High School Sailing

In 2005, NMHF established the National Capital High School Sailing program. This program is intended to instruct high school teams in the sailing techniques supporting varsity and junior varsity interscholastic competition and to support these teams in weekend competition against other high schools in the Middle Atlantic region.

Check out The National Capital High School Sailing Blog

Midatlantic Sailing Association Central League Website

High School Sailing   

Sailing is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. National competition among high schools has increased dramatically, and, the Mid-Atlantic region alone has experienced a 120% growth in the past three years. In an effort to support this trend, the National Maritime Heritage Foundation (NMHF) provides facilities, equipment, and coaching staff to interested high school students who live in the Washington DC region. This program offers your High School a ready-made framework for starting or maintaining a competitive sailing team or sailing club at an affordable cost.

National Capital HS Sailing is an alterative educational and physical fitness program for high school students who are interested in sailing and racing. The program provides a positive environment in which all students will learn the importance of teamwork, respect, responsibility, leadership, commitment and sportsmanship. Sailing is a rapidly growing collegiate sport, so that participation at a high school level is a valuable addition to a student’s extracurricular record. There are currently one hundred and fifty-four colleges and universities in the U.S. that offer sailing programs.

 National Capital High School Sailing Program

The National Capital High School Sailing Program acts as a facilitator for high school sailing teams. Last season, six schools participated in our program including Thurgood Marshall Public Charter School Sidwell Friends, TC Williams, and Washington Math Science Technology Public Charter School. The program is all-inclusive. Those who have never set foot on a sailboat are just as welcome to join the program as racers who have competed in high school regattas. Our goal is to prepare high school sailing teams of all sailing abilities for competition in interscholastic high school sailing regattas.

NMHF offers the only small boat sailing facility in the District of Columbia. High school sailing activities take place at the Gangplank Marina, located on the Washington Channel. NMHF maintains a fleet of eight Club/Collegiate FJ’s, which are double-handed racing sailboats, and six Flying Scots, which we use to introduce first-time sailors to the sport. Two motorized craft operate as safety boats and on-the-water teaching platforms.

Coaching

NMHF maintains a staff of three paid instructors and four volunteers. Each instructor employed by the club is trained in techniques for teaching basic sailing including safety boat operation, instructional sailing drills and lecture topics. Boat handling, boat speed and winning tactics are all necessary to be successful in sailboat racing. We teach students how to learn as a team and to improve in these areas. Our instructors are also certified by the American Red Cross in First Aid and CPR. Our coaches are not only out on the water during daily practice – they also coach the teams at every ISSA regatta throughout the semester. NMHF administers background checks on all of their employees and volunteers. Click here to learn more about our high school sailing staff.

Courses

We offer two courses of instruction for High School sailors. A first-time sailor or someone with a small amount of sailing experience should take the Learn-to-Sail course. This level is designed as a fast track to a crew position on your team. It is also a great class for a crew to get more helm time. Sailors will follow the United States Sailing Small Boat Level 1 curriculum. The Learn-to-Sail class meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Sailors with previous dingy racing experience should enter the racing program, which will prepare sailors for competition against other schools. Sailors will practice drills, tactical discussions and rules situations to prepare them for interscholastic competition. Athletes will meet every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The NMHF Coaching staff will make the final decision regarding a sailor’s placement in classes.

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