The Southport Junior Yacht Club had an incredible first week to kick off another wonderful summer! The week was very successful and loads of fun for everyone who was there.

Monday, June 22 was the first day back for the camp and there was quite of bit of wind in the morning which died down to calmer waters in the afternoon. In the Morning program, seven new brave sailors took their swim test in the rather chilly June waters in Cozy Harbor; Josephine Allison, Cameron Kelly, Monroe Kiefer, Katherine King, Caroline Merchak, Griffin Climo and Catalina DeMarinis all passed with flying colors. They celebrated their success with warm towels and cocoa to warm up.

Although the weather wasn’t perfect in the morning all week, Wednesday and Thursday had excellent sunny skies with a nice northerly breeze that reminded everyone at the yacht club why they love it so much. During the week, the morning class enjoyed getting back into sailing with activities such as races around David’s Island, rowing practice on a foggy Friday and a highly competitive game of “Knotscotch” to top off the week.

The afternoon class kicked off the week by electing junior officers who will run the JYC events such as Bingo and the Ice Cream Social. The next Ice Cream Social is Thursday, July 2 at the Southport Junior Yacht Club, cash only, $4 a bowl and $1 refills!

The elections resulted in Gabriella Moen as commodore, Illyana Harrington as vice commodore, Nathan Phippen as rear commodore, Graydon Smith as rreasurer and Liam Donahue as secretary. Congratulations and good luck to these officers!

The Afternoon Turnabouts enjoyed various cruises to destinations such as Five Islands and The Mark Island Bell along with the amazing opportunity to sail a 19-foot Cat boat. The afternoon Optis took part in drills to work on their tacking and jibing skills while doing many practice races as possible to sharpen up their skills before the first race day. The afternoon 420s program had a great time going for various cruises while sharpening their spinnaker skills along with partaking in a drill called “The Blender” to prepare for their first upcoming race day during this week.

Next week, the yacht club is looking forward to many race days across all three boats and the Independence day challenge on Friday, July 3!