CAZENOVIA — Cazenovia’s Willow Bank Yacht Club (WBYC) is in the process of revamping its long-running summer sailing program.
The 2024 program will give kids an opportunity to learn to sail while also gaining an understanding of Cazenovia Lake and the importance of protecting local natural resources.
The club is offering half- and full-day lessons for all ages and abilities.
Kids ages 4-8 can start getting acquainted with boating through WBYC’s “Sailfish” program.
Older kids, ages 8-18, can join the beginner, advanced beginner, or intermediate youth sailing programs and eventually move on to the Junior Fleet youth racing team, which practices and hosts regattas at WBYC, travels regionally to other regattas, and participates in the annual Junior Olympics in Rochester.
WBYC also offers adult sailing programs for all skill levels, and it provides access to boat rentals for those interested in getting out on the water on their own.
All sailing programs are open to members and non-members alike. Junior Fleet racers become junior club members to participate in the program; in return, they get full use of the club and its boats.
The sailing program has five full-time, US Sailing-certified instructors and four junior instructors who are experienced sailors and trained to teach.
“The club has always been very dedicated to sailing and fostering a love of the sport, with a focus on families,” said Anya Woods, WBYC’s volunteer director of sailing. “The youth program is at the heart of that dedication, encouraging generations of kids to learn skills that will last them forever. When I was little, I took sailing lessons with my siblings, and it became a sport we all continue to enjoy today. I coached the WBYC program for five summers, and many of my students went on to sail in college and still sail today. Many of them are starting their own families and will likely pass the love of sailing on to them. So, that’s a really critical part of the mission of the club — to be very sailing-focused and very family-focused.”
Woods, who runs the youth and adult learn-to-sail programs, raced in college and then afterward in Boston.
When she returned home to Cazenovia with her two children, she volunteered to help revamp the WBYC sailing program following a decline in enrollment and enthusiasm during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We felt it was time to take a look at what we were offering and make sure it met the expectations and needs of today’s families,” Woods said.
One of the goals of the new program is to instill in participants a lifelong love of sailing.
“Lots of people enroll their children in Kindergarten Kick About, and they know that that could lead to playing more seriously and ending up on a team, traveling, playing in college, etc.,” said Woods. “But most people don’t think that way about sailing. In the past, kids would enroll for a week or two, get the hang of it, and then be done. But there’s so much more to the sport than that. So, we reworked the program to have a more stepwise structure . . .”
She explained that the step-based structure will give young sailors a sense of accomplishment as they progress through new skill levels, and it will continually give them something to aspire to and work towards, such as honing their skills, learning to sail competitively, beginning to race, becoming good tacticians, and then sailing competitively against regional teams.
“We will bring in guest coaches from collegiate teams and the local community so that [participants] can see that these athletes are performing at an even higher level as they get older,” Woods said. “So, the new program really focuses on the full breadth of sailing as a sport, rather than a one-off skills-based lesson.”
The new program is also focused on the importance of protecting the environmental and recreational sustainability of Cazenovia Lake.
According to Woods, WBYC Head Sailing Instructor Faith O’Toole has a bachelor’s degree in aquatic and fishery science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and she has developed similar curricula for other sailing programs.
“We plan to make lessons fun and relatable for our young audience and help them understand the fish, plants, and climate that impact our lake and our sport,” Woods said.
WBYC is also partnering with the Cazenovia Lake Association to educate program participants about some of the specific challenges facing Cazenovia Lake.
“Sailing really brings you close to the lake and all its natural beauty, but the lake also faces challenges,” said Woods. “Our races were impacted by invasive weed growth last year, and we are facing new challenges with new invasive species that are becoming more prevalent in Central New York. We think it’s important that sailors understand the natural resources that make the sport possible and how to protect those resources in the future.”
Founded in 1948, WBYC is a private, family yacht club that promotes sailboat racing, sailing in general, and other water-based activities, such as swimming, kayaking, and power boating, in an active volunteer atmosphere. The club, which is located at 27 Forman St., also maintains a full calendar of organized social events.
To learn more about the WBYC 2024 sailing programs, visit willowbankyc.com/sailing-programs.
