongside to allow two giggly girls to tell us they were headed in for a bathroom break; we paused to watch a crew execute a series of shaky jibes and saw arms extended for a high-five before the boat turned up onto a reach. 

“You were asking about the core of the Southport Yacht Club,” said Jacobs. “Well, here it is, right here: the love of sailing, appreciating the ocean, and having fun with it. Look around us—there are 50 kids out here having fun on the water, loving sailing. And you know… chances are they’ll go right on loving it for the rest of their lives.” 

He paused and looked back to his fleet of small boats. “I’d choose that any day over one superstar who goes on to the Olympics.”       

One-time Managing Editor of WoodenBoat magazine, Jenny Bennett has taught small-boat sailing throughout her adult life. A native of Southwest England, she now lives in Seacoast New Hampshire and summers on Southport, Maine.

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• Sailing Program Registration
• Foundation Awards
• Foundation Board and Instructors
• Photo Archives
• Welcome to Jr. Sailing
• Rock the Boat 5K
• Turnabout Races Sailing Instructions
• Seguin Island Trophy Race
• Round Southport Race
• 2023 Race Results
• 2022 Race Results
• 2021 Race Results
• 2020 Race Results
• 2019 Race Results
• 2018 Race Results
• Maine State Optis
• Photo Gallery

SOUTHPORT YACHT CLUB

Southport Yacht Club  – The Southport Yacht Club (SYC) is a corporation owned by its members and governed by a Board of Directors. The Club owns and maintains two buildings and dock facilities on Cosy Harbor Road on the shore of Cosy Harbor on Southport Island, Maine. The Club has a mission and 100-year history of promoting boating on the Maine coast with an emphasis on sailing through the junior program now run by the Southport Junior Yacht Club Sailing Foundation (see below). The Club sponsors numerous events during the summer including racing, social, cultural, and family activities. Members of the SYC enjoy use of the facilities, including the docks, launching ramp, and cooking grills. Members receive a membership roster with names, addresses, and phone numbers of members. Current dues are $235 per year, plus a new member initiation fee of $25. Membership application forms can be found in the Forms section of this website.

Southport Junior Yacht Club Sailing Foundation  (SJYCSF)– This legal entity is separate from the Southport Yacht Club and has its own Board of Directors. It is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt charitable organization. Donations made to the SJYCSF are tax deductible. The SJYCSF operates the sailing program. It owns the fleet of 420 sailboats, the coach boats, and several Optimist dinghies. It leases the junior building, and use of the grounds and docks from the SYC. It runs the Tuesday evening SJYCSF 420 races. Families with children in the SJYCSF Sailing Program do not have to be members of the SYC and SYC members do not receive any Sailing Program discounts or preferential treatment. Scholarships are available for eligible students. See the Sailing Program section of this website for more information regarding the SJYCSF.

SJYCSF Mission Statement:   “The purpose of the Southport Junior Yacht Club Sailing Foundation is to introduce children and youth to sailing and seamanship and to promote a life-long interest in sailing, while developing life and leadership skills, building friendships and community.”  

Southport Junior Yacht Club – This is NOT a separate legal entity. It is a subset of the SJYCSF. The officers of the SJYC are sailing program students who are elected by other sailing program students. The Southport Junior Yacht Club organizes various social events such as Ice Cream Socials and Bingos during the summer months.

The Southport Yacht Club is a diverse community grounded in a shared love of the water. We  welcome all people and perspectives.

Mailing Addresses

Secretary: Cecily Walsh

Fleet Captain: Charles Nelson

Hollyanna Bates

Brendon Donnellan   

Janet Duchaine

Susannah Parker

Communications: Hollyanna Bates

Finance: Brendon Donnellan

Long-Range Planning: Dave Smith

Membership: Susannah Parker

Social: Janet Duchaine

[email protected]

SYC Bylaws Amended 2017

Skiff Float Rules

Private Usage Agreement

• Equipment Hire
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• Registration
• Become a Sailing Instructor

Junior Sailing

Free youth sailing experience ages 7-17, tackers learn to sail ages 7-12.

Course Overview This course aims to provide children aged 7-12 with a fun, safe and affordable way to get into sailing. 

Course Prerequisites

• Water confident
• 7-12 years-old

Who should do this course?

This course is designed for participants who wish to have fun and learn the basics of sailing through games on and off the water.

Course Outcome

By the end of the Tackers 1 course, the participants will be able to:

• Steer with tiller extension under towing paddling power
• Tie a figure 8 knot, round twice and two half hitches
• Tack (push turn)
• Gybe (pull turn)
• Reach around a figure of 8 course using both tacking and gybing
• Sail with tiller extension
• Sail upwind and downwind by following the safety boat

You will gain your Tackers 1 completion certificate.

Click below to view your account

Pequot Yacht Club (primary club website)

[email protected]

203-255-5740 EXT 21

SOUTHPORT, CONNECTICUT

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Southport Junior Yacht Club

Going into week seven of sailing at the Southport Yacht Club, the sun has still been shining bright on our side of the island. These strong winds have been perfect for sailing and we all hope it stays that way.

In the morning class on Monday we had three swimmers: Finn Smith, Morgan McElroy and Nola McElroy. After welcoming them to SYC with enthusiastic cheering throughout their quick swim, they were greeted by a welcoming buddy with a towel and a warm hot chocolate as a well deserved award before hopping into Turnabouts for the rest of the morning.

Last week at SYC, we hosted Maine State Optis for two days. SYC brought 10 Optis for the championship fleet and had 4 boats finish in the top ten. Our very own Southport sailor, Brooks Baker, received first place! Not far behind, Hadden Brinegar received third place, Nate Phippen received sixth place, and in 10th place was Lucy Browne! Due to Brooks Baker winning the title, Maine State Optis will be held at SYC again next summer!

In the afternoon class, 420s unfortunately had yet another rain check on the Around Southport race with Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club, but fingers crossed for next time! On Thursday, racing and recreational 420s joined together to sail across the river to Five Islands to get some ice cream.

Maine State 420s are taking place on Aug. 8-9 at Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club. Southport is sending four oats over; Nate Phippen and Abby Dupee, Eleanor Marshall and Sofia Moen, Parker Baker and Skye Harrington, and Rachel Phippen and Logan Snyder.

Coming up this week, Kickball will take place at the Southport School on Wednesday at 6 p.m., and Baked Goods Bingo at the Southport Junior Yacht Club on Thursday at 7 p.m.. A sign up sheet is hanging in the junior building at SYC to bring a baked good. Come and play! The event is open to everyone, but remember, if no one brings any baked goods, then we can’t play!

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