Sailing indoors? How Kingston Yacht Club is continuing their camp during COVID-19

Due to the cancellations of summer camps and the inability for large groups of people to gather and be close to each other, Kingston Yacht Club (KYC) wanted to find a creative way to foster the love for sailing, from the safety and comfort of your own home.

To do this, KYC is creating free sailing and boating seminars for people of all ages, backgrounds and from anywhere in the world. Through the interactive Zoom seminars, virtual regattas and video lessons, children and youth will be able to stay engaged throughout the summer and stay part of the Kingston sailing community, which has been growing from the long tradition of the Sailing Academy that KYC has offered.

Jake Adair, Sailing Manager for Kingston Yacht Club said that anyone can access these seminars for free and that the interactive nature of the seminars will keep everyone engaged. He said that the club wanted to do this to keep the community engaged and growing.

“We just wanted to keep the sailing community engaged throughout the summer,” said Adiar.

He also added that, although it is disappointing for the camp to be cancelled, he is happy that everyone will be able to access this.

“It’s a little disappointing that you can’t be on the water,” said Adair. “But at the same time, it presents us with an amazing opportunity to build this program online that we can offer to everyone at no cost.”

The seminars are no cost because KYC wanted to make things easier for the people facing financial distress because of the pandemic.

“Obviously there’s some tough financial times right now,” said Adair. “So we thought that it would be very accommodating if we were able to offer at no cost to everyone.”

Adair hopes that, with the introduction of seminars in the fresh water sailing capital of the world, people all over the world will be excited to get out sailing when they can, with new knowledge and appreciation.  

Interactive classes will be held from 9:30 to 10:15 am for the Beginner group, and 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. to the Intermediate and Race Groups. The classes will run from Monday to Friday from Monday, Jun. 29 to Friday, Aug. 21, 2020. Fridays will be dedicated to guest speakers ranging from Olympic athletes to sport psychologists and health and nutrition specialists.

To sign up for the seminars, visit this website.