April 2, 2023
My child is interested in sailing, now what?
Progression
ILCA
Optimist
Every parent knows what to do if their child is interested in soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis, and even Ultimate. However, it’s not quite the same when it comes to sailing. The sport is less well-known and has a reputation for being less approachable. Despite its reputation, sailing is not unlike any other sport. Anyone can do it; its practice cost is equivalent, and like other sports, it gets more expensive as your child starts traveling. Most youth sailing programs are no longer part of a yacht club, nor do they require a yacht club membership. Programs that are part of a yacht club are very welcoming to youth sailors and are always open to the community during youth sailing events.
Seattle is a unique and ideal place to learn and sail. Puget Sound and our many lakes make it possible to sail year-round in a variety of sailing conditions – ideal for developing great sailors. Within the Puget Sound, we have the following major youth sailing programs:
Sailing depends on the boat(s) you choose to sail. Youth sailing programs typically focus on smaller boats, such as dinghies designed for one or two people. Larger boats are called keel-boats and are usually available in adult programs only. The second distinction is between sailors who want to race and those who prefer recreational or ‘destination’ sailing. In my view, learn-to-sail programs should introduce sailors to different boats and help them find their passion for racing or destination sailing (or both). Unfortunately, most programs only offer a racing track. The only sailing school offering a destination sailing program is the CYC Community Sailing Center (CYC-CSC). CYC-CSC sailors participate in two major endurance and adventure sailing events in Puget Sound each year: Race to Alaska (R2AK) and Washington 360 (WA360). For recreational or destination sailing, larger, closed-hauled boats—meaning the boat isn't always wet—are used. At CYC-CSC, our destination sailors mostly learn on FJs and Boston Whaler Harpoons. We'll cover essential topics such as safety, basic navigation, tides and currents, anchoring, beaching, weather, trip planning, gear packing, and more. The course culminates with a weekend overnight trip to Blake Island. If your sailor might be more interested in destination sailing, the CYC is a good choice.
On the dinghy racing side, boats are mostly ‘one-design,’ made to common standards by approved manufacturers and overseen by a global organization that keeps the class lively, innovative, and honest. The Puget Sound one-design 'racing' classes are:
Other one-design boats race around Puget Sound, but no other classes compete in the regional circuit or have a large enough fleet to sail beyond local clubs. Good examples include the Open Skiff, RS Tera, and RS Feva. The Feva (double-handed) might be the next class with a chance to grow further.
.jpg)
Sailing is a sport that relies on your ability to make nature work for you. So, it involves decision-making around equipment, conditions, and other racers – all at the same time. It requires big-picture awareness, detailed concentration, and considerable endurance. In general, young sailors around the globe start their careers in the Optimist class as long as they are under 15 years old and weigh under 130 pounds (approx. 59 kg). It takes a very experienced sailor to sail an Opti fast at over 120 lbs. A taller sailor of under 110 lbs. or a young sailor of average size is ideal for an Opti, but we don’t recommend beginners 13+ and over 110 pounds to start with the Opti. They will be better off starting with an ILCA or an FJ. Once a sailor reaches around 110 pounds (approx. 47 kg), an experienced sailor has the option to move to ILCA on the ILCA4 sail, the smallest sail class. For a less experienced sailor, 125 pounds is considered the borderline weight for an ILCA4. If your new sailor is tall but under 125 pounds, they can still make it with their extra leverage.
For beginner sailors under 120 pounds who may not be very tall or who enjoy a more social experience, double-handed programs are a great choice. It’s fine for a sailor to start on double-handed and move to single-handed once they have gotten stronger. The same is true for single-handed sailors who discover that they prefer the more social experience of a double-handed boat. That said, for serious racers, it’s always better to stick to a particular boat. It takes years to master boat speed and boat handling to be competitive at a regional or national level. Committing to a boat early makes a big difference.
.jpg)
We get a lot of questions about late middle-school or early-high school sailors who sized out of an Opti, don't want to sail Opti, or don't find double-handed right for them. For those sailors, the ILCA can be a good choice. The ILCA is a single-handed, tried-and-true boat with a loyal following and a large international fleet. The ILCA class is divided into fleets based on the size of the sail. Here are the general size-to-weight recommendations from the International Laser Class Association (ILCA):
New ILCA sailors under 140 pounds (approx. 64 kg) usually start with an ILCA 4 sail. It’s the smallest ILCA sail. The smaller sail allows a lighter sailor easier control in higher winds and requires less strength to handle the boat. A more experienced sailor can move up at a lighter weight, specially if they are tall. However, it’s hard to start sailing in an ILCA at fewer than 120 pounds. It's a known issue across sailing that we don't have a good boat option for lighter sailors. The RS Tera could be a great option for these sailors but not many clubs use them. Bellingham is the only club in the PNW that has a a good fleet. The good news is that our most experienced Opti sailors prefer to graduate into the ILCA 6 class if they are heavy enough. Although it varies by year, the ILCA 6 fleet tends to be larger and more competitive. This helps the ILCA 4 fleet be a more welcoming fleet for newer sailors to start.
.jpg)
Another good starting point for older sailors is a double-handed program, meaning a two-person boat. In the NW, double-handed programs sail primarily Flying Juniors (FJs) and some C420s (without the trapeze or the spinnaker). The majority of our double-handed sail the high school sailing circuit governed by the Northwest Interscholastic Sailing Association (NWISA), the PNW arm of Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA) the national governing body. Middle-schoolers have the opportunity to race many local regattas and the FJ series of the Northwest Youth Sailing Circuit (NWYRC) during the summer. Unfortunately, the NWYRC separated the FJ fleet from their main series which includes Opti, ILCA, and 420s. Since 2024, FJs sail their own summer series, which has reduced the size of the fleet and has primarily become a junior varsity regatta. For programs that own 420s, we are seeing their sailors move up to c420s during the summer and back to FJs during the school year.
Obviously, high schools need a place for their teams to sail. So, high-school sailing teams sail at existing local clubs that host multiple high schools. For example, at the Corinthian Yacht Club, we have a double-handed program with varsity and junior varsity fleets from 6 different high schools and middle schools (e.g., Ballard, Ingram, the Downtown School). While they train together, each HS team represents their high school at regattas. There are many rules governing participation (e.g., schools cannot combine, minimum number of sailors from each HS, boat rotation requirements). These rules have less impact on the ILCA class but can have a big impact on double-handed boats. ‘Orphan’ sailors can combine, but they are limited to the less competitive Silver fleet, and there are some regattas where they cannot sail.
There are also boat rotation rules that limit the number of sailing opportunities a particular crew can have. So, it’s important to understand what opportunities and limitations your sailor would have in a high-school double-handed program. In general, it’s a great place to start sailing that will lead to great friendships and relationships.
.jpg)
Finally, I am sure most parents are wondering about sailing and how it may help college applications. First, most major public and all large independent US universities have sailing programs. This is particularly true amongst the ivy-league schools and the elite 25 schools. College Sailing is governed by the International Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA). Traditionally, the following schools have had the strongest ICSA sailing programs. You can see the historical college sailing rankings by ICSA here.
The bad news is that scholarships are not common in sailing. Very few schools offer them, and the ones that do have a very limited number (under 10). In addition, in most of our public schools in the PNW, including the University of Washington, sailing is a Club sport. That means that, unlike Varsity sports, they do not offer scholarships, they are student led, and do not enjoy any of the athlete privileges given to other NCAA sports (e.g., early registration). However, sailing can be a big help for acceptance at most elite Universities. Over the last couple of years (2024, 2025), we have had from the PNW a femaie NWISA sailor going to Stanford and two female ILCA sailors going to MIT. In addition, last year, we had the largest PNW sailing class accepted to the University of Washington in years, more than 6 of our region’s sailors joined their sailing program (male, female, and mostly single-handed).
So, in a nutshell, don’t count on scholarships from sailing but it will definitively be a big plus on their college application regardless of them being single or double handed sailors. They just need to keep in mind that single handed is only prevalent in the top 20 programs; most other programs are more focused on double handed sailing (FJs). So, single-handed sailors are very likely to be asked to sail double-handed unless it’s a large program.
It’s worth mentioning that ICSA and Olympic Development don’t work well together. It’s an issue that gets attention, which ICSA and US Sailing are very defensive about. In my opinion, it’s true, and it hurts the US's opportunity to develop Olympic athletes. The bottom line is that sailors can not do both and ICSA sailing does not feed Olympic sailing; they are not only different paths but competing paths. Here is a recent interview with the US Sailing Olympic Development Director and the ICSA President and the US Sailing response to a reality check letter sent by an Olympic hopeful parent. Draw your own conclusions.
It does not help that US Sailing has been embroiled in controversy and a leadership crisis for the last 4 years involving their support of Olympic athletes that was brough to light with an investigation by the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) in 2023. The crisis was made worse by their inability to raise funds right before the 2024 Olympic Games in LA due to the confidence crisis. The situation reached a peak in February of 2024 with their lawsuit against AmericaOne, the fundraising organization that emerged to cover the funding gap. A move chastised by most Olympic sailing medalists and current Olympic athletes. Since, US Sailing announced new leadership in Aug of 2024 and settled the outstanding lawsuit with AmericaOne. We sincerely hope that this is a step in the right direction, but a lot of work remains to be done. Here is an article on Project Podium, the new US Sailing president’s effort to bring back Olympic success.
Double-handed sailing and Lasers are a great way to get older new sailors (15+) into the sport. Overall, we recommend that sailors start in an Opti even if they only get a chance to sail it for a couple of years. Your decision will also depend significantly on the availability and strength of your local club’s programs. Remember, high school sailing tends to rein in the PNW, so finding good Opti, Laser, and middle school double-handed programs can be challenging, Call your local sailing club, or reach out to us - we are always happy to help.