Kids Touched by Multihull Magic

Sometimes an event occurs where everyone realizes something special or magical occurred. Such was the case the weekend of June 29 through July 1 when six (unaware) 11- to 13-year-old boys joined with two (hesitant) adults to form the nucleus of the first-ever three-day clinic at the Corinthian Yacht Club of Seattle.

Using the venerable Hobie 16 as the main platform (and one Hobie Wave), the intrepid sailors would head out of Shilshole Marina every day. Conditions could not have been better.

Friday started out so light that several of the kids flipped the Wave on its side and used the upward hull platform for jumping or diving into the Puget Sound waters. When the wind filled in they got a shot at some light-air sailing. Saturday saw a nice medium breeze on flat waters, which gave everyone the opportunity to practice trapezing out over the water on their way to West Point for a picnic on the beach. Sunday came with even stronger breeze and lumpy waters, which really tested the new Hobie sailors with double-trapezing and flying of hulls as they sailed around a mock racecourse. The students got a lot of sailing time in varied conditions. 

In addition to the use of CYC’s downstairs for classroom instruction, boats were stored in the evening on their floating dock. Hobie Division 4 sponsored the regatta, in conjunction with the Multihull Youth SAIL Foundation, a newly formed non-profit dedicated to getting more kids out on multis. Additional clinics have been requested for both youth and women.

Each of the Hobie 16s had a youth mentor on board who had already graduated to the experienced level and has been actively racing. US Sailing instructor Tim Webb was ably assisted by Peter Nelson, Laura Sullivan, Bob Combie, Will Nelson, Jaedon Bott, Jennifer Hoag and a slew of other volunteers.