We thought we could provide a community service by training young kids ages 8 to 18 to sail and learn about boating. In the fall of 1995, the Meydenbauer Bay Yacht Club Board of Directors approved the formation of our organization and our vision was on its way. Members donated the first six 8 foot prams and dinghy for our one instructor for the start of our program during the summer of 1996. Those who donated named each boat with names like “Amigos”, “Rabbit”, “Huffelpuff”, and “Blew By You”. On April 14th, 1997, we received 501 (C) (3) IRS status, which allows for all our donations to be tax write-offs.

 

Over the last thirty years, a number of our members have volunteered to manage our program, including handling our registration system, hiring staff, purchasing boats, and maintaining our equipment. Each year we gradually added sailboats and tenders for the instructors until we reached our present inventory of 37 sailboats and 6 tenders. We operate off our floating dock on beautiful Meydenbauer Bay.

 

We have the capacity to train up to 33 kids per week for 11 weeks from June through August, or a maximum of 363 kids per summer. During the last four seasons, we have registered over 1,800 students in all our programs. With our variety of boats, we are able to accommodate beginner, intermediate, and advance sailors with separate instructors for each group. We maintain a very low instructor/student ratio, especially for beginners.

 

We have built the program based on kids starting at age 8 in our Optis, our 8 foot prams. In order to keep the kids’ interest, we have provided several kinds of boats for the older kids to move up to as they become more proficient with their sailing skills. We have 14-foot FJ’s and 420’s, both for two sailors. We also have Lasers (ILCA’s), 13-foot single handed boats that are like the sports cars of sailing.

 

In 2020, we started our Race Team Program which is made up of our Developmental classes for those learning to race and our Race Team, who compete in numerous regattas in the Northwest during the summer and fall. Many of our sailors have gone on to join sailing race teams in college. We run our classes for 2 months in the spring, 11 weeks in the summer, and 2 months in the fall. Our racers will be on the Bay through October from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

 

In 2022, we introduced our new registration system which has made our program management much easier and more efficient. We use Camp & Class Manager hosted by ACTIVE Network. Our registration and payment options are all automated. Because the Race Team travels to other clubs and venues, we found we needed trailers to transport the boats to places like Bellingham, Vancouver, Canada, Bainbridge, Tacoma, and the Columbia Gorge. We built several trailers to hold multiple sailboats and tenders.

 

Our staffing comes from local high schools and colleges. We have three levels of instructors--volunteer, junior, and senior. Volunteers are under age 16 and our paid instructors are over 16. In addition, we have a Sailing Director/Race Coach and an Assistant Director. Two of our Club members, Gary Wilson and Tim Ruhl, act as volunteer Co-Chairs of our program. We provide summer jobs for an average of 15 instructors per summer.

 

As part of our vision for sail training, we felt we could also be training future instructors to help with the new kids signing up. It took a few years as the original sailors aged, but now many of our current instructors started with us at age 8 and continue teaching on into college. One recent year, 100% of our instructors and directors had started as students with us. Our MBYC Youth Sailing classes are based on learning to sail, having fun, meeting new friends, and learning about safety on the water and in the boats.

 

Our two remaining founding members, Gary Wilson and Ed Sweo, were recently recognized by the Club by presenting them with Lifetime Achievement Awards. We thank them for all their hard work and commitment!