Racing Classes

Optimist Racing Classes

The Optimist is a small one-person sailboat. Racing class students range in age from 8-14 and weigh up to about 120 pounds, and do not need to own a boat. They are encouraged to participate in the popular Twin Cities Youth Sailing regattas on Fridays, where the sailing school provides coach support for the day.

The newly combined Learn-to-Race / Racing Optimist class is an exciting opportunity to fully experience the fun and challenge of sailing at a higher level. Designed for students who have taken the Intermediate Optimist sailing class or demonstrated an ability to handle the boat independently, the class emphasizes on developing boat handling skills and confidence under a variety of wind conditions while placing students one to a boat and introducing them to basic racing concepts including starts, upwind sailing, reaching, and downwinds. Students looking for more will focus on boat trim for speed, basic “rules of the road”, and more advanced racing techniques, including starts, race strategy, tactics, and more. Class registration is limited and there will be close instructor-student contact. All instructors for this class have extensive racing experience.

420 Racing Classes

The Learn-to-Race 420s class is geared towards children ages 11-16. The 420 is a two-person boat that can be sailed with spinnaker and trapeze as skill improves. Students should be able to sail a 420 with basic boat handling skills like tacking, gybing and landing at a dock or buoy. These skills are learned in the Beginning Club 420 sailing class.

High School Racing

High School Sailing takes place in the spring and fall after school. Students have the opportunity to race in local high school regattas and practice 3 days per week.

Click here for the High School Registration Form.
Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader to view and print the above registration form. You can download the free Adobe Reader here.

College Racing

As College Racing is becoming more common throughout the Midwest and smaller schools are starting teams, the LCSS is looking forward to having more schools become a part of the Lake Calhoun Sailing School.