Junior Sailing
Welcome to Junior Sailing at the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron! Our season runs from October through to March, with sessions for 4-17 year olds on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
Whether you are a complete novice or want to build on your experience or are even looking for some advanced training, we have a Junior program for you. Learn how to sail and advance your seamanship skills in water craft from dinghies through to deep keel boats. Engage in the vibrant junior social life that the club promotes and build lifelong friends while gaining a new skill and challenging yourself.
The club fleet of Opti and Pacer dinghy’s and small J24 keelboats are available for the Juniors to use, and we also provide PFD life jackets. Our Juniors learn to sail with our experienced paid Instructors and Safety Boats in the protected waters of the Outer Harbour basin, so it’s a great calm area for learning and skills consolidation before getting to more advanced training.
Sunday morning sailing for Little Tackers (4-7 year olds), Tackers (7-12 year olds), and OutThere Sailing (12-17 year olds) is in 8 week blocks in Term 4 and also Term 1, ranging from 9am to 12noon. These sessions (Combined skill levels) are run on our Dinghy’s for beginner and intermediate Juniors, with a mixed skill set so participants can still stay with their friends even if they have different sailing abilities. We also have various club events throughout the year where the Juniors can come together on and off the water to have fun and take part in RSAYS club life!
Wednesday evenings during daylight savings are for our advanced Greenfleet teens who have completed OutThere Sailing 3 or equivalent. This year our Greenfleet crew have actually formed their very own race team, and our Instructors are guiding them through a race season in our J24 keel boats for our club Twilight races. Be there from 5:00pm to rig and then race the vessels as we focus on more advanced skills and race with the big keelboats. Families are encouraged to come and enjoy our beautiful dining facilities afterward to help foster friendships among participants and parents.
We also run school holidays for Juniors of any and all skill levels, with fun on the Dinghy’s, J24’s and general water games and good times - bring a friend and come along to see what the RSAYS Juniors Programme is all about! This year we are having a Come and Try morning for 4-17 year olds, please register HERE. Kids are welcome to come along and have a go on the dinghies with our Instructors guiding them through, as a little taster of what our Summer programme offers.
If you are looking for learning though fun, a sense of belonging, some like-minded friends and new experiences with a vibrant, welcoming club atmosphere, this is the place for you. We welcome parent help at the training sessions, or if you would like to learn yourself as an adult we can give you a crewing experience on the larger boats that sail in the Wednesday Twilight series.
Please email juniors@RSAYS.com.au for info on our upcoming School Holiday Programmes, the Juniors Twilight race team or for any other info you might like. You can book a place in our Term 4 Little Tackers HERE, Tackers HERE, and our OutThere sessions HERE. Please note that Greenfleet and Race Team Juniors must be RSAYS members to participate in the Term programmes (membership is prorated at $125 annually), and you may be eligible for the SA Sports Vouchers as RSAYS is an approved provider. We can’t wait to have you on the water with us!