Jon Flack, junior program director, with Sarah Wait, CYC's lead instructor.

The CYC Board of Directors voted on Monday, June 13, to hire two instructors for the club’s new junior program, which will get underway on Wednesday, June 22 in the club’s new Optimist dinghies at Shilshole.

The lead instructor is Sarah Wait, the daughter of a member and a master’s degree candidate who previously has taught sailing at Sail Sand Point. Teaching with Sarah will be Erika Vranizan, a Western Washington University student who also is a member’s daughter and has taught sailing in Bellingham.

Club Member Haley Lhamon will be helping out during the first session on a volunteer basis.

“I think the program is coming together quite well,” said Commodore Wayne Balsiger. “We are ready to go. We have good instructors and new boats and a great facility to house the program. We just need to get more students.

A number of slots are available. The club is offering two-week programs for four different levels of sailors as young as five throughout the summer. For information and registration, click here.

To attract more students, the club is advertising in 48 Degrees North, in the Seattle Times newspaper and on its internet site, and in community newspapers in Ballard and Queen Anne.

Instructor Wait marched with an Optimist in tow in the Solstice Parade at the Fremont Street Fair to promote the program.

Also, according to Balsiger, the club will be offering junior program discounts to families in which a parent works for Boeing or Microsoft. Both companies are matching donations made in support of the program.