Lifelong Sailing

Question: 
​What is the best age to start sailing?

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Answer:
Almost any age!

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At the Sailing School at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, we believe that sailing is a sport one can enjoy throughout many different periods of life, from early childhood to later adulthood. While youth typically learn to sail on tender sailboats called dinghies, there is a wide range of dinghies to suit different ages, levels of fitness, and goals. Some are stable, single-sail boats like the pram pictured above and some are fast, tippy, challenging racing boats.  Here at the sailing school, we offer our youth students opportunities to sail in a variety of dinghies, so they feel comfortable and have the opportunity to challenge themselves when they are ready to do so.  

We offer a parent-child sailing class for children ages five to eight years old to learn with their parents.  Our other classes are for youth ages six through seventeen who learn independently from their parents under the expert guidance of US Sailing-Certified instructors. 

Adults at our Sailing School typically learn on Keelboats, which by definition have a fixed keel (rather than a moveable centerboard) which pretty much ensures capsizes (when the boat flips over and the sails are floating on the water) are virtually impossible. Keelboats also vary tremendously in design and performance, but generally, they are more stable and demand less gymnastic ability than centerboard boats. The yellow boat shown below is one of our Keelboats. 

We do offer some opportunities for adult learners to try out centerboard boats as well if that is something they wish to pursue. The white boat below is one of our Catalina Capri centerboard boats with adult students aboard. 
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If you have been thinking about learning to sail, or if you wish to enroll your child in sailing classes for the 2023 season, now is the time to check out our offerings on line. 

​Classes are filling fast! For more information and registration click on the links below:

Adult Sailing Classes

Youth Sailing Classes