closed-toe shoes, flipflops or crocs not appropriate
sunscreen
towel
reusable water bottle
hat/sunglasses (if possible)
snack
a change of clothes
a spirit ready to have fun!
We need to make sure our future sailors are comfortable not only on the water, but in it!
As part of our pre-sailing safety protocol, all first timers must pass a swim test. During this test, campers will jump off the middle of the dock and swim to shore wearing full clothes, shoes, and a PFD. This test ensures that campers are comfortable in the water and are able to swim with a PFD on.
SMAP follows industry best practices to ensure our sailors have proper supervision and adjust the ratios of coach-sailor depending on the level of the group, i.e. beginners, summer camps, or more advanced race teams and fleets.
All small boats/dinghy sailboats are meant to capsize. Capsizing is fun, and new sailors learn the capsize recovery maneuver during their first lesson. When a boat capsizes, in the majority of cases, no outside assistance is needed because our sailors learned the techniques for how to “right” the boat and resume sailing, thanks to their earlier capsize and recovery training. However, our coaches are paying close attention to any capsized boats and standby to assist should the sailor be in distress.
