We are excited about the 2016 Junior sailing season at Fishing Bay Yacht Club, and looking forward to another great year of FUN! No matter your sailor's age, experience, and sailing goals, we have an event to excite them and get them out on the water with their friends. Our philosophy is that if kids have fun sailing with their friends, they will come back for more.

And remember, parents and grandparents are always welcome to join in the fun!

Key Junior Dates for 2016 at FBYC: 

Some photos from the USA Junior Olympic Sailing Festival-Chesapeake Bay Open on Saturday.  The rest are here.

More Photos

I just wanted to tell everyone what a great time I had at Opti-Kids at Fishing Bay the past two weekends. We learned a whole lot about sailing and boats and had great fun playing in the water. We learned that it’s not scary when a boat turns over and it’s really fun to sail. I made many great friends. We had lots of help from our mommies and daddies and Paul and Julie and Claire. They really helped us a lot. The snacks and watermelon were great. I also loved swimming in the pool after sailing. I hope that I can go sailing more in the future.

Emilie Crump - forwarded by her Grandfather

Exciting news: 60 juniors joined FBYC with their families in 2014!  Most of these juniors have never attended any of our camps or learn to sail programs, and many of their parents have questions about our various programs, race teams, classes and organization; and most important, how to choose the most appropriate events for their sailor.  

We very loosely divide the programs into two overlapping sections:  educational and racing.  We are especially proud of our educational programs, which will be covered in this newsletter.  Opti Kids and Junior Week form the foundation of the Junior Division.  All but 7 of the 46 racers on the 2014 Race Teams started sailing as campers during either Opti Kids or Junior Week.  Both programs …

We’ve been busy this fall!  Our kids have flown our colors in junior regattas from New Jersey to Maryland to Georgia, as well as practicing on Fishing Bay.  In our last report in September we covered the USODA Southeastern Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, so we will pick up from there:

After the Southeastern’s, the team travelled with coach David Tunnicliffe to Brant Island Yacht Club, New Jersey, for the Opti ACCs on October 11 and 12.  Conditions could not have contrasted more with the lake conditions they experienced in September in Atlanta.  It was windy, cold and rainy!  The first day the RC postponed for two hours due to high winds.  The racing started …

FBYC is 75 years old and we're hosting our 75th Annual Regatta THIS WEEKEND on August 8-10 for the Hampton One Designs and August 9-10 for all other fleets.  This is a very special year for us and we really hope you will come join us for what will be a great event.

This year we're expecting to have starts for Flying Scots, Hampton One Designs, Lasers, Laser Radials, Optimists, Front Runners, San Juan 21 and any other fleets with 7 or more boats.  If your class doesn't have 7 boats -don't worry we'll still have racing for you in a combined Portsmouth fleet.  If you don't see your class friends …

Three of our Opti Race Team members recently accepted invitations to participate in a USODA National Developmental Team “Boot Camp” hosted by Annapolis Yacht Club, held June 7 & 8. First some background: the U.S. Opti Class is highly organized. The U.S. has a rigorous system for selecting and training sailors it sends to events around the world to compete against other nations. First, a sailor must qualify to attend “Team Trials”, which this year were held in Connecticut in May. Several FBYC team members qualified, and of the over 200 sailors racing in that event, Boyd Bragg (13) and Benton Amthor (12) did outstanding, thereby earning an invitation to the Boot Camp. Boyd qualified as a full …

Ellen McAllister, mom to Opti Development Team member Reed McAllister, put together this photo album of the team's 2013 regattas.  All the kid's contributed their own pages.  What FUN!

Housing needed: FBYC to host the VA Commonwealth Championships at our annual jr regatta. June 21-23. Clubs from ga, sc, va, md, and de are planning on attending. Please email Kathryn Angus at kangus@angusco.com if your home or spare bedroom is available for sailors or coaches. 

Junior Week FBYC member preference ends March 1st! Class are filling up very fast and wait lists will be created once classes meet capacity. Don't wait to sign up. This known far and wide as the best summer camp on the bay supported by incredible member volunteers and professional coaches. Classes are for beginner optis all the way up to advanced racing. Don't worry about knowing where to sign up your child/grandchild. We will work with you to gauge their experience level and make sure they are in the right class for their skill level to be safe and have fun!

I am completely amazed how rich the "Corinthian spirit" has been at our club and how many members are volunteering for our upcoming two day regatta.  After a year of being bound by a computer our kids finally have the opportunity to be on the water again to represent our amazing sailing program and club.  We are hosting the Virginia State Championship which is also the season opener for CBYRA.  With registration open for about a month we have been successfully amassing an army of volunteers to serve over 100 sailors along with their family and friends.  As far as the eye can see will be an armada of kids geared and ready to give it their all June 26-27th …

FBYC 85th Annual One Design