2008 . . . 2008 . . . 2008! Sign up now! The 2008 schedule is available. See the "Registration Form". We hope to see all of you back on the water in 2008 and look forward to meeting some new students and adults!

We have expanded our facility with a brand new platform on the riverside of the property. It will allow us to launch the Optis faster and more safely than ever in an area that is easier for our beginners to start sailing. The platform will also clear up the main dock so all of our sailors have fewer backups, and ultimately more time on the water having fun.

The 2008 schedule for classes is similar to the 2007 calendar. We'll continue with our competitive (racing) scheduling of classes that we believe will help us achieve our goals of improving our as well as the Learn-to-Sail program. Competitive sailing is the next step for our students that want to continue learning about our sport. The overall layout of the sessions will be the same as in years past. There will be three sessions during the summer and each session will be divided up into Monday-Wednesday and Tuesday-Thursday classes. The Tuesday-Thursday afternoon class will include the normal beginner and intermediate class to accommodate our Yacht Club swim team members. Fridays we'll be offering a competitive sailing class. We'll continue to bring our students to other places in the region and compete against some very good sailors while getting exposed to the experience of North American champions as well as Olympians.

The Friday class will be designed to teach the ins and outs of racing to our students in both the Opti and 420 fleets. Advanced boat handling, sail trim, tactics and more will all be covered in the class and at the end of each session we will either host or travel to a regatta to compete against sailors from all over the region as "Team St. Joe". If all works well this program will be the start of much more to come including the regeneration of a team at St. Joseph High School and other racing opportunities in the community.

I encourage everyone to get involved (ages 8 and up, including adults), and please if there are any questions don’t hesitate to e-mail us. Our adult evening session was also a big success last year. See you on the water.

Sincerely, Casey Ray