Twenty-four young sailors from throughout the Chicago are spent a day learning about big boat and offshore safety at a Stormy Trysail Foundation Junior Safety at Sea seminar held June 22, 2019 at the Jackson Park Yacht Club.

The young sailors included a strong contingent of Sea Scouts as well as numerous sailors getting ready to compete in the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac. The Mackinac Race requires safety training for all minor sailors, and recommends a Storm Trysail Foundation as the best way to obtain this training.

After a classroom session with STF’s Kelly Robinson that involved a lively discussion, the sailors spent the day in shore-side sessions learning about flares, life rafts, and personal safety equipment. This included the opportunity to deploy a full-sized life raft and MOM-8 crew overboard retrieval system and using a variety of flares. They then spent two hours on five offshore boats in champagne sailing conditions on Lake Michigan practicing what they learned, including doing numerous crew overboard drills led by the young sailors.

Second-time Junior Safety at Sea attendee Charlie Gallagher took the class in preparation of his second Chicago Mackinac Race. “I think the Safety at Sea classes are a lot of fun,” said Charlie. “I also felt a lot more prepared when I did my first Mac race in 2018. I knew how all my equipment and the stuff on the boat worked, and I think I was ready to help out if an emergency had happened.”

The Storm Trysail Foundation is running a second Junior Safety at Sea seminar in the Great Lakes on July 6, 2019, at Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club, and numerous other courses are scheduled across the nation. 

Thank you to Jackson Park Yacht Club Foundation for hosting and to Aerospace Services And Products, d/b/a Wolverine Inflatables for donating a life raft to the Jackson Park Yacht Club Foundation (“JPYC Foundation”) Junior Safety at Sea seminar.

The second Chicago area Junior Safety at Sea Seminar of 2019 was held at Chicago Corinthian Yacht Club on July 6, 2019. Fifteen junior sailors from the area spent the day learning about big boat safety. Following a great two-hour sail on offshore boats on Lake Michigan, the young sailors spent the day learning about personal safety on big boats.