How to prepare for sailing camp

What happens at camp

Campers arrive with no experience, and that's the point. Coaches teach from the ground up. Nobody is expected to show up knowing the parts of a boat.

The camp splits by age, and the pace is genuinely different. Grades 3 through 5 start with fundamentals in smaller boats. Grades 6 through 8 move faster, work more independently, and get introduced to racing concepts.

What to pack

Assume everything they wear ends up soaked.

• Clothes that can get wet

  • Athletic shorts and a t-shirt are perfect or a swimsuit. Board shorts work great too! Avoid anything they’d be upset about getting wet.

• A second set of clothes

• Closed-toe shoes or water shoes

  • No flip flops on the dock. Sneakers that can get wet, or dedicated water shoes, are ideal.

• A brimmed hat

• Sunscreen, applied before arrival

• Sunglasses with a strap - optional

• A full water bottle

• A packed lunch in a cooler or with ice packs

  • Students will have an hour lunch break from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

How to talk about it beforehand

A few conversations before camp can go a long way toward helping them walk through the door with confidence.

• “You’re going to learn something new.” Frame camp as a learning experience, not a performance. Kids who know they’re allowed to be beginners try harder and enjoy themselves more. There’s no test at the end of the week.

• “Sailing involves real wind and water, some days will feel tricky.” Especially for 6th–8th graders who are used to picking things up quickly, it helps to know in advance that sailing has a learning curve. That’s not a problem, it’s what makes it interesting.

• “Ask questions.” Sailing has its own vocabulary (port, starboard, tacking, jibing) and it can feel like a lot at first. Encourage them to ask their instructor whenever something doesn’t make sense. The kids who ask questions learn the fastest.

• “Tell me one thing you learned today.” At pickup, ask about the doing. “What did you figure out today?” opens more conversation than “Did you like it?”, especially for middle schoolers who might answer the latter with a shrug.

If your child has sailed before

If your child has sailed before, even casually on a family vacation or a friend’s boat, they’ll likely feel comfortable right away. That confidence is a great starting point.

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That said, encourage them to stay open to instruction even on things they think they know. Camp coaches often spot small technique habits that work fine for casual sailing but become limiting as skills develop. The kids who progress fastest are usually the ones who stay curious regardless of what they already know.

If your child is nervous

Water safety is a priority at sailing camp, and all campers wear life jackets on the water, no exceptions, regardless of swimming ability. That said, some kids (and parents) have real anxiety about open water, and it’s worth addressing before camp rather than at the dock.

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If your child is nervous:

• Talk about it openly. Acknowledge the feeling without dismissing it. “It makes sense to feel a little nervous about something new” goes further than “you’ll be fine.”

• Remind them about the life jacket. Knowing they’ll be in a PFD the whole time reassures a lot of kids.

• Let the instructors know. A quick heads-up on the first morning means the coaching staff can keep an extra eye out and make sure your camper feels supported as they ease in.

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Most kids who arrive nervous leave wanting to come back. The water has a way of doing that.

what comes next?

If your child finishes the week energized or even just quietly curious that feeling is worth following. Sailing is a sport that genuinely grows with kids. The fundamentals learned in a summer camp translate directly into more advanced programs, youth racing teams, and lifelong skills on the water.

For 6th–8th graders especially, camp is often the entry point to something much bigger. A lot of competitive youth sailors got their start exactly the way your kid is starting: one summer, one boat, one week on the water. Learn more at clevelandfoundry.org/sailing-camps