At the NCYC Sailing Academy, Keelboat Instructors work under the supervision of a Senior Instructor within the National Keelboat Program.
Instructors utilise one of our Force 24 inshore keelboats with up to four course participants on board. We operate out of the Sailing Academy Barge which is located on F-Arm of the NCYC Marina and offers seating and whiteboard for shore & theory sessions. All instructors assist with setting up equipment, rigging boats, cleaning & maintaining gear and packing away at the end of a session. Senior Instructors continuously offer further on-the-job training to help develop skills, knowledge and instructing techniques.
Keelboat Instructors are needed within a wide range of courses offered by the Academy. During the busy Spring/Summer the Force 24s are on the water 7-days a week. We run school sailing Monday & Tuesday afternoons all year, we offer Women’s Sailing programs on Friday mornings (all year) and Wednesday afternoons (daylight savings), Young Guns teenage sailing program on Tuesday afternoons, Friday Harbour Sailing in the afternoons (daylight savings), as well as regularly scheduled weekend Discover Sailing Experiences and National Keelboat Program courses (all year). On occasion we conduct Corporate Sailing activities and we also run a Sail & Play program in the January, April & October school holidays (3 or 4 days).
Instructors are required to attend work 15minutes before a session starts and finish 15minutes after a session is finished to allow for set-up and pack-up. On occasion there are additional work opportunities for events such as “Try Sailing” days, scout/cubs sailing sessions and promotional days. Instructors are advised of these opportunities and rostered according to availability.
We also like to encourage our Keelboat Instructors to gain their Boat Licence and Powerboat Handling certificate as this provides additional work opportunities in support boat work when the keelboats are on-water.