The Siebel Youth Sailing Initiative Should be Replicated in Canada

US Sailing announced on April 22nd a ground breaking initiative supported by the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation aimed at advancing youth sailing. The Program’s purpose is to increase opportunity and diversity in the sport of sailing by providing resources and support to youth sailors at public access sailing centers across the country.

The Siebel initiative fills several key gaps, which can also be found in youth sailing in Canada. The identified gaps are:

- a concentration of  coaching expertise in mostly private clubs where access by youth sailors from less-affluent families is often problematic;

- a lack of well-established development pathways for youth sailors in community clubs, beyond the learn to sail and learn to race levels;

- a near exclusive reliance on single-handed dinghies, mostly the Optimist, in youth sailing up to the age of 15, while double-handed sailing is more popular with many youth sailors, particularly the youngest ones;

- limitations of the current most-common double-hander, the Club 420, for which there is no international racing beyond North America, and which is typically suitable only for sailors aged 15 or more;

- private ownership of boats is typically required in race teams, except for the Club 420, which creates a financial hurdle for many families;

- a lack of communication between clubs (private and community), and the provincial and national organizations governing youth sailing.

The implementation of an initiative similar as the Siebel Youth Sailors Program would go a long way to address these issues.

Most youth sailing in Canada is currently taking place in 4 provinces: British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and Québec.  It is usually takes place in the immediate vicinity of the large urban centers, such as  Vancouver, Victoria, Toronto, Halifax and Montreal.

In all these existing locations with active youth sailing, there is certainly scope to introduce RS Feva fleets, with similar objectives as those of the Siebel program. This does not need to necessarily take place in public community centers, but could also happen, in the form of partnerships, in existing private sailing clubs that are active with youth sailing. For example, partnerships could be developed between well established sailing club and nearby YMCAs, which have a tradition to reach out towards less favored socio-economic groups.

Such initiative should go beyond these 4 provinces and urban centers. Other provinces where it could take place include New Brunswick, Prince-Edward Island, Newfoundland, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Introducing the program in 8 areas (or regional networks, as referred to in the US program), with say 2 fleets of 10 boats per area, would mean a total of 160 boats. Such program could be implemented in two phases - starting with 4 areas the first year.  The need for supporting the purchase of coach boats, the salaries of coaches etc. would need to assessed on a case by case basis.

Where could a Siebel like program be established in Canada?

Here are a few examples:

- Ontario: There are several community clubs in the Toronto area. Likewise, in Ontario’s second city, Ottawa, there is at least one such club. There are many other possible areas, including Bay of Quinte and Bronte Harbour.

- Québec: The two main urban centers are Montréal and Québec City. In both, there are opportunities to establish at least one center

- Nova Scotia: Presently, youth sailing is particularly active in Halifax, and there is scope for a partnership with the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS); several other locations would be suitable, in Sydney, Lunenburg, to name just two.

- British Columbia: In the Victoria area, the most active club is the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, and because it’s probably the best location for winter / spring training, it would be important to involve the club. In addition, there are several clubs on the mainland that are already involved in Feva sailing, such as the Hollyburn Sailing Club, which would be clear candidates for being part of a Canadian Siebel-like program. And the Jericho sailing center, which is a Vancouver-based community sailing center, could also be involved.

- New Brunswick:  prime candidates would be the Shediac Bay Yacht Club, located in Shediac, in the vicinity of Moncton, and one of the two main clubs in Saint John — the Rothesay YC or the Royal Kennebecasis YC.

- Alberta: the two areas are the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. Youth sailing  mostly takes place there  on the Glenmore reservoir in Calgary (e.g. at the Glenmore Sailing Club) and on Pigeon Lake, in the vicinity of Calgary.

And like with the just announced program in the U.S., a Canadian initiative would need to involve, in addition to the supply of boats, coaching, or more precisely quality training of coaches, in order to establish a solid and lasting double-handed youth program for sailors in the age 8 to 16 range.

Fortunately, a training program for coaches can easily be implemented. Unlike with the Optimist, adults can actually sail the Feva. So it becomes very easy to teach the techniques specific to the boat to coaches, by organizing clinics, where the coaches sail the boat and learn all its technical aspects.

Clinics to train coaches would ideally happen at the beginning of the season, in April or May for example, in BC (Vancouver or Victoria) to benefit from the expertise already developed there, as well as from the warmer climate compared to the rest of Canada.

Clinics could also take place South of the border, in collaboration with the American program. And during the sailing season, they could take place in conjunction with the Sail Canada Youth Olympic Training Seminar (YOTS) clinics.

What would be the cost of such program. It would likely be in the vicinity of 2 million dollars over 2 years. The idea would be for these initiatives to progressively become self-sufficient, thanks in part to the durability of the boats that can probably be used for at least 10 years — yes in most locations in Canada, sailing is only possible for about 4 months, which increases the life of the boats.

A comprehensive proposal needs to be developed, but the above summarizes the concept of a Siebel-like initiative for Canada.

Let’s open it up for discussion, and find out collectively what would be the way to make it happen!

For that purpose, please join the Canada Feva Facebook group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/canadafeva

And also subscribe to the Canadian RS Feva Class FB page

https://www.facebook.com/rsfevacanada/

Yes, such initiative in not only possible, but also highly desirable in Canada!

Further Reading:

The Siebel Sailors Program

https://www.ussailing.org/education/youth/siebel-sailors-program/

The Feva in Canada: Guidelines for Clubs and Parents

https://optimist-openbic-sailing.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-feva-in-canada-guidelines-for-clubs.html

Videos:

The Siebel Sailors Program

https://youtu.be/9etkjX_cZks

Highlights of the 2016 Feva XL Europeans held in the Czech Republic

https://youtu.be/Co8HQFMnJuw

RS Feva World Championships 2018 - Final Wrap

https://youtu.be/koyqDK0Q1-c

Video by RS Sailing about the Growth of the Feva in North America

https://youtu.be/4Gfslgt8K4s

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