Youth Summer Sailing Camps

Our sailing camps are to available to children ages 8 to 18 years old. Each camp program runs one week, Monday through Friday, from 9 AM to 4 PM. All sessions include sailing instructions on land, an expanded on-the-water sailing experience, and an on-land STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) curriculum. Younger sailors learn in our Opti sailboats, while older sailors use our 420 or Sonar sailboats.

In 2024, eight one-week sailing camps were offered, Monday through Friday, from June 24 through August 23. We did not offer a camp during the week of July 4. Optimist and 420 sailboats were used except during July 15–19 and July 22-26 when Optimist and Sonar sailboats were used.

Students were allowed to enroll in up to two sessions. Tuition was $320 per one-week session. Financial assistance is available and based upon confirmation of financial need.

Registration

Enrollment is limited and programs usually are fully subscribed, so early sign-up is recommended. Completed health forms are required and must be submitted online or delivered to us by May 1. Failure to meet this deadline may cause a camper to lose their spot.

Registration for 2025 summer camp programs will be available here. Tentatively, registration for Salem residents will open the last week in February, and for non-Salem residents the first week in March.

Fun, Safe, and Accessible Sailing for Kids

Our core has always been our youth sailing programs delivered in a summer camp format. We welcome youths of all skill levels.

Sailing as a sport is a huge part of what we do, but in the greater scheme, we also try to introduce our students to the marine world in general and showcase different career opportunities in the field of science. Through the sport of sailing, Sail Salem promotes positive life skills, encourages independence, responsibility, self-confidence, teamwork, environmental awareness, and an enduring appreciation of our waterways.

Safety

The Sail Salem youth summer camp is regulated by the Salem Board of Health, so we follow regulations commonly known as Christian’s Law, which is based on Massachusetts General Law chapter 111 section 127 ½ . Accordingly, all student sailors are swim tested on the first day of their program start date to ensure they are comfortable and safe in the water. Additionally, our students are required to wear US Coast Guard Approved Life Jackets (also known as personal floation devices, or PFDs) when on our boats. Students may bring their own certified PFD, or they can use a program-provided life jacket. One lifeguard is required for every 25 students, but we are staffed well above that.

All program instructors are First Aid and CPR certified, background checked, and well trained. The instructors have tons of experience on the water and are US Sailing Level 1 certified — a 40+ hour, intensive sailing course that teaches instructors how to teach sailing but also how to do it in a very safe manner.

Additionally, the Sail Salem instructors are required to pass different practical tests that include safely driving our motorboats, which is one of the most important things when teaching young kids on the water. Sail Salem has 17-foot motorboats that follow and stay close to our student sailors. If we determine that an instructor needs to be in a sailboat with a student, we will always allow it. The instructors fulfill other prerequisites as well, such as safe sporting certifications.

We really make sure that we have the highest caliber of safety on the water.

Our Sailboats

For sailing classes, we mainly make use of Optimists and International 420s.

Optimists (Optis)

Optimists (often referred to as Optis) are small sailboats, about 8 feet in length, with a single sail. They can be handled by one person. One of the most popular small sailing boats in the world, Optis are well suited for beginners. We call them bumper boats, and that’s how we get our youngest students really engaged—we put them in the Optis. It really empowers them. They’re in there without an instructor. We follow them in chase boats, and they really can take ownership of that boat.

International 420s

When our students graduate from the Optis, they move to International 420s—larger boats, about 14 feet in length, with larger sails and an optional spinnaker and trapeze. 420s are used internationally as a high school and collegiate racing boat. So that’s where the sport of sailing kind of goes. Once our students have graduated Optis, we put two of them together in the 420s, and that’s where they can learn how to race or how to move around as the sport of sailing. This year, some students will be sailing Sonars.

Group Sails

All camp programs include group sails on our catboats.

Winter Island

Our summer camps are headquartered on Winter Island in Salem. This site is such a beautiful place that it’s even listed as one of the best camping sites in New England. We’re lucky to be there. When we’re on land with our students, we’ve got so much space for land games or land drills, and just coming up with ways to have them burn energy.

Winter Island also protects the area where our students learn how to sail. It can block the wind, thereby enabling students to learn how to sail in a protected cove. When the kids become more proficient, a big incentive is that they can sail through Salem Harbor and sail by all the bigger boats moored there. It’s a cool opportunity and one of the goals to becoming proficient sailors.