Student/Parent Handbook

SANDY BAY YACHT CLUB JUNIOR SAILING PROGRAM

INTRODUCTION
This handbook is intended as a Junior Sailing Program reference guide for both parents and students. It contains a review of program policies, helpful information, names and phone numbers of people to contact, and some background about our staff. It also includes Program evaluation forms. Please complete these for each session you attend and drop them in the Program mailbox or bring them to Parents' Night.

We hope this book answers most questions you may have about the Program, and also that you will tell us if there is additional information you would like to see included in future handbooks.

PURPOSE
The Junior Sailing Program is intended to provide our students with a broad exposure to the sport of sailing. Our primary goal is to develop safe, independent sailors, who love the sport of sailing. Our secondary purpose is to offer those students who have become independent sailors exposure to racing through our racing classes and teams. We coordinate our schedule with other North Shore programs, and our racing students have the opportunity to compete in regattas sponsored by the Mass Bay Sailing Association.

CLASS PLACEMENT
Students are grouped by ability, age and size, and aside from beginners, are placed based on Instructor recommendation. Placement decisions are guided by safety considerations and the skills demonstrated by the student. As a result, we will be unable to honor requests for "friends" to be placed together. We recognize that students mature and progress at different rates, and some movement from class to class may occur during a session.

SWIM TEST and MEDICAL FORMS
Before any student is allowed to sail, they must pass a 50 yard swim test. This test is given during the first week of each session, so students should bring bathing suits, towels, and appropriate clothing starting the first day of all classes. The water may be cold - however it is a safety requirement, so please come prepared. Sailors will not be allowed to sail until they complete the swim test even if they have completed it the previous year.

A completed medical and liability form (provided at registration) is also required before a student is allowed to sail. Information provided should be based on a physical done within the past 12 months. Of particular importance are the date of the last tetanus shot and emergency contacts. All information must be provided, because these forms are the only record we have of the medical attention your child should receive if treatment becomes necessary and you are not available. These forms will be filed in the First Aid locker of the Club and will accompany students to all "away" events. Please fill out the medical forms with great care and include as many contact numbers as possible. All files are kept confidential within the program staff. Any informationx relating to your child's health is greatly welcomed - after all, you know your child best.

LIFE JACKETS and WHISTLES
Each student must wear a Coast Guard approved life vest. These should be the type that zip up the front, not the type that slip over the head. For maximum safety, these must fit properly. All instructors are available to help with any questions. These jackets are available for approximately $50 from any marine store. Brown's Yacht Yard on East Main St., Gloucester, has been particularly helpful in outfitting junior sailors.

There is an Optimist class rule that all Optimist sailors are required to have whistles attached to their life jackets. If any returning students have lost their whistles or lose them during the season, they will need to purchase new ones. Please reinforce with your children that whistles are to be blown ONLY in an emergency. Instructors will emphasize this policy with the students.

WHAT SHOULD I BRING TO THE COURSE?

• Lifejacket (Suitable to child's weight and size).
• Sun hat/ baseball hat.
• All students should apply sunscreen before coming in the morning or afternoon.
• Students should have proper water shoes (flip flops are NOT suitable... they must be attached to your feet).
• Water bottle.
• A spare change of cloths and a towel is necessary. (You never know when you may want to go swimming... Temperatures on the water are often significantly colder than on land, so be sure you have enough sailing cloths).
• The Club's snack bar serves sandwiches, sodas, and snacks at lunchtime, so you may want to bring a small amount of money.
• Students are advised to leave any unnecessary valuables at home... gameboys, iPods, etc. don't really need to come to sailing.
• All students' belongings should be well labeled with the child's full mane. Do not let your child feed the lost and found box unnecessarily!!

SAFETY
Because safety is a primary concern of ours, certain rules must be followed:

• Rubber-soled shoes must be worn at all times.
• Life jackets are required at all times on boats, docks, floats, and ramps.
• No running, in-line skating, or bike-riding are allowed anywhere on Club property. Bicycles should be locked and left in the designated area.
• Except during the supervised swim test and capsize drills, there is no swimming in the harbor.
• No diving or jumping is allowed off the deck or any floats.
• The second floor and upper deck of the Clubhouse are off limits to all juniors.
• No hanging or climbing on awning or pipes.

BEHAVIOR
The SBYC Sailing Program is a drug and alcohol free environment. Abuse of this policy is grounds for immediate dismissal from the program. In such cases, no money will be refunded. Before starting the program students will be asked to read the behavior policy and sign a behavior contract.

Proper behavior is based on common sense. We have a very small facility which is also for the use and enjoyment of adults. The Yacht Club membership has been very generous in their support of our program. We must show the utmost respect for these members, and thankfulness for their support. Our Instructors are very sensitive to this and will bring any problems to the immediate attention of Jennifer Doyle, the Program Director. If the problem cannot be satisfactorily resolved between the Program Director and the student, parents will be contacted. Disciplinary action, including suspension from the Program, may result in some cases.

PARENT OF THE DAY
Each of you will be asked to be Parent of the Day (POD) for a morning or an afternoon. You may sign up at any registration or you will be called by the POD coordinator to fill a spot. When you arrive for duty you will report to the program director, who will give you an instruction booklet and explain your job.

Please understand that since part of your duties may involve helping with an emergency, it is not appropriate to bring children who require supervision. We realize this may be inconvenient, and we appreciate your cooperation. Again, this policy is for the safety of your student.

ABSENCES
Regular attendance is extremely important to your child's progress. If you know ahead of time that your child will be absent from a class, please let Jennifer Doyle know as soon as possible. If your child is absent from class, the Parent of the Day will try to contact you at home. If there is a machine, the POD will leave a message. It is important to understand that the Program takes no responsibility for your child if he/she does not come to class; the attempt at notification is simply a courtesy to you so that you will know your child is not at class. If your student develops a problem requiring him or her to leave class, the POD will attempt to notify you or the emergency contact you have listed and will stay with the child until you or your emergency contact arrive.

STAFF AVAILABILITY
The Instructors will be at the Yacht Club at 8:00 a.m., Monday through Friday (classes begin promptly at 8:30). If you need to speak to an instructor, please do so before the class begins. If you feel you may need to speak for an extended period of time, please schedule a meeting, as they will be preparing for the day in the morning.  Please communicate - don't let little problems become big ones. To help you, pertinent phone numbers are listed in this handbook and the program director will be available throughout the day to listen to concerns and/or answer any questions..

FINANCIAL AID
Our goal is to never turn a student away for financial reasons. A limited amount of financial aid, made possible through tax-deductible contributions, is available to help with Program tuition costs and/or regatta fees. For further information, call us at 978-546-6240.

PARENTS' NIGHT
Parents' Night is held on the last Tuesday of each session, with Thursday as a rain date if needed. Reminders will be sent home with your student the week before each Parents' Night. This is a potluck supper open to all students, their parents, and their families. Please bring a main course, vegetable, salad, or dessert sufficient to feed twice the number of people in your party. This is a fun, informal gathering, and a few prizes are presented to some of the students. There is no sailing or registration at Parents' Night.

COMMUNICATION
During the program, there may be a need to communicate with parents about schedule changes and/or special events. These notices will be sent home with your child, and it is important that you check with him/her regularly. We also have a newly designed website which will be frequently used and updated. Please refer to the website for newsletters and special notices. www.sandybay.org.

PROGRESS REPORTS
We do not issue progress reports, but parents should feel free to talk with a student's Instructor at any time. In addition, non-racing students' progress will be tracked on skill sheets. These will be updated and reviewed with students periodically.

SPECTATORS
Although we understand that parents would like to watch their children sail, we must discourage your attendance at classes. The students get more nervous and less attentive when they know their parents are watching, and our facilities are simply too small to accommodate extra people without interfering with the adult members' use of the Club. We will schedule one class late in each session where parents can watch, and we will send notice of those classes home with your child. There are also many viewing areas in Rockport that you can easily watch your child while still giving them the freedom to grow and learn on their owwn

USE OF PROGRAM BOATS
Students who reach a certain proficiency level will be certified by the Head Instructor to use Club boats on their own. A list of these students will be posted inside the sail locker. In 420's, both skipper and crew must be certified, and Opti sailors cannot go out alone; there must always be a least two Optis unless there is an Instructor on the water.

Current weather conditions/forecast will also be posted, and there will be a board listing each boat and its maintenance status. Students are responsible for signing a boat out and back in, and for noting any maintenance or equipment problems on the board.

Before taking a boat, students must also check out with an Instructor, the Club Manager, or a launch operator. No student will be allowed to sail in weather or sea conditions that are beyond their ability.

Failure to comply with the rules and regulations for using Club boats will result in the privilege being revoked.

BOAT DAMAGE
Although the Program provides the boat your child sails, we ask that each student treat the boat as if it were his/her own. Each 420 costs $5500, and Optis are over $2000 each! Repairs are expensive and eventually drive up the cost of the Program.

We do not want to charge individual students and their families for boat damage - accidents do happen, and to avoid this we need your help. Please remind your student to do everything possible to avoid collisions or other damage to the boats. In cases of damage resulting from extreme negligence, we may ask the student to share the cost of repairs. This has never been necessary, and with everyone's cooperation it won't be this year, either!

RACES AT SBYC
Racing students are encouraged to participate in the weekend and holiday races held at SBYC. Trophies are awarded at the end of the season. The Sailing Program also sponsors the Tim Baker Memorial Regatta, which is the Cape Ann junior sailing championship, and the Linda Wieditz Memorial Regatta held in Optimists. Eliminations are held before this regatta for 420s and are open to all juniors certified to take out 420s. Sailors from Annisquam and Eastern Point also participate in both of these regattas.

REGATTA POLICIES
Sailors on both the 420 and Optimist racing teams participate in Mass. Bay Junior Olympic Regatta, Interclub events, and other regattas involving area clubs. When they do so, they are representing SBYC and our Junior Program, and we expect that they will conduct themselves accordingly. We also encourage their participation in the social functions that are part of these events.

Parental support and involvement are important to the success of these events. If your student is participating, we will ask you to help with transportation and chaperoning. Without your help, participation in these events is not possible.

WE NEED YOUR HELP
The Program is financed entirely by tuition fees and tax-deductible contributions. Our Yacht Club membership has been very generous, and your help is also needed. We make every effort to have our fees as low as possible, and we would like to keep them that way. We need your help not only to accomplish this, but also to continue to provide scholarships so that we don't turn anyone away, and to build a reserve for future boat replacements or additions. Please make your checks payable to SBYC Sailing Program and indicate whether you would like your contribution to be used exclusively for scholarships or for general program needs. Remember, every contribution, no matter how small, helps keep children sailing! Thank you very much for your support.

HELPFUL REMINDERS
All life jackets and personal belongings look the same. Put your name on EVERYTHING! Check your child's things regularly to be sure you still have what you started with! Lost and Found bins are under the awning next to the picnic tables.

There are no "loaner" life jackets. If you don't bring your own, you don't sail!

Students are not allowed in the Tool (Steward's) Locker - Period!!!

When students use the rowing skiffs, they must be returned in good order - clean, securely tied up, oarlocks down, oars in the boat, and trash, weeds, etc, removed.

JUNIOR MEMBERSHIP

JUNIOR YACHT CLUB
Each student is a member of the Junior Yacht Club. This organization, which is separate from the Sailing Program, provides social activities for juniors. The junior members and junior officers under the guidance of a senior advisor run the Junior Yacht Club. Notices of junior activities will be posted on the Junior bulletin board located inside the Clubhouse to the left of the kitchen door. This years Junior Commodore is Allie DeMaggio. To contact the Junior Officers please contact 978-546-6240.

GUESTS
The by-laws of the Yacht Club specifically prohibit Junior members from having any guests at the Club. Our facility is simply too small, and this policy will be strictly enforced.

SAILING PROGRAM EVALUATION

We need your input to know what we're doing right and what we can improve. Please take a few minutes to comment on the following categories, and then to add any comments you'd like at the end. Please be as specific as possible. THANK YOU!

Overall Program:

Communication with Parents:

Quality of Instruction:

Relationship with Instructors:

Emphasis on Safety:

Additional Comments/Concerns (How can we help your child?):

Class of Student/ Name (if desired):