Junior Sailing

Welcome to the 2025 MBC Junior Sailing Program!

Our club is located in the heart of Red Bank, NJ and our mission is to impart a love of sailing as a lifelong sport by providing a fun and educational program for youth interested in sailing and racing.

At Monmouth Boat Club, we have a long history of teaching children to enjoy the sport of sailing. Our program has been in existence for over 50 years, and our primary goal is to ensure that your children have an enjoyable and safe time here at Monmouth Boat Club. 

Whether your child is a beginner interested in learning the foundations of sailing or is a more experienced sailor interested in honing their abilities, our skilled staff will work together with them to achieve their goals.  Our staff is comprised of knowledgeable sailors who have shown a passion for teaching and share a love of sailing.  All of our instructors are US Sailing Level 1 certified, CPR and First Aid certified. 

For 2025, we are offering the same programs as in 2024, but with a scheduling change: all classes (with the exception of "Learn to Sail" for 8-12 year olds) are full day classes, i.e. half day classes are no longer offered.  Our sailing program provides flexibility for parents and students, allows for varying skill levels, and creates enthusiasm and engagement in the sport of sailing.

***Please review the 2025 program description and schedule below***
You can register your junior sailor for the 2025 program by clicking here

Description of the 2025 Programs

Learn to Sail (8-12yr olds): This is a 1 week, half day (AM or PM) class for juniors 8-12 yrs old who have never taken any sailing classes. Students will learn the parts of a sailboat, how to rig an optimist dinghy, wind direction and points of sail, steering and trimming sails.  This option is offered at the beginning of the summer. The curriculum for this class is the same as the first week of the Beginner class, so this class is not a prerequisite for the Beginner course.

Learn to Sail Teens (13-16 yr olds): This is a 1 week, full day class for teens who would like a refresher or are learning to sail for the first time. Students will develop their sailing knowledge and skills sailing on Flying Scots or 420 sailboats.  Students will learn to rig, steer, trim the sails, along with learning basic seamanship and water safety.

Beginner (8-12 yr olds): This class (1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks, full day) is for students with less than one year of instruction.   Students will develop their sailing knowledge and skills in an exciting but safe environment.  Instruction is done in club owned Optimist dinghies, and sailors are paired with one another to learn the basics of how to rig a boat, steering, trimming the sail, knot tying, wind direction and water safety.

Intermediate (10-14 yr olds): This class (1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks, full day) is for sailors who have completed the beginner course and want to continue their progression.  This class allows students to strengthen their sailing knowledge and skills.  Emphasis is placed on proper boat-handling skills, including sail trim, body positioning, weight placement, tiller use, tacking and jibing. Sailors will also learn and develop their racing skills and will have the opportunity to participate in local regattas.  Depending on their skill level, students will sail either Optimist dinghies or O'Pen Skiffs. 

Advanced/Racing (12-16 yr olds):  (1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks full day) Sailors must be at least 12 years old and weigh more than 100 lbs. The 420 class sailboat provides students the chance to learn in a two person boat.  Students will learn how to both skipper and crew. The focus of this class will be learning to sail as a team.  As skills improve they will learn the rules of sailboat racing and work towards learning to fly a spinnaker and use the trapeze. Please note: Sailors will be assessed at the beginning of the program. Instructors will evaluate sailor readiness and preparedness. If the assessment shows the sailor is not ready for the advanced program,  the sailor will be retrained and have the option to retest into the advanced program. 

SWEEPs Session (8-16 yr olds): This 1 week, full day class is a fun introduction to racing and is only open to juniors who have taken a previous session this summer.  Juniors will continue lessons at MBC with the focus on how to sail a typical race course, basic race rules, and race strategy.
As an option, there is an additional 4 days of class the following week for juniors who chose to sign up for the SWEEPs regatta. SWEEPs is a 4 day junior regatta that takes place on Monday and Tuesday at the Shrewsbury Sailing and Yacht Club (SSYC), Oceanport, and at MBC on Wednesday & Thursday. MBC Junior Sailing instructors are on-hand all 4 days to supervise the racing. Please note: participation in the 4 day regatta requires separate regatta registration and a regatta fee of ~$400. Details on how to register and pay are provided the week before the regatta.

The regatta is open to all levels, including Beginners! Beginners and Intermediate juniors race in Optimist dinghies; Advanced juniors race in 420 sailboats.  The racing can be competitive, but the focus is on learning and having fun.

MBC Fun Week (8-16 yr olds):  Fun Week is exactly that - after completing a summer of sailing lessons, the juniors are all excited to finish the summer with 4 full days of fun and games.  There are no formal lessons, instead the juniors use the skills they have acquired throughout the summer to have some fun!  There is a day sail to Krazees Ice Cream in downtown Rumson, Pirate Day complete with costumes and hidden treasure, Scavenger Hunts on the water, and more.

Schedule of the 2025 Programs  

The following sessions will be offered for children ages 8 - 16.  All classes meet Monday through Friday at Monmouth Boat Club, 31 Union St, Red Bank, unless otherwise noted below.  Lunchtime for Full Day classes is unsupervised but there is always an instructor on site. 

All AM Sessions are from 9AM - 12PM
All PM Sessions are from 1PM - 4PM
All Full Day Sessions are 9AM - 4PM