Kids Windsurfing Workshop

From CSCWiki

This year CSC offered its first annual kids windsurfing workshop (ages 7-12) in July 2007. Both parents and kids were invited to participate in a free 3 hour workshop sponsored by the Club. Actually, parent attendance and participation is mandatory for liability and insurance purposes!)

The workshops are designed to get kids excited about the sport, teach them some theory about the wind, water, tides and equipment, and have get them on the water--all in one day! Led by Brent Duckor this year with the generous advice and support from other CSC members, the kids workshop was a success. ALL the kids got on the water, uphauled, and sailed.

Small class size and a great attitude were key. It also helped that we had kid friendly equipment donated by Duckor and some of the folks at Cal Sailing.

This introductory lesson this summer included the following objectives:

1. Learn about club (including people, rules, opportunities to join, etc.)
2. Learn the basics (concepts, terminology, etc.) about the water, wind, board and sail
3. Use the windsurf simulator behind the boathouse to practice “dry runs”
4. Visit beach and have option to go on the water with one-on-one coaching (15 minutes per student)
5. Have lunch (provided free) at clubhouse and debrief

All anyone needed to participate was:

1. A willingness to learn and share your enthusiasm with your peers
2. A parent who can attend workshop and complete consent/liability release forms
3. Bathing suit, towel, etc. and change of (warm, dry) clothes
4. Booties and/or shoes that can get wet

We hope to continue these workshops next summer 2008 with funding and support that will provide more equipment, incl. wetsuit, lifejacket, board and sail. Lunch snacks were “on the house” this year!

One parent commented: “This is a great opportunity to learn more about the Club and it was great to see my child windsurfing on the very first day!”

Another noted: “I always thought this was something for rich kids who go to Hawaii. I never realized we could do this on our backyard, here at the Marina.”