When kids are learning to sail, and in fact anytime you are building a new physical skill, repetition is key. High-performance athletes know this which is why the practice so much. In the book “Outliers”, by Malcome Gladwell, he has identified evidence that people who are great in their fields only got that way after 10,000 hours of practice, which equates to about 20 hours a week over 10 years. I’m not implying that you should have your kids in a boat that much (unless of course, they WANT to!), but it illustrates the importance of consistently doing something to get better at it.
In order to reinforce the concepts and build confidence repetition is key; however, Junior sailing programs must be fun to make them want to do it again and again! So when you are planning your sailing programs, have them as often as you think you can get kids to show up! If that is once a week, great. Twice a week? Even better. What about Camp Style for 5 days running or more? Vary your schedule options and see what works best for your program, but get kids on the water!
Desert Wind Sailing 
Leave a Reply