Once you’ve been bit with the sailing bug, you never look back.
That’s the case for Kate Kennedy, director of Conestoga Sailing Club, and any number of her charges during summer camp.
Kennedy first learned to sail seven years ago, and has been coming back to the club ever since.
Now, most of the faces are of young sailors who have come back for years, moving their way up the ranks from completely green sailors to those who definitely know what they are doing.
The camp, which runs out of the sailing club’s clubhouse on Conestogo Lake, runs from July 5 to Aug. 27 each summer.
“We get children that have never sailed before, and they keep coming back to get their levels,” said Kennedy.
Beginning sailors are taught the basics — how to sail in a straight line, and then how to tack and gyb (making the sails switch sides) and then how to capsize, and what to do when it happens.
“It’s not as scary once you’ve done it,” said Kennedy. “And they need to know how to handle it.”
All camp participants are expected to have some basic swimming skills, but on occasion there are a few who cannot swim. For Kennedy, that means just keeping a close watch on the non-swimmers, since all participants wear life jackets and are taught how to stay safe while out on the water.
For the younger sailors, that means more dryland training when the wind is too brisk, and more help from leaders in training — the older sailors who are just beginning to teach.
It also means shorter sessions out on the lake, as the younger sailors tire more easily, and need more breaks between stints.
The older sailors, however, those that have learned advanced sailing techniques, will be out on the water for two hours or more, getting the chance to really refine what they have learned.
On a day last week, the advanced sailors were practicing how to sail without a rudder — by simply using their weight and balance to change the direction of their sailboat.
The students all had to follow a route, to show that they really were directing their sailboats themselves, and not just ending up where the boat wanted to go.
And while some had more difficulty than others, one thing was clear — they were all having fun.
For more information on the Conestoga Sailing Club, or visit www.kwsailing.org.