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With many in Canada looking for ways to stay active and keep cool during the surprisingly hot summer, sailing fills that roll for many. Sailing schools across the country run programs for children as young as 6, all the way up to teenagers on the race team, many who look forward to taking part on a variety of regattas both at their home club and across the country.
Unfortunately, the sense of competition, sportsmanship, and fun being fostered by sailing schools does’t always carry over to events at the national level. As a certified sailing instructor I spend my summer teaching children, and adults, how to sail. As with any highly complex activity there are many concepts one has to understand in order to make a sail boat move. These concepts, at the most fundamental level, are things like understanding where the wind is coming from, how to orient your boat to the wind, and how your sails should be set for the point of sail you are on. Over the past two summers I have taught Sailing at Nepean Sailing Club. First in White Sail, then in Bronze. The following is an account of why I don’t think teaching sailing is a good summer job (unless of course you are going into education and are really just looking for something to put ion your resume). The biggest issue with teaching sailing really two-fold. First there is a very high initial investment of time and money required to get to the point where you can even teach sailing.