“It was an absolutely perfect day on the water – sunny, warm and 7+ knots of breeze. We had a terrific mix of volunteers and staff taking about 100 people sailing on our Lido 14 dinghies, Shields, Harbor 20s and of course Betty, our Catalina 42. Participants ranged in age from 15 months to 77 years. It was smiles all around.”
That note was written in 2011, and we’ve gotten similar ones each year since from OCC School of Sailing and Seamanship in Newport Beach, California about their annual Summer Sailstice Discover Sailing Day. This year’s festivities are on Saturday, June 20, from noon to 4 p.m. at the OCC facility at 1801 W. Coast Highway in Newport Beach.
Come on down, sign up, jump on a boat and grab a free hot dog!
Like many sailing clubs, schools and maritime organizations, OCC Sailing has hosted an open house day since the school first began with a tent on the sand in Newport Harbor in 1954. Their “Discover Sailing Day” has always been held sometime in the spring, but it was only a few years ago that it was coordinated with Summer Sailstice. Says OCC’s Sailing Progam Coordinator Mette Segerblom, “It made sense to use Summer Sailstice to give our Discover Sailing Day a focus.”
That marriage of dates seems to have worked well. Whether it’s the increased awareness of both events held on the same weekend, or just easier for people to remember, attendance has increased. The 200+ people who attended the 2013 event made it the largest Discover Sailing Day ever.
Attendees of Discover Sailing Day come from all over Southern California (and a few from much farther). Many are new or longtime students who bring a spouse or friend to share their new passion. There are also many families – and lots of kids. The sails themselves last for 30 to 40 minutes, and lots of people sail on more than one boat. Betty, the Catalina 42, is always a popular ride, but so are the smaller craft. The smallest boats, the venerable Lido 14s – a Bill Shock design built right down the road from 1958 until 2009 – are in constant motion. The Lidos are especially active later in the afternoon “after someone has gone out on one of the other boats and now feels braver,” says Segerblom.
There's plenty of boats for you to try.
Ashore, attendees can visit several booths for more information, sign up for classes, enter a contest to win a free class, and/or enjoy a free hot dog barbecue.
A key element of the success of Discover Sailing Day is that sailing is not pushed on anyone. “Our instructors and volunteer skippers will teach as much or as little as the group on board is interested in,” says Segerblom. “Sometimes people will be eager to steer and pull lines, and other times they just want to go for a harbor cruise.”
As the saying goes, it’s all good.
OCC School of Sailing and Seamanship has gone from that tent on the beach in 1954 (and the next year, a surplus WWII Quonset hut) to one of the nation’s largest public boating education centers. Some 5,000 people annually go through their various programs, and upwards of 60 instructors teach a broad spectrum curricula which – in addition to sailing to seamanship – includes powerboat operation, USCG licensing courses and professional mariner programs. Classes accommodate anyone from kids to adults, and include family courses, after-school courses and private instruction. For all its six decades, the non-profit school has operated under the auspices of nearby Orange Coast College.
OCC’s Discover Sailing Day is just one example of springtime open-house programs hosted on Summer Sailstice by sailing schools and maritime organizations across the country (many of them, by the way, modeled after OCC’s pioneering programs). We hope to bring you highlights of more of them in future articles. In the meantime, be sure to check out all OCC School of Sailing and Seamanship has to offer at www.occsailing.com. And if you’re in the Newport Beach, CA neighborhood on Saturday, June 20, make it a point to stop by and go sailing!
