Our Junior program is a fun, friendly, engaging, and safe introduction to the sport of sailing and the club community. All programs at MMYC are run by Australian Sailing accredited instructors and incorporate games and group activities to develop fundamental skills of sailing.
Juniors begin their sailing journey using club-provided equipment (boats and lifejacket) and progress to being independent sailors over about two sailing seasons, where equipment can be loaned from the club, or juniors transition to using their own boats.
Membership
To participate in our junior programs, participants must be MMYC members.
Tackers is run separate to the other programs, and participants are not required to be members but will need a Temporary Sail-Pass membership found here: SailPass
Handbook
We have gathered information, frequently asked questions, and resources into our Handbook for New Junior and Youth Families.
For kids 7-11 yrs with no or minimal sailing experience The juniors in this program progress through two levels and will learn the fundamental dinghy sailing skills. They will build confidence on the water and in themselves, plus they’ll have lots of fun! The program is deliberately designed to give the juniors time to develop the foundation sailing skills, build friendships and learn lots. The kids learn through games and activities on and off the water.
For juniors who have completed Start Sailing 1 & 2 Better Sailing is the next step for the Juniors once they’ve completed Step 1. It’s a shorter program, a transition step - getting ready to become independent. In this program, more fundamental skills are introduced and what’s been learned is refined. During this course, the focus is still on fun, safety and building confidence on and off the water.
As the juniors build their skills, they’ll seek to have a boat that suits their personality and their size. During this course, it’s a good time to start thinking about when to buy a boat or if you’d like a club boat to loan. The club can help guide you through this when the time comes.
Now it’s time to learn to sail around a course and become a little more independent! Learn new skills and be introduced to sailing around a race course. Green Fleet is where the juniors move towards being independent on the water. You’ll be amazed at just what they achieve on their own on the water, and you’ll see this transfer into life!
Juniors will gain independence, they’ll become more responsible and resilient. Green Fleet focus is again on fun and creativity too, they’ll learn introductory racing skills and extend the skills already learnt. Their time on the water with friends and having fun in boats, they’ll become active club members.
Green Fleet introduces kids to racing in a fun and game sense delivery, with modified rules, challenges, activities, and even adventure races if the winds are fair! Green Fleet juniors are encouraged to use their own boat. If your family is not ready for boat ownership, the club has a couple of boats available for loan at a reasonable fee.
The Tackers Holiday program runs over four sessions and focuses on non-competitive, fun learning through games in a supportive environment with structured sessions plans and levels of achievements. All programs are run by qualified instructors who are provided with additional training to be able to deliver Tackers. By the end of a Tackers Program, participants will have an increased awareness of water safety, basic boat handling and a foundation knowledge of weather conditions associated with the sport of Sailing.