Sailing With Children: A Practical Guide for Families

Children who enjoy their first few sessions often sail for life. Children who are cold, bored or frightened generally do not come back, and it has almost nothing to do with aptitude.

Almost everything that determines which outcome you get is under a parent's control, and most of it is logistical rather than nautical.

What tends to work at what age#

These are patterns rather than rules, and clubs set their own age ranges.

Under about seven. Sailing as a passenger with a parent, in warm, protected conditions, for short periods. The aim is that boats are normal and fun, nothing more.

Around seven to eleven. The usual entry point for structured junior programs. Boats supplied, small stable dinghies, sailing in a group with coaches. Most children can sail a training dinghy independently within a few sessions at this age.

Twelve to fifteen. Capable of real sailing and real racing, and also the age at which children most often leave. Peer group matters more than program quality here.

Sixteen plus. Old enough to instruct, crew on keelboats, run rescue boats and take responsibility, which is frequently what keeps them.

Warmth decides everything#

A cold child stops enjoying sailing within minutes and remembers it for weeks. This is the single most preventable cause of children dropping out.

Ask what the club supplies and what you need to bring. Overpack: a second full change of clothes, a towel, a warm top for afterwards, a hat, and a drink. Wetsuits are standard in most of southern Australia for much of the year.

Watch for the child who has stopped talking. That is usually cold rather than sulking.

Keep the sessions short and end early#

End while they are still enjoying it. A ninety-minute session that finishes on a high produces a child who wants to come back; a four-hour day that ends in tears does not, however good the sailing was.

This applies to family sailing as much as to programs.

What to establish with a club before starting#

• What is the minimum age, and what swimming ability is expected?
• Are boats and wetsuits supplied, and for how long?
• How many children per coach and per boat?
• Does a parent need to stay on site, and will I be rostered for duties?
• What happens after the introductory course, and when does it run?
• What are the supervision and safeguarding arrangements, and who do I raise a concern with?

The fourth and fifth questions predict more about your family's next two years than anything else you can ask.

Resist coaching your own child#

Almost every sailing coach will tell you the same thing: children sail better when their parent is not watching from three metres away and offering advice.

Being present is good. Being on the water alongside them in their first season usually is not. If you want to be involved, do a powerboat course and crew the rescue boat — you will be genuinely useful, you will be on the water, and your child will be sailing rather than performing.

Let them stop#

Children's interest fluctuates, and the best clubs have room for a season off, a change of class, a move from racing to just sailing, or a shift into crewing for someone else.

A child who is allowed to step away often comes back. A child who is pushed through a season they did not want usually does not.

Family sailing beyond programs#

If you own a boat, sailing as a family works best with low ambition and high snack availability. Short trips, a destination, somewhere to swim, and a clear job for each child.

The children who grow up comfortable on boats are usually the ones for whom boats were simply a normal part of weekends, not an activity with an objective.